When he had had enough of his fifth marriage to wife Agi, he had the locks changed on their house while she was out shopping.
When his daughter informed him she was divorcing her husband, Edward Brash, Rains said, "Tell me, was it sex?".
When his daughter Jennifer was 17, her mother, Frances Proppper, woke her up in the middle of the night, said she was leaving her father, and wanted to know if Jennifer wanted to come with her. Jennifer declined.
While filming Notorious (1946) with Alfred Hitchcock and Ingrid Bergman, Hitchcock suggested Rains wear platforms in his shoes as Bergman was very tall. Although embarrassed, Rains agreed to this. One day while Rains was talking to Bergman, Hitchcock came by, lifting Rains' pant leg and revealing his platforms, commenting "The shame of Rains".
While living with, but before their marriage, his fourth wife, Frances, their house burned down. The official cause of fire was a lightning strike. Rains later found out from a neighbor that it was arson -- his groundskeeper had burned it down.
Won Broadway's 1951 Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) for "Darkness at Noon."