Elsa Lanchester
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1902-10-28
Day of Death
1986-12-26 (84 years old)
Place of Birth
Lewisham, London, England, UK
Elsa Lanchester
Biography
Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (October 28, 1902 – December 26, 1986) was a British actress with a long career in theatre, film and television and former dancer.
Lanchester studied dance as a child and after the First World War began performing in theatre and cabaret, where she established her career over the following decade. She met the actor Charles Laughton in 1927, and they were married two years later. She began playing small roles in British films, including the role of Anne of Cleves with Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). Laughton's success in American films resulted in the couple moving to Hollywood, where Lanchester played small film roles.
Her role as the bride in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), brought her recognition, and came to be one of the roles most closely associated with her throughout her life. Lanchester played supporting roles through the 1940s and 1950s. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Come to the Stable (1949) and Witness for the Prosecution (1957), the last of twelve films in which she appeared with Laughton. Following Laughton's death in 1962, Lanchester resumed her career with appearances in such Disney films as Mary Poppins (1964), That Darn Cat! (1965) and Blackbeard's Ghost (1968). The horror film, Willard, (1971) was highly successful and one of her last roles was in Murder By Death (1976).
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Known For
Acting
(2018)
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
(2014)
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
as Mary Shelley / The Monster's Mate (archive footage)
(2009)
Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
(2007)
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
as Self (archive footage)
(2000)
The American Nightmare
as