Product Description : Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice (Screen Classics) Late in Claude Rainss distinguished career a reverent film journalist wrote that Rains was as much a cinematic institution as the medium itself Given his childhood speech impediments and his origins in a destitute London neighborhood the ascent of Claude Rains 18891967 to the stage and screen is remarkable Rainss difficulties in his formative years provided reserves of gravitas and sensitivity from which he drew inspiration for acclaimed performances in The Invisible Man 1933 Mr Smith Goes to Washington 1939 Casablanca 1942 Notorious 1946 Lawrence of Arabia 1962 and other classic films In Claude Rains An Actors Voice noted Hollywood historian David J Skal draws on more than thirty hours of newly released Rains interviews to create the first fulllength biography of the actor who was nominated multiple times for an Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor Skals portrait of the gifted actor also benefits from the insights of Jessica Rains who provides firsthand accounts of the enigmatic man behind her fathers refined screen presence and genteel public persona As Skal shows numerous contradictions informed the life and career of Claude Rains He possessed an air of nobility and became an emblem of sophistication but he never shed the insecurities that traced back to his upbringing in an abusive and povertystricken family Though deeply selfconscious about his short stature Rains drew notorious ardor from female fans and was married six times His public displays of dry wit and good humor masked inner demons that drove Rains to alcoholism and its devastating consequences Skals layered depiction of Claude Rains reveals a complex almost inscrutable man whose nuanced characterizations were in no small way based on the more shadowy parts of his psyche With unprecedented access to episodes from Rainss private life Skal tells the full story of the consummate character actor of his generation Claude Rains An Actors Voice gives voice to the struggles and innermost concerns that influenced Rainss performances and helped him become a universally respected Hollywood legend(IT'S AN USED PRODUCT)