Charles Laughton on stage and screen

Charles Laughton was an English actor known for his intense and varied roles across stage and screen. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future wife Elsa Lanchester, with whom he lived and worked until his death.

Charles Laughton in 1940.

Laughton made his film debut in a 1928 short film entitled, The Tonic before taking minor roles in feature-length films in the early 1930s. Laughton later earned the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the title character in the historical drama The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). He earned further Academy Award nominations for his roles as Captain William Bligh in the action adventure Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and an irascible barrister in the courtroom drama Witness for the Prosecution (1957).

Among Laughton's biggest film hits were romance drama The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934), the comedy Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), the biographical drama Rembrandt (1936), the thriller Jamaica Inn (1939), the drama The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), the noir-thriller The Big Clock (1948), the historical drama Young Bess (1953), the romance Hobson's Choice (1954) and the adventure epic Spartacus (1960). His final film role was in the political drama Advise & Consent (1962).

Acting credits

Filmography

Unless otherwise stated the films are U.S. productions in black and white.

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1928	The Tonic	Father of the Family	Filmed in Englan; Short, (film debut)
	Daydreams	Lecherous Boarder Ram Das in Dream Sequence	Filmed in England; Short
	Blue Bottles	Burglar	Filmed in England; Short
1929	Piccadilly	A Nightclub Diner	Filmed in England
1930	Comets	Himself	Filmed in England
	Wolves	Captain Job	Filmed in England
1931	Down River	Captain Grossman	Filmed in England
1932	Devil and the Deep	Commander Charles Sturm
	The Old Dark House	Sir William Porterhouse
	Payment Deferred	William Marble
	If I Had A Million	Phineas V. Lambert
	The Sign of the Cross	Emperor Nero
	Island of Lost Souls	Dr. Moreau
1933	The Private Life of Henry VIII	King Henry VIII	Filmed in England Academy Award for Best Actor
	White Woman	Horace H. Prin
1934	The Barretts of Wimpole Street	Edward Moulton-Barrett
1935	Ruggles of Red Gap	Marmaduke Ruggles
	Les Misérables	Inspector Javert
	Mutiny on the Bounty	Captain William Bligh
1936	Rembrandt	Rembrandt van Rijn	Filmed in England
1937	I, Claudius	Claudius	Filmed in England Unfinished and abandoned
1938	Vessel of Wrath	Ginger "Ted" Wilson	Produced by Laughton via Mayflower Pictures; Filmed in England[a]
	St. Martin's Lane	Charles Staggers	Produced by Laughton via Mayflower Pictures; Filmed in England[b]
1939	Jamaica Inn	Sir Humphrey Pengallan	Produced by Laughton via Mayflower Pictures; Filmed in England
	The Hunchback of Notre Dame	Quasimodo
1940	They Knew What They Wanted	Tony Patucci
1941	It Started with Eve	Jonathan Reynolds
1942	The Tuttles of Tahiti	Jonas Tuttle
	Tales of Manhattan	Charles Smith
	Stand By for Action	Rear Admiral Stephen Thomas
1943	Forever and a Day	Bellamy (Dexter's Butler)
	This Land is Mine	Albert Lory
	The Man From Down Under	Jocko Wilson
1944	Passport to Destiny	Sgt. Major Henry Albert Muggins	Photo; Uncredited
	The Canterville Ghost	Sir Simon de Canterville / The Ghost
	The Suspect	Philip Marshall
1945	Captain Kidd	Captain William Kidd
1946	Because of Him	John Sheridan
1947	The Paradine Case	Judge Lord Thomas Horfield
	Leben des Galilei	Galileo Galilei	A 30-minute 'short'.[c]
1948	A Miracle Can Happen	Reverend John B. Dunne	Laughton's scenes cut in American release[d][e]
	Arch of Triumph	Ivon Haake
	The Big Clock	Earl Janoth
	The Girl from Manhattan	The Bishop
1949	The Bribe	J. J. Bealer
	The Man on the Eiffel Tower	Inspector Jules Maigret	Anscocolor
1951	The Blue Veil	Fred K. Begley
	The Strange Door	Sire Alain de Maletroit
1952	O. Henry's Full House	Soapy	Segment: "The Cop and the Anthem"
	Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd	Capt. William Kidd	SuperCinecolor
1953	Salome	King Herod	Technicolor
	Young Bess	King Henry VIII	Technicolor
1954	Hobson's Choice	Henry Horatio Hobson	Filmed in England
1955	The Night of the Hunter	—	Directed by Laughton
1957	Witness for the Prosecution	Sir Wilfrid Robarts
1960	Sotto dieci bandiere	Admiral Russell	Filmed in Italy[f]
	Spartacus	Sempronius Gracchus	Super Technirama 70 Technicolor
1962	Advise & Consent	Sen. Seabright Cooley	Final film role

Television

Laughton guest starred in a few television shows.

