Charles Laughton

Charles Laughton was born in Yorkshire, England on July 1, 1899. He was the son of Yorkshire hotelier Robert Laughton. Eliza (nee Conlon) Laughton, his mother, was a devout Roman Catholic of Irish ancestry who raised her children in that faith. Laughton attended Scarborough College, a local boys' school in his area, for a short time before enrolling at Stonyhurst College, an English Jesuit school.

After graduating from Stonyhurst at the age of 16, Laughton was expected to take over the family company. His love, however, was in the performing arts, and in 1925 he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Laughton made his professional stage debut in the production of The Government Inspector in London in 1926. This job gave him the opportunity to demonstrate his flexibility as a thespian by portraying both wicked and good personalities.

Following a string of successful theatrical appearances, Laughton made his cinema debut in the 1928 British-Comedy, silent comedy Blue Bottles (1928), where he met his future wife Elsa Lanchester. Laughton made his New York stage debut in 1931, which led to numerous film offers, and the following year he starred in his first Hollywood film, The Old Dark House (1932). (1932). Laughton's true breakthrough role came in the 1933 film The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the titular King Henry VIII, on whom the film was loosely based.

Detailed information:
Born: July 1, 1899, in Victoria Hotel, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, UK
Died: December 15, 1962, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (gall bladder cancer)