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."
Recent movies
| # | Name | Character | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau (2014) | Self (archive footage) | 7.5 |
| 2 | Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' (1999) | Self (archive footage) | - |
| 3 | Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) | (in "The Bribe") (archive footage) | 6.5 |
| 4 | Spartacus (1960) | Sempronius Gracchus | 7.3 |
| 5 | Witness for the Prosecution (1957) | Sir Wilfrid | 8.1 |
| 6 | The Night of the Hunter (1955) | Director / Writer | 7.6 |
| 7 | Hobson's Choice (1954) | Henry Horatio Hobson | 7.7 |
| 8 | Salome (1953) | King Herod | - |
| 9 | O. Henry's Full House (1952) | Soapy (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") | - |
| 10 | Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952) | Capt. William Kidd | - |
| 11 | The Blue Veil (1951) | Fred K. Begley | - |
| 12 | The Strange Door (1951) | Sire Alain de Maletroit | 5 |
| 13 | The Bribe (1949) | J.J. Bealer | 6 |
| 14 | The Big Clock (1948) | Earl Janoth | 4 |
| 15 | The Paradine Case (1947) | Judge Lord Thomas Horfield | 4 |
| 16 | The Suspect (1945) | Philip Marshall | 7 |
| 17 | The Canterville Ghost (1944) | Sir Simon de Canterville / The Ghost | 7 |
| 18 | This Land Is Mine (1943) | Albert Lory | 4 |
| 19 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) | The Hunchback Quasimodo | 5 |
| 20 | Jamaica Inn (1939) | Sir Humphrey Pengallan | 5 |
| 21 | Rembrandt (1936) | Rembrandt van Rijn | 4 |
| 22 | Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) | Captaine Bligh | 6 |
| 23 | Les Misérables (1935) | Inspector Emile Javert | 4 |
| 24 | Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) | Marmaduke Ruggles | 5 |
| 25 | The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) | Edward Moulton-Barrett | 3 |
| 26 | The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) | Henry VIII | 6 |
| 27 | The Sign of the Cross (1932) | Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar | 6 |
| 28 | The Old Dark House (1932) | Sir William Porterhouse | 6.4 |
| 29 | Island of Lost Souls (1932) | Dr. Moreau | 7.3 |
| 30 | Piccadilly (1929) | A Continental Visitor | 5 |
