Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was an English stage and film character actor, director, producer and screenwriter who had a successful career in Hollywood.

Laughton was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future wife Elsa Lanchester, with whom he lived and worked until his death; they had no children.