A dramatic actor born in Yorkshire, England in 1899. Began acting in 1926, married fellow actress Elsa Lanchester (best known as Bride of Frankenstein) in 1929, and moved to Hollywood in 1931.
Among the decidedly eccentric roles he took on were Henry VIII in 1933's The Private Life Of Henry The Eighth (for which he won The Oscar for Best Actor), Captain Bligh in 1935's Mutiny on the Bounty, Quasimodo in 1939's The Hunchback of Notre Dame and (later in his career) Senator Gracchus in Stanley Kubrick 's Spartacus.
He was also the director of ONE movie, the 1955 thriller The Night of the Hunter. It did so poorly, that he never got the chance to direct again. However, the film was eventually Vindicated by History, and today it is considered to be one of the greatest thrillers ever made.
Laughton died from cancer in 1962.
Large Ham if there ever was one.