Editing Charles Laughton

{{Short description|British and American actor (1899–1962)}}
{{for|the politician|Charles E. Laughton}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| image              = Charles Laughton-publicity2.JPG
| caption            = Promotional portrait for ''[[The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934 film)|The Barretts of Wimpole Street]]'' (1934)
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|df=yes|1899|7|1}}
| birth_place        = [[Scarborough, North Yorkshire|Scarborough]], North Riding of Yorkshire, England
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1962|12|15|1899|7|1}}
| death_place        = [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], California, US
| resting_place      = [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills]]
| citizenship        = {{ubl|United Kingdom|United States (from 1950)}}
| alma_mater         = [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]]
| occupation         = {{hlist|Actor|theatre director}}
| years_active       = 1926–1962
| works              = [[Charles Laughton filmography|Filmography]]
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Elsa Lanchester]]|1929}}
}}
'''Charles Laughton''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɔː|t|ə|n}};<ref>{{cite book|title=BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names|date=1990|editor-last=Pointon|editor-first=Graham|edition=2nd|location=Oxford|publisher=The University Press|isbn=0-19-282745-6|url=https://archive.org/details/bbcpronouncingdi00gepo|page=140}}</ref> 1 July 1899&nbsp;– 15 December 1962) was a British and American actor. He 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.

Laughton played a wide range of classical and modern roles, 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 [[Henry VIII|the title character]]. He received two further nominations for his roles in ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' and ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)|Witness for the Prosecution]]'', and reprised the role of Henry VIII in ''[[Young Bess]]''. He portrayed everything from monsters and misfits to kings.<ref name="telegraph">{{cite web | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/9700251/charles-laughton-dazzling-player-of-monsters-misfits-and-kings.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121125175148/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/9700251/Charles-Laughton-dazzling-player-of-monsters-misfits-and-kings.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=25 November 2012 | title=Charles Laughton: dazzling player of monsters, misfits and kings| date= 24 November 2012}}</ref> Among Laughton's biggest film hits were ''[[The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934 film)|The Barretts of Wimpole Street]]'', ''[[Ruggles of Red Gap]]'', ''[[Jamaica Inn (film)|Jamaica Inn]]'', ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939 film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'', ''[[The Big Clock (film)|The Big Clock]]'', and ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]''. [[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."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKfGU3vKjvc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/RKfGU3vKjvc| archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Daniel Day-Lewis – 'Movies 101' Part 4|date=8 May 2008 |access-date=31 August 2019|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In his later career, Laughton took up stage directing, notably in ''[[The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (play)|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 (film)|The Night of the Hunter]]'', which after an initially disappointing reception is acclaimed today as a film classic.

==Early life and career==
Laughton was born on 1 July 1899 in [[Scarborough, North Yorkshire|Scarborough]], North Riding of Yorkshire, the son of Robert Laughton (1869–1924) and Eliza (née Conlon; 1869–1953), Yorkshire hotel keepers.<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|id=37658|title=Laughton, Charles (1899–1962)}}</ref> A [[blue plaque]] marks his birthplace.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/articles/Charles-Laughton-9374728|title=Charles Laughton profile|publisher=Biography.com|access-date=10 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719043617/http://www.biography.com/articles/Charles-Laughton-9374728|archive-date=19 July 2010}}</ref> His mother was a devout [[Roman Catholic]] of Irish descent, and she sent him to briefly attend a local boys' school, [[Scarborough College]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Burton|first1=Peter|title=Six Inches of Bath Water: One Hundred Years of Scarborough College in Memories & Photographs, 1898-1998|date=1998|publisher=Michael Russell|location=Norwich|isbn=085955239X|page=15|edition=First}}</ref> before sending him to [[Stonyhurst College]], the pre-eminent English [[Jesuit]] school.<ref>RonaldBruceMeyer.com {{cite web |url=http://www.ronaldbrucemeyer.com/rants/0701almanac.htm |title=1 July Almanac. |access-date=22 March 2006 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060508103103/http://www.ronaldbrucemeyer.com/rants/0701almanac.htm |archive-date=8 May 2006 }} Retrieved 12 August 2007.</ref> Laughton served in [[World War I]], during which he was [[Chemical warfare|gassed]], serving first with the 2/1st Battalion of the [[Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.huntscycles.co.uk/C%20L%201%20Home%20Page.htm|title=The Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalions|access-date=31 August 2019}}</ref> and then with the 7th Battalion of the [[Northamptonshire Regiment]].

He started work in the family hotel, though also participating in amateur theatrical productions in Scarborough. He was permitted by his family to become a drama student at [[RADA]] in 1925, where actor [[Claude Rains]] was one of his teachers. Laughton made his first professional appearance on 28 April 1926 at the [[Barnes, London|Barnes Theatre]], as Osip in the comedy ''The Government Inspector'', in which he also appeared at London's [[Gaiety Theatre, London|Gaiety Theatre]] in May. He impressed audiences with his talent and had classical roles in two Chekov plays, ''The Cherry Orchard'' and ''The Three Sisters''. Laughton played the lead role as Harry Hegan in the world premiere of [[Seán O'Casey]]'s ''[[The Silver Tassie (play)|The Silver Tassie]]'' in 1928 in London. He played the title roles in Arnold Bennett's ''Mr Prohack'' ([[Elsa Lanchester]] was also in the cast) and as [[Samuel Pickwick]] in ''Mr. Pickwick'' at the [[Haymarket Theatre|Theatre Royal]] (1928–29) in London.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kent.ac.uk/library/specialcollections/theatre/r.php/31929/show.html|title=Theatre collections: record view – Special Collections & Archives – University of Kent|website=kent.ac.uk|access-date=31 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/play/2zp/mr-pickwick/production/6qp|title=Production of Mr Pickwick &#124; Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com|access-date=31 August 2019}}</ref>

