Charles Laughton (July 1, 1899 – December 15, 1962) was an English stage and film character actor, director, producer and screenwriter who had a successful career in Hollywood.
Laughton, was one of the most recognisable and beloved character actors of his generation, and portrayed everything from monsters, misfits and kings, among Laughton’s biggest film-hits were The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Mutiny on the Bounty, Ruggles of Red Gap, Jamaica Inn, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Big Clock. In his later career, he took up stage directing, notably in The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, and George Bernard Shaw’s Don Juan in Hell, in which he also starred. He directed one film, the acclaimed thriller The Night of the Hunter.