Charles Laughton

Charles Laughton 1899-1962, Anglo-American actor, b. Scarborough, England. A large, versatile character actor, Laughton was successful both in films and on the stage. In The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), his lusty portrait of the king, for which he won the Academy Award, was startlingly direct. Other notable roles include Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), and Advise and Consent (1962). He directed one film, The Night of the Hunter (1955), a forceful allegory of good and evil. In 1951 he directed and starred in a dramatic reading of Shaw's Don Juan in Hell.

Bibliography: See biography by his wife, Elsa Lanchester (1938); S. Callow, Charles Laughton: A Difficult Actor (1987, repr. 1997).

Laughton, Charles (1899–1962), actor and director. The heavyset, wry‐faced Englishman first appeared in America in two thrillers, Payment Deferred (1931) and The Fatal Alibi (1932). He did not return to the stage until after a long, distinguished film career, appearing in his own adaptation of Galileo (1947) then playing the Devil in Don Juan in Hell (1951), also directing the production. He next adapted and directed John Brown's Body (1953) and staged The Caine Mutiny Court‐Martial (1954). Laughton's last appearance was as Undershaft in a 1956 revival of Major Barbara, which he staged. Biographies: Charles Laughton and I, Elsa Lanchester (his wife), 1939; Charles Laughton: A Difficult Actor, Simon Callow, 1987.