He played Tony Perelli in [[Edgar Wallace]]'s ''[[On the Spot (play)|On the Spot]]'' and William Marble in ''Payment Deferred''. He took the last role across the Atlantic and made his United States debut on 24 September 1931, at the [[Lyceum Theatre (Broadway)|Lyceum Theatre]]. He returned to London for the 1933–34 Old Vic season and was engaged in four Shakespeare roles (as Macbeth, Henry VIII, Angelo in ''Measure for Measure'' and Prospero in ''The Tempest'') and also as Lopakhin in ''The Cherry Orchard'', Canon Chasuble in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'', and Tattle in ''Love for Love''. In 1936, he went to Paris and on 9 May appeared at the [[Comédie-Française]] as Sganarelle in the second act of [[Molière]]'s ''Le Médecin malgré lui'', the first English actor to appear at that theatre, where he performed the role in French and received an ovation.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-sun-the-sun-dial-at-home-a/149213286/ |title=The Sun Dial: 'At Home Abroad' |newspaper=The Evening Sun |publication-place=Hanover, Pennsylvania |page=4 |date=27 May 1936 |access-date=12 June 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Laughton commenced his film career in Great Britain while still acting on the London stage. He also accepted small roles in three short silent comedies starring his wife [[Elsa Lanchester]], ''Daydreams,'' ''Blue Bottles,'' and ''The Tonic'' (all 1928), which had been specially written for her by [[H. G. Wells]] and were directed by [[Ivor Montagu]]. He made a brief appearance as a disgruntled diner in another silent film ''[[Piccadilly (film)|Piccadilly]]'' with [[Anna May Wong]] in 1929. He appeared with Lanchester again in ''Comets'' (1930), a [[film revue]] featuring assorted British variety acts, in which they sang a duet, "[[The Ballad of Frankie and Johnnie]]". He made two other early British talkies: ''[[Wolves (1930 film)|Wolves]]'' with [[Dorothy Gish]] (1930) from a play set in a whaling camp in the frozen north, and ''[[Down River (1931 film)|Down River]]'' (1931), in which he played a drug-smuggling ship's captain.

His New York stage debut in 1931 immediately led to film offers, and Laughton's first Hollywood film, ''[[The Old Dark House (1932 film)|The Old Dark House]]'' (1932) with [[Boris Karloff]], in which he played a bluff [[Yorkshire]] businessman marooned during a storm with other travelers in a creepy remote Welsh manor. He then played a demented submarine commander in ''[[Devil and the Deep]]'' with [[Tallulah Bankhead]], [[Gary Cooper]] and [[Cary Grant]], and followed this with his best-remembered film role of that year as [[Nero]] in [[Cecil B. DeMille]]'s ''[[The Sign of the Cross (1932 film)|The Sign of the Cross]].'' Laughton gave other memorable performances during that first Hollywood trip, repeating his stage role as a murderer in ''[[Payment Deferred (film)|Payment Deferred]]'', playing [[H. G. Wells]]' mad vivisectionist Dr. Moreau in ''[[Island of Lost Souls (1932 film)|Island of Lost Souls]]'', and the meek raspberry-blowing clerk in the brief segment of ''[[If I Had A Million]]'', directed by [[Ernst Lubitsch]]. He appeared in six Hollywood films in 1932. His association with director [[Alexander Korda]] began in 1933 with the hugely successful ''[[The Private Life of Henry VIII]]'' (loosely based on the life of King [[Henry VIII]]), for which Laughton won the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]].

==Film career==

===1933–1943===
[[File:Charles Laughton in Mutiny on the Bounty trailer.jpg|right|thumb|From the trailer for [[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|''Mutiny on the Bounty'']] (1935)]]
After his smashing success in ''[[The Private Life of Henry VIII]]'', Laughton soon abandoned the stage for films and returned to Hollywood, where his next film was ''[[White Woman]]'' (1933) in which he co-starred with [[Carole Lombard]] as a [[Cockney]] river trader in the [[British Malaya|Malayan]] jungle. Then came ''[[The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934 film)|The Barretts of Wimpole Street]]'' (1934) as the malevolent father of [[Norma Shearer]]'s character (although Laughton was only three years older than Shearer); ''[[Les Misérables (1935 film)|Les Misérables]]'' (1935) as Inspector [[Javert]]; one of his most famous screen roles in ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' (1935) as Captain [[William Bligh]], co-starring with [[Clark Gable]] as [[Fletcher Christian]]; and ''[[Ruggles of Red Gap]]'' (1935) as the very English butler transported to early 1900s America. He signed to play Micawber in ''[[David Copperfield (1935 film)|David Copperfield]]'' (1934), but after a few days' shooting asked to be released from the role and was replaced by [[W. C. Fields]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-career-of-melvin/149213675/ |title=Career of Melvin Purvis Will Be Brought to Screen |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |page=9 |date=27 October 1934 |access-date=12 June 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Back in the UK, and again with Korda, he played the title role in ''[[Rembrandt (1936 film)|Rembrandt]]'' (1936). In 1937, also for Korda, he starred in an ill-fated film version of the classic novel, ''[[I, Claudius (film)|I, Claudius]]'', by [[Robert Graves]], which was abandoned during filming owing to the injuries suffered by co-star [[Merle Oberon]] in a car crash. After ''I, Claudius'', he and the expatriate German film producer [[Erich Pommer]] founded the production company [[Mayflower Pictures]] in the UK, which produced three films starring Laughton: ''[[Vessel of Wrath]]'' (US title ''[[The Beachcomber (1938 film)|The Beachcomber]]'') (1938), based on a story by [[W. Somerset Maugham]], in which his wife, Elsa Lanchester, co-starred; ''[[Sidewalks of London|St. Martin's Lane]]'' (US title ''[[Sidewalks of London]]''), about London street entertainers, which featured [[Vivien Leigh]] and [[Rex Harrison]]; and ''[[Jamaica Inn (film)|Jamaica Inn]]'', with [[Maureen O'Hara]] and [[Robert Newton]], about [[Cornwall|Cornish]] shipwreckers, based on [[Daphne du Maurier]]'s novel (and the last film [[Alfred Hitchcock]] directed in Britain), before moving to Hollywood in the late 1930s.

The films produced were not commercially successful enough, and the company was rescued from bankruptcy only when [[RKO Pictures]] offered Laughton the title role ([[Quasimodo]]) in ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939 film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' (1939), with ''Jamaica Inn'' co-star O'Hara. Laughton and Pommer had plans to make further films, but the outbreak of [[World War II]], which implied the loss of many foreign markets, meant the end of the company. Laughton's early success in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' established him as one of the leading interpreters of the costume and historical drama roles for which he is best remembered (Nero, Henry VIII, Mr. Barrett, Inspector Javert, Captain Bligh, Rembrandt, Quasimodo, and others); he was also type-cast as arrogant, unscrupulous characters.{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}

He largely moved away from historical roles when he played an Italian vineyard owner in California in ''[[They Knew What They Wanted (film)|They Knew What They Wanted]]'' (1940); a South Seas patriarch in ''[[The Tuttles of Tahiti]]'' (1942); and a US admiral during World War II in ''[[Stand By for Action]]'' (1942). He played a [[Victorian era|Victorian]] butler in ''[[Forever and a Day (1943 film)|Forever and a Day]]'' (1943) and an Australian bar-owner in ''[[The Man from Down Under]]'' (1943). [[Simon Callow]]'s 1987 biography quotes a number of contemporary reviews of Laughton's performances in these films. [[James Agate]], reviewing ''[[Forever and a Day (1943 film)|Forever and a Day]]'', wrote: "Is there no-one at RKO to tell Charles Laughton when he is being plain bad?" On the other hand, [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' declared that ''Forever and a Day'' boasted "superb performances".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F00E5D61E39E33BBC4B52DFB5668388659EDE|work=The New York Times|first=Bosley|last=Crowther|title='Forever and a Day', Pageant of Some English People, Made Cooperatively in Hollywood, Is Attraction at the Rivoli|date=13 March 1943}}</ref>

[[C. A. Lejeune]], wrote Callow, was "shocked" by the poor quality of Laughton's work of that period: "One of the most painful screen phenomena of latter years", she wrote in ''[[The Observer]]'', "has been the decline and fall of Charles Laughton." On the other hand, [[David Shipman (writer)|David Shipman]], in his book ''The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years'', said "Laughton was a total actor. His range was wide".<ref>David Shipman ''The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years'', London: Macdonald, 1989, p.353</ref>

===1943–1962===
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Laughton played a cowardly schoolmaster in [[occupied France]] in ''[[This Land Is Mine (film)|This Land is Mine]]'' (1943), by [[Jean Renoir]], in which he engaged himself most actively;<ref>Lourié, Eugène (1985) ''My Work in Films''. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich {{ISBN|0-15-164019-X}} (Lourié, who worked after hours to work on the decors, once found Laughton working after hours to get used to move in the scenery.)</ref> in fact, while Renoir was still working on an early script, Laughton would talk about [[Alphonse Daudet]]'s story "The Last Lesson", which suggested to Renoir a relevant scene for the film.<ref>Sesonske, Alexander (1996) ''Persistence of Vision'' (Maspeth), no. 12–13, 1996<!-- ISBN # needed --></ref> Laughton played a henpecked husband who eventually murders his wife in ''[[The Suspect (1944 film)|The Suspect]]'' (1944), directed by [[Robert Siodmak]], who would become a good friend.<ref>Dumont, Hervé (1981) ''Robert Siodmak''. Lausanne: L'Age d'homme</ref> He played sympathetically an impoverished composer-pianist in ''[[Tales of Manhattan]]'' (1942) and starred in ''[[The Canterville Ghost (1944 film)|The Canterville Ghost]]'', based on [[The Canterville Ghost|the Oscar Wilde story]] in 1944.

Laughton appeared in two comedies with [[Deanna Durbin]], ''[[It Started with Eve]]'' (1941) and ''Because of Him'' (1946). He portrayed a bloodthirsty pirate in ''[[Captain Kidd (film)|Captain Kidd]]'' (1945) and a malevolent judge in Alfred Hitchcock's ''[[The Paradine Case]]'' (1947). Laughton played a megalomaniac press tycoon in ''[[The Big Clock (1948 film)|The Big Clock]]'' (1948). He had supporting roles as a Nazi in pre-war Paris in ''[[Arch of Triumph (1948 film)|Arch of Triumph]]'' (1948), as a bishop in ''The Girl from Manhattan'' (1948), as a seedy go-between in ''[[The Bribe]]'' (1949), and as a kindly widower in ''[[The Blue Veil (1951 film)|The Blue Veil]]'' (1951). He played a Bible-reading pastor in the multi-story ''[[A Miracle Can Happen]]'' (1947), but his piece wound up being cut and replaced with another featuring [[Dorothy Lamour]], and in this form the film was retitled as ''[[On Our Merry Way]]''. However, an original print of ''A Miracle Can Happen'' was sent abroad for dubbing before the Laughton sequence was deleted, and in this form it was shown in Spain as ''Una Encuesta Llamada Milagro''.

Laughton made his first colour film in Paris as [[Inspector Maigret]] in ''[[The Man on the Eiffel Tower]]'' (1949) and, wrote the ''Monthly Film Bulletin'', "appeared to overact" alongside [[Boris Karloff]] as a mad French nobleman in a version of [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s ''[[The Strange Door]]'' in 1951. He played a tramp in ''[[O. Henry's Full House]]'' (1952). He became the pirate Captain Kidd again, this time for comic effect, in ''[[Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd]]'' (1952). Laughton made a guest appearance on the ''Colgate Comedy Hour'' (featuring [[Abbott and Costello]]), in which he delivered the [[Gettysburg Address]]. In 1953 he played [[Herod Antipas]] in ''[[Salome (1953 film)|Salome]]'', and he reprised his role as Henry VIII in ''[[Young Bess]]'', a 1953 drama about Henry's children.

He returned to Britain to star in ''[[Hobson's Choice (1954 film)|Hobson's Choice]]'' (1954), directed by [[David Lean]]. Laughton received Academy Award and [[Golden Globe]] nominations for his role in ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)|Witness for the Prosecution]]'' (1957). He played a British admiral in ''[[Under Ten Flags]]'' (1960) and worked with [[Laurence Olivier]] in ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'' (1960). His final film was ''[[Advise & Consent]]'' (1962), for which he received favourable comments for his performance as a Southern US Senator (for which accent he studied recordings of [[Mississippi]] Senator [[John C. Stennis]]).

===''The Night of the Hunter'' and other projects===
{{main|The Night of the Hunter (film)}}
In 1955, Laughton directed ''[[The Night of the Hunter (film)|The Night of the Hunter]]'', starring [[Robert Mitchum]], [[Shelley Winters]] and [[Lillian Gish]], and produced by his friend [[Paul Gregory (producer)|Paul Gregory]]. The film has been cited among critics as one of the best of the 1950s,<ref name=Ebert1996>{{Cite journal|last=Ebert|first=Roger|year=1996|title=Review: Night of the Hunter|journal=Chicago Sun-Times|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19961124/REVIEWS08/401010344/1023|access-date=3 December 2008|archive-date=7 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207070242/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19961124%2FREVIEWS08%2F401010344%2F1023|url-status=dead}}</ref> and has been selected by the United States [[National Film Registry]] for preservation in the Library of Congress. At the time of its original release it was a critical and box-office failure, and Laughton never directed again. The documentary ''Charles Laughton Directs The Night of the Hunter'' by Robert Gitt (2002) features preserved rushes and outtakes with Laughton's audible off-camera direction.<ref>Robert Gitt in ''The Guardian'', 6 June 2003 [https://archive.today/20120709094338/http://film.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4684207-3181,00.html "Charles Laughton directs The Night of the Hunter."] Retrieved 25 October 2008.</ref>

Laughton had intended to follow up ''The Night of the Hunter'' with an adaptation of [[Norman Mailer]]'s ''[[The Naked and the Dead]]''. [[Terry Sanders|Terry]] and [[Denis Sanders|Dennis Sanders]] were hired as writers, and press releases announced that Robert Mitchum was to star and that [[Walter Schumann]] would compose the score.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A Tale of Two Brothers|journal=Point of View Magazine|date=Spring 2007|page=20|url=http://www.americanfilmfoundation.com/AFFTwoBrothers.pdf|access-date=11 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/806/the-naked-and-the-dead |title=The Naked and the Dead (1958) – Overview |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=14 June 2014}}</ref> Following the box-office failure of ''The Night of the Hunter'', Laughton was replaced by [[Raoul Walsh]] as director on [[The Naked and the Dead (film)|the film]] and recruited an uncredited writer to rewrite the Sanders brothers' screenplay.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanlegends.com/Interviews/paul_gregory_natd.html |title=American Legends Interviews Paul Gregory on making: The Naked and The Dead |publisher=Americanlegends.com |access-date=14 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/article/recalling_the_past_and_the_future_with_terry_sanders2/ |title=Recalling The Past (And The Future) With Terry Sanders&#124;Filmmakers, Film Industry, Film Festivals, Awards & Movie Reviews |date=13 February 1998 |publisher=Indiewire |access-date=14 June 2014}}</ref>

Laughton also developed a remake of the 1927 [[silent film]] ''[[White Gold (1927 film)|White Gold]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.filmcomment.com/article/unproduced-and-unfinished-films-l-through-z-a-ongoing-film-comment-project/|title=Unproduced and Unfinished Films: An Ongoing Film Comment project|website=[[Film Comment]]|date=May 2012|access-date=9 July 2023}}</ref>

==Theatre==
Laughton made his London stage debut in Gogol's ''[[The Government Inspector]]'' (1926). He appeared in many West End plays in the following few years and his earliest successes on the stage were as [[Hercule Poirot]] in ''Alibi'' (1928); he was the first actor to portray the Belgian detective in this stage adaptation of ''[[The Murder of Roger Ackroyd]]'', and as William Marble in ''Payment Deferred'', making his Lyceum Theatre (New York) debut in 1931.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-payment-deferred-an-actors/149213975/ |title='Payment Deferred' an Actor's Triumph |newspaper=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|location=New York |page=143 |date=2 October 1931 |access-date=12 June 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

[[File:Charles Laughton01.jpg|thumb|left|{{center|Charles Laughton in 1940}}]]

In 1926, he played the role of the criminal Ficsur in the original London production of [[Ferenc Molnár]]'s ''[[Liliom]]'' (The play became a musical in 1945 by [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]] as ''[[Carousel (musical)|Carousel]]'', where Ficsur became Jigger Craigin, but Laughton never appeared in the musical version). While Laughton is most remembered for his film career, he continued to work in the theatre, as when, after the success of ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' he appeared at the [[Old Vic Theatre]] in 1933 as [[Macbeth]], Lopakin in ''[[The Cherry Orchard]]'', [[Prospero]] in ''[[The Tempest]]'' and [[Angelo (Measure for Measure)|Angelo]] in ''[[Measure for Measure]]''. In the US, Laughton worked with [[Bertolt Brecht]] on a new English version of Brecht's play ''[[Galileo (play)|Galileo]]''. Laughton played the title role at the play's premiere in Los Angeles on 30 July 1947 and later that year in New York. This staging was directed by [[Joseph Losey]]. The processes by which Laughton painstakingly, over many weeks, created his Galileo—and incidentally, edited and translated the play along with Brecht—are detailed in an essay by Brecht, "Building Up A Part: Laughton's Galileo."<ref>Brecht, ''Life of Galileo''. Ed John Willett. London: Methuen, 1980. PP. 131–61.</ref>

Laughton had one of his most notable successes in the theatre by directing and playing the Devil in ''[[Don Juan in Hell]]'' beginning in 1950. The piece is actually the third act sequence from [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s play ''[[Man and Superman]]'', frequently cut from productions to reduce its playing time, consisting of a philosophical debate between [[Don Juan]] and the Devil with contributions from Doña Ana and the statue of Ana's father. Laughton conceived the piece as a staged reading and cast [[Charles Boyer]], [[Cedric Hardwicke]] and [[Agnes Moorehead]] (billed as "The First Drama Quartette") in the other roles. Boyer won a special [[Tony Award]] for his performance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Winners |url=https://www.tonyawards.com/winners/year/1952/category/special-tony-award/show/any/ |access-date=28 March 2023 |website=tonyawards.com}}</ref>

He directed several plays on Broadway, mostly under the production of his friend and Broadway producer [[Paul Gregory (producer)|Paul Gregory]]. His most notable box-office success as a director came in 1954, with ''[[The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (play)|The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial]]'', a full-length stage dramatisation by [[Herman Wouk]] of the court-martial scene in Wouk's novel ''[[The Caine Mutiny]]''. The play, starring [[Henry Fonda]] as defence attorney Barney Greenwald, opened the same year as the film starring [[Humphrey Bogart]] as Captain Queeg and [[José Ferrer]] as Greenwald based on the original novel, but did not affect that film's box-office performance. Laughton also directed a staged reading in 1953 of [[Stephen Vincent Benét]]'s ''[[John Brown's Body (poem)|John Brown's Body]]'', a full-length poem about the [[American Civil War]] and its aftermath. The production starred [[Tyrone Power]], [[Raymond Massey]] (re-creating his film characterisations of [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]]), and [[Judith Anderson]]. Laughton did not appear himself in either production, but ''John Brown's Body'' was recorded complete by Columbia Masterworks.{{Citation needed|date=June 2012}} He directed and starred in [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s, ''[[Major Barbara]]'' which ran on Broadway from approximately 1 November 1956, to 18 May 1957. Others in the cast were [[Glynis Johns]], [[Burgess Meredith]], [[Cornelia Otis Skinner]], and [[Eli Wallach]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-show/major-barbara-5750|title = Major Barbara – Broadway Show – Play &#124; IBDB}}</ref>

Laughton returned to the London stage in May 1958 to direct and star in [[Jane Arden (director)|Jane Arden]]'s ''[[The Party (1958 play)|The Party]]'' at the [[Noël Coward Theatre|New Theatre]] which also had [[Elsa Lanchester]] and [[Albert Finney]] in the cast. He made his final appearances on stage as [[Nick Bottom]] in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'', and as [[King Lear]] at the [[Shakespeare Memorial Theatre]] in 1959, although failing health resulted in both performances being disappointing, according to some British critics. His performance as King Lear was lambasted by critics, and [[Kenneth Tynan]] wrote that Laughton's Nick Bottom "... behaves in a manner that has nothing to do with acting, although it perfectly hits off the demeanor of a rapscallion uncle dressed up to entertain the children at a Christmas party". Although he did not appear in any later plays, Laughton toured the US with staged readings, including a successful appearance on the [[Stanford University]] campus in 1960.{{Citation needed|date=June 2012}}

==Recordings==
Laughton's voice, equally capable of a penetrating, theatre-filling shout and a soft, velvety tone, first appeared on 78-rpm records with the release of five British Regal Zonophone 10-inch discs entitled ''Voice of the Stars'' issued annually from 1934 to 1938. These featured short soundtrack snippets from the year's top films. He is heard on all five records in, respectively, ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'', ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'', ''Mutiny on the Bounty'', ''I, Claudius'' (curiously, since this film was unfinished and thus never released), and ''Vessel of Wrath''. In 1937 he recorded Lincoln's [[Gettysburg Address]] on a 10-inch Columbia 78, having made a strong impression with it in ''Ruggles of Red Gap''.

He made several other spoken-word recordings, one of his most famous being his one-man album of [[Charles Dickens]]'s ''Mr. Pickwick's Christmas'', a twenty-minute version of the Christmas chapter from Dickens's ''[[The Pickwick Papers]]''. It was first released by American [[Decca Records|Decca]] in 1944 as a four-record 78-rpm set, but was afterward transferred to LP. It frequently appeared on LP with a companion piece, Decca's 1941 adaptation of Dickens's ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'', starring [[Ronald Colman]] as Scrooge. Both stories were released together on a [[Deutsche Grammophon]] CD for Christmas 2005.

In 1943, Laughton recorded a reading of the Nativity story from [[St. Luke's Gospel]], and this was released in 1995 on CD on a [[Nimbus Records]] collection entitled ''Prima Voce: The Spirit of Christmas Past''. A Brunswick/American Decca LP entitled ''Readings from the Bible'' featured Laughton reading Garden of Eden, The Fiery Furnace, Noah's Ark, and David and Goliath. It was released in 1958. Laughton had previously included several Bible readings when he played the title role in the film ''Rembrandt''. Laughton also narrated the story on the soundtrack album of the film that he directed, ''Night of the Hunter'', accompanied by the film's score. This album has also been released on CD. Also, and derived from the film they made together, a complete radio show (18 June 1945) of ''The Canterville Ghost'' was broadcast which featured Laughton and Margaret O'Brien. It has been issued on a Pelican LP. {{Citation needed|date=June 2012}}

A two-LP [[Capitol Records]] album was released in 1962, the year of Laughton's death, entitled ''The Story Teller: A Session with Charles Laughton''. Taken from Laughton's one-man stage shows, it compiles dramatic readings from several sources. Three of the excerpts are broadcast annually on a [[Minnesota Public Radio]] [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]] program entitled ''[[Giving Thanks]]''. ''The Story Teller'' won a [[Grammy]] in 1962 for [[Best Spoken Word Recording]]. Although the album has yet to be released on compact disc, it can now be heard in its entirety online.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/TheStory-teller|title=THE STORY-TELLER|access-date=31 August 2019|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

==Television==
[[File:Ernie Ford Charles Laughton The Ford Show 1961.JPG|thumb|With [[Tennessee Ernie Ford]] in a guest appearance on ''[[The Ford Show]]'' (1961)]]
Laughton was the fill-in host on 9 September 1956, when [[Elvis Presley]] made his first of three appearances on [[CBS]]'s ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'', which garnered 60.7&nbsp;million viewers ([[Ed Sullivan]] was recuperating from a car accident). That same year, Laughton hosted the first of two programmes devoted to classical music entitled "Festival of Music", and telecast on the [[NBC]] [[television anthology series]] ''[[Producers' Showcase]]''. One of his last performances was on ''[[Checkmate (American TV series)|Checkmate]]'', in which he played a missionary recently returned from China. He threw himself into the role, travelling to China for several months to better understand his character.<ref>Booklet/Insert, "The Best of 'Checkmate'", Timeless Media Group</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1927, Laughton began a relationship with [[Elsa Lanchester]], at the time a castmate in a stage play. The two were married in 1929, became US citizens in 1950, and remained together until Laughton's death. Over the years, they appeared together in several films, including ''Rembrandt'' (1936), ''Tales of Manhattan'' (1942), ''[[The Vessel of Wrath]]'' (1938), and ''[[The Big Clock (film)|The Big Clock]]'' (1948). Lanchester portrayed [[Anne of Cleves]], Henry VIII's fourth wife, opposite Laughton in ''[[The Private Life of Henry VIII]]''. They both received Academy Award nominations for their performances in ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)|Witness for the Prosecution]]'' (1957)—Laughton for Best Actor, and Lanchester for Best Supporting Actress—but neither won.

Laughton's [[bisexuality]] was corroborated by several of his contemporaries and is generally accepted by Hollywood historians.<ref>{{Harvnb|Callow|1988}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Crowe|2001}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Higham|1976}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Jones|2004}}</ref> Hollywood procurer and prostitute [[Scotty Bowers]] alleged in his memoir ''[[Full Service (book)|Full Service]]'' that Laughton was in love with [[Tyrone Power]] and that his sex life was exclusively homosexual.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bowers |first1=Scotty |title=[[Full Service (book)|Full Service]] |date=2012 |publisher=Grove Press |location=UK |page=198}}</ref> Actress [[Maureen O'Hara]], a friend and co-star of Laughton, disputed the contention that his sexuality was the reason Laughton and Lanchester did not have children, saying Laughton told her he had wanted children but that it had not been possible because of a botched abortion that Lanchester had early in her career of performing [[burlesque]].<ref>{{Harvnb|O'Hara|2005}}</ref> In her autobiography, Lanchester acknowledged two abortions in her youth – one of the pregnancies purportedly by Laughton – but did not mention infertility.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}} According to her biographer, Charles Higham, the reason she did not have children was that she did not want any.<ref>{{Harvnb|Higham|1976|p=27}}</ref>

Laughton owned an estate on the bluffs above Pacific Coast Highway at 14954 Corona Del Mar in Pacific Palisades.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.capequity.com/properties/1005/|title=Cap Equity :: Homes – Pacific Palisades, Ca – Palisades Paradise|website=Cap Equity|access-date=31 August 2019}}</ref> The property suffered a landslide in 1944, referenced by [[Bertolt Brecht]] in his poem "Garden in Progress".<ref>''Weimar on the Pacific: German Exile Culture in Los Angeles'' by Erhard Bahr (page 96)</ref>

Laughton was a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] and supported the campaign of [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]] during the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 presidential election]].<ref>''Motion Picture and Television Magazine'', November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers</ref>

==Death==
[[File:Charles Laughton 1899-1962 Actor lived here 1928-1931.jpg|thumb|[[English Heritage]] [[blue plaque]] erected in 1992 at 15 Percy Street, London commemorating Charles Laughton]]

Laughton checked in to [[Cedars of Lebanon Hospital]] in July 1962 with what was described as a [[Spinal disc herniation|ruptured disc]].<ref name=varobit>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=Obituaries|date=19 December 1962|page=67}}</ref> He had surgery for the [[Vertebral compression fracture|collapse of a vertebra]] and it was revealed he had cancer of the spine.<ref name=nytap>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=17 December 1962|page=15|title=Charles Laughton Is Dead at 63; Character Actor For 3 Decades|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/12/17/archives/charles-laughton-is-dead-at-63-character-actor-for-3-decades.html|access-date=9 January 2021}}</ref> He left the hospital at the end of November.<ref name=nytap/> He was in a coma for some time and died at home on 15 December 1962 from [[renal cancer]] and [[bladder cancer]].<ref name=nytap/><ref>{{cite news|title=Charles Laughton Dies at 63|url=http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/dailynews/id/40422|access-date=29 August 2017|agency=Associated Press|publisher=The Daily News (St. John's, N.L.)|date=17 December 1962}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Widow of Charles Laughton Had Many Talents : Actress Elsa Lanchester Dies at 84|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-12-27-mn-730-story.html|access-date=29 August 2017|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=27 December 1986}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Callow|first1=Simon|title=Charles Laughton: dazzling player of monsters, misfits and kings|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/9700251/Charles-Laughton-dazzling-player-of-monsters-misfits-and-kings.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/9700251/Charles-Laughton-dazzling-player-of-monsters-misfits-and-kings.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=29 August 2017|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=24 November 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> His ashes were interred at [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)]].<ref>Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 26892-26893). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition</ref>

==Awards and nominations==
Laughton won the [[New York Film Critics Circle Awards 1935|New York Film Critics' Circle Awards]] for ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' and ''[[Ruggles of Red Gap]]'' in 1935.

'''Academy Awards'''
* 1933: Won [[Best Actor in a Leading Role]], ''[[The Private Life of Henry VIII]]''
* 1935: Nominated Best Actor in a Leading Role, ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]''
* 1957: Nominated Best Actor in a Leading Role, ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)|Witness for the Prosecution]]''

For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Laughton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walkoffame.com/charles-laughton |title=Charles Laughton Inducted to the Walk of Fame |website=walkoffame.com |publisher=Hollywood Chamber of Commerce |date=8 February 1960 |access-date=7 December 2016}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{{Main|Charles Laughton filmography}}

===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 (American TV series)|Checkmate]]'' (1961) as Reverend Wister (1 episode)

==Theatre==
===Actor===

:* 1926: ''[[The Government Inspector|The Revizor]]'', written by [[Nikolai Gogol]]
::first appearance, debut on the London stage (aka ''The Government Inspector'')
:* 1928: ''[[Alibi (play)|Alibi]]'', adapted from the novel ''[[The Murder of Roger Ackroyd]]'' by [[Agatha Christie]]
::police drama; he is the first actor to play detective [[Hercule Poirot]]
:* 1928: ''[[The Silver Tassie (play)|The Silver Tassie]]'' (premiere)
:* 1931: ''[[Payment Deferred]]'' adapted from the novel by [[C. S. Forester]]
::debut on the New York stage
:* 1932: ''The Fatal Alibi'' adapted from the novel ''[[The Murder of Roger Ackroyd]]'' by [[Agatha Christie]]
::police drama, Laughton is also the director (American version of ''Alibi'')
:* 1947: ''[[Life of Galileo|Galileo]]'' by [[Bertolt Brecht]]
:* 1950: ''[[The Cherry Orchard]]'' by [[Anton Chekhov]]
:* 1951 and 1952: ''[[Don Juan in Hell]]'', the third act of ''Man and Superman'' by [[George Bernard Shaw]]
::drama, Laughton is also the director
:* 1956–1957: ''[[Major Barbara]]'' by [[George Bernard Shaw]]
::comedy, Laughton is also the director
:* 1959: ''[[King Lear]]'' by [[William Shakespeare]]
::classic tragedy

===Director===

:* 1932: ''The Fatal Alibi'' adapted from the novel ''[[The Murder of Roger Ackroyd]]'' by [[Agatha Christie]]
::police drama, Laughton also acts in the play
:* 1951 and 1952: ''[[Don Juan in Hell]]'' (the third act of ''Man and Superman''), by [[George Bernard Shaw]]
::drama, Laughton also acts in the play
:* 1953: ''[[John Brown's Body (poem)|John Brown's Body]]'', adapted by Laughton from [[Stephen Vincent Benét]]
::with [[Judith Anderson]]. Recorded and released the same year on LP.
:* 1956–1957: ''[[Major Barbara]]'', by [[George Bernard Shaw]]
::comedy, Laughton also acts in the play
:* 1954–1955: ''[[The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (play)|The Caine Mutiny Court Martial]]'', adapted from the novel by [[Herman Wouk]]
::drama, with [[Henry Fonda]], adapted as ''[[The Caine Mutiny (1954 film)|The Caine Mutiny]]'' by [[Edward Dmytryk]]
:* 1955: ''[[The Night of the Hunter (film)|The Night of the Hunter]]'', a film adapted by [[James Agee]] from the [[The Night of the Hunter (novel)|book]] by [[Davis Grubb]]
::drama, with [[Robert Mitchum]]

===Producer===

:* 1955: ''3 for Tonight''
::musical revue, with [[Harry Belafonte]]

===Parodies===
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.

== See also ==
* [[List of actors with Academy Award nominations]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{Cite book |last=Brown |first= William |title=Charles Laughton A Pictorial Treasury of his Films |publisher=Falcon Enterprises|location=New York |year=1970 }}
* {{Cite book |last= Callow |first= Simon |title=Charles Laughton: A Difficult Actor |publisher=Grove Press |location=New York |year=1988 |isbn=0-8021-1047-9 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Crowe |first= Cameron|title=Conversations With Wilder |publisher=Knopf |location=New York |year=2001 |isbn=0-375-70967-3 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Higham |first= Charles |title=Charles Laughton: An Intimate Biography |publisher=Doubleday |location=New York |year=1976 |isbn=0-385-09403-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/charleslaughton00char }}
* {{Cite book |last=Jones |first= Preston Neal |title=Heaven and Hell to Play With: The Filming of The Night of the Hunter |publisher=Limelight Editions |location=New York |year=2004 |isbn=0-87910-974-2 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Lanchester |first= Elsa |title=Charles Laughton and I |publisher=Faber and Faber|location=London |page=271 |year=1938 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Lanchester |first=Elsa |title=Elsa Lanchester Herself |publisher=Michael Joseph|location=London |year=1983 |isbn=0-7181-2309-3 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Lyon |first=James K. |title=Bertolt Brecht in America |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |year=1980 |isbn=0-19-502639-X |url=https://archive.org/details/endofworldintrod0000vale }}
* {{Cite book |last=O'Hara |first= Maureen |title='Tis Herself |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York|year=2005|isbn=0-7432-4693-4 }}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Parker |editor-first= John |title=Who's Who in the Theatre 10th revised edition |location=London |year=1947 |pages=892–3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Singer |first= Kurt |title=The Charles Laughton Story|publisher=John C. Winston Company|location=London |year=1954 }}
* ''Tell Me a Story'' (1957) and ''The Fabulous Country'' (1962). Two literary anthologies selected by Charles Laughton. They contain pieces which were presented by him in his reading tours across America, with written introductions which give some insight about Laughton's thoughts. This selection presents texts from the Bible, [[Charles Dickens]], [[Thomas Wolfe]], [[Ray Bradbury]], and [[James Thurber]] to name just a few.
* Diverse authors, articles in The Stonyhurst magazine: ''Charles Laughton at Stonyhurst'' by David Knight (Volume LIV, No. 501, 2005), ''Charles Laughton. A Talent in Bloom (1899–1931)'', by Gloria Porta (Volume LIV, No. 502, 2006)

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{official website|http://charleslaughton.freeservers.com }}
* {{IMDb name|1452}}
* {{Tcmdb name}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{Screenonline name|id=462922}}
* {{Find a Grave|606}}
* [http://rootingforlaughton.blogspot.com ''Rooting for Laughton'': ''Laughtonians of the world, unite!'' (Weblog)]
* [http://www.fyne.co.uk/index.php?item=547 Gay Greats]
* [http://www.thankyouoneandall.co.uk/letters/jack.htm Call him Jack...Thank you for introducing me to Charles Laughton and to Life with a capital L!]
{{Charles Laughton}}
{{Navboxes
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{{AcademyAwardBestActor 1927-1940}}
{{David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor}}
{{Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album 1960s}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor}}
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