I have a face like the behind of an elephant.
They can't censor the gleam in my eye.
Laughton made his American film debut in the 1932 film Devil and the Deep in which he co-starred with Gary Cooper, Tallulah Bankhead, and Cary Grant.
Laughton's wife, Elsa Lanchester, would claim after his death that he was homosexual and that they never consumated their marriage.
Won the New York Critics Circle Award in 1936 for his performance as Captain William Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty.
Laughton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is located at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.
Laughton fulfilled a lifelong wish to visit Japan in 1960.
Laughton had a one man stage show where he gave dramatic readings for many years. A recording ot this stage show won a Grammy in 1962.
In the 1928 London stage play, Alibi, Laughton became the first actor to play Agatha Christie's famed detective, Hercule Poirot. Laughton later repeated the role on Broadway.
His parents' names were Robert and Elizabeth Conlan Laughton.
Laughton is buried in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetary in Los Angeles.
Despite never getting a chance to direct another film after Night of the Hunter, Laughton directed several Broadway plays including Don Juan in Hell and Major Barbara.
Laughton played notorious pirate Captain William Kidd on-screen twice. Once in 1945's Captain Kidd and the second time for laughs in 1953's Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd.
Laughton served during World War I where he was the victim of a poison gas attack by German forces.
Laughton and Bela Lugosi did not get along well when they appeared together in the 1932 film Island of the Lost Souls. Lugosi reportedly said of Laughton, "I thought I was an arrogant guy until I met him."
Laughton appeared with wife Elsa Lanchester in Rembrandt, The Private Life of Henry VIII, and Witness for the Prosecution.
Laughton directed one film--1955's Night of the Hunter which starred Robert Mitchum. Mitchum later said that Laughton was the best director he ever worked with.
Laughton won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1933 for his performance in the title role of The Private Life of Henry VIII.
Laughton and his wife, Elsa Lanchester, became American citizens in 1950.
Laughton played the title role in The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1939. He beat out Lon Chaney, Jr., son of the original portrayer, for the role.
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