
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was an English-American stage and film actor, director, producer and screenwriter. Laughton was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future wife Elsa Lanchester, with whom he lived and worked until his death. He played a wide range of classical and modern parts, making an impact in Shakespeare at the Old Vic. His film career took him to Broadway and then Hollywood, but he also collaborated with Alexander Korda on notable British films of the era, including The Private Life of Henry VIII, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the title character. He portrayed everything from monsters and misfits to kings. Among Laughton's biggest film hits were The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Mutiny on the Bounty, Ruggles of Red Gap, Jamaica Inn, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Big Clock. In his later career, he took up stage directing, notably in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, and George Bernard Shaw's Don Juan in Hell, in which he also starred. He directed one film, the thriller The Night of the Hunter. Daniel Day-Lewis cited Laughton as one of his inspirations, saying: "He was probably the greatest film actor who came from that period of time. He had something quite remarkable. His generosity as an actor, he fed himself into that work. As an actor, you cannot take your eyes off him."
85 acting credits · 1 directing credit
Acting · 85

What's My Line?
1950

The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950

The Steve Allen Show
1956

The Ed Sullivan Show
1948

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956

Startime
1959

MGM Parade
1955

Witness for the Prosecution
1957

Spartacus
1960
The George Gobel Show
1954

The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1939

General Electric Theater
1953
The Lux Show
1957

Mutiny on the Bounty
1935
The Jimmy Durante Show
1954

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982

Jamaica Inn
1939

Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
2014

Les Misérables
1935

The Sign of the Cross
1932

Island of Lost Souls
1932
Star Time
1950

Salome
1953

The Paradine Case
1947

This Land Is Mine
1943

O. Henry's Full House
1952

The Horror Show
1979

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991

Captain Kidd
1945

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
1940

Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982

Hobson's Choice
1954

The Big Clock
1948

Advise & Consent
1962

The Old Dark House
1932

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983

The Blue Veil
1951

Tales of Manhattan
1942

The Suspect
1945

If I Had a Million
1932

Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972

Ruggles of Red Gap
1935

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009

Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
2014

The Barretts of Wimpole Street
1934

Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld
1994

Forever and a Day
1943

Young Bess
1953

The Private Life of Henry VIII
1933

Piccadilly
1929

St. Martin's Lane
1938

The Strange Door
1951

The Bribe
1949

The Canterville Ghost
1944

It Started with Eve
1941

Stand by for Action
1942

Rembrandt
1936

White Woman
1933

Arch of Triumph
1948

The Tuttles of Tahiti
1942

Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
1952

Devil and the Deep
1932

They Knew What They Wanted
1940

On Our Merry Way
1948

The Man on the Eiffel Tower
1949

Payment Deferred
1932

Under Ten Flags
1960

The Man from Down Under
1943

The Girl from Manhattan
1948

The Tonic
1928

Comets
1930

Because of Him
1946

The Epic That Never Was
1969

Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
1988

Leben des Galilei
1947

In the Presence of Mine Enemies
1960

Daydreams
1928

The Art Director
1949

Vessel of Wrath
1938

Blue Bottles
1928

Down River
1931

I, Claudius
1937

Wolves
1930

The Clerk
1933