• What's My Line? (1956–1960) as Himself (2 episodes)
• Wagon Train (1960) as Colonel Albert Farnsworth (1 episode)
• Checkmate (1961) as Reverend Wister (1 episode)

Theatre

Actor

Year	Title	Role	Playwright	Venue	Ref.
1926	The Government Inspector	Osip	Nikolai Gogol	Barnes Theatre, London
1926	Pillars of Society	Rummel	Henrik Ibsen	Everyman Theatre, London
1926	The Cherry Orchard	Yepi Khodov	Anton Chekhov	Barnes Theatre, London
1926	Three Sisters	Vassily Solyony	Anton Chekhov	Barnes Theatre, London
1928	Alibi	Hercule Poirot	Agatha Christie	Theatre Royal Haymarket, London
1928	The Silver Tassie	Harry Heegan	Seán O'Casey	Apollo Theater, London
1930	On the Spot	Tony Perelli	Edgar Wallace	Wyndham's Theatre, London
1931	Payment Deferred	William Marble	C. S. Forester	St. James's Theater, London
				Lyceum Theater, Broadway
1932	The Fatal Alibi	Hercule Poirot	Agatha Christie	Booth Theater, Broadway
1933	Henry VIII	Henry VIII	William Shakespeare	The Old Vic, London
1933	Measure for Measure	Angelo	William Shakespeare	The Old Vic, London
1933–1934	The Cherry Orchard	Lopakhin	Anton Chekhov	The Old Vic, London
1934	The Tempest	Prospero	William Shakespeare	The Old Vic, London
1934	The Importance of Being Earnest	Canon Chasuble	Oscar Wilde	The Old Vic, London
1934	Love for Love	Tattle	William Congreve	Sadler's Wells, London
1934	Macbeth	Macbeth	William Shakespeare	The Old Vic, London
1936–1937	Peter Pan	Captain Hook	J. M. Barrie	London Palladium, London
1947	Galileo	Galileo	Bertolt Brecht	Maxine Elliott Theatre, Broadway
1950	The Cherry Orchard	Gaev	Anton Chekhov	Stage Theatre, Los Angeles
1956–1957	Major Barbara	Andrew Undershaft	George Bernard Shaw	Martin Beck Theatre, Broadway
1958	The Party	Richard Brough	Jane Arden	The New Theatre, London
1959	A Midsummer's Night Dream	Bottom	William Shakespeare	Stratford-upon-Avon, London
1959	King Lear	Lear	William Shakespeare	Stratford-upon-Avon, London

Director

Year	Title	Playwright	Venue	Ref.
1932	The Fatal Alibi	Agatha Christie	Booth Theater, Broadway	[1]
1947	Galileo	Bertolt Brecht	Maxine Elliott Theatre, Broadway	[2]
1951–1952	Don Juan in Hell	George Bernard Shaw	Plymouth Theater, Broadway	[3]
1953	John Brown's Body	Stephen Vincent Benét	New Century Theater, Broadway	[4]
1954–1955	The Caine Mutiny Court Martial	Edward Dmytryk	Plymouth Theatre, Broadway	[5]
1956–1957	Major Barbara	George Bernard Shaw	Martin Beck Theatre, Broadway	[6]

Producer

• 1955: 3 for Tonight (musical revue, with Harry Belafonte)

In popular culture

Warner Brothers made three cartoons parodying Laughton's acting:

• Roman Legion-Hare (1955): parody of Laughton as Emperor Nero
• Good Noose (1962): parody of Laughton as a ship's Captain
• Shishkabugs (1962): parody of Laughton as a spoiled king

In Buccaneer Bunny (1948), Bugs Bunny does a brief impression of Laughton's Captain Bligh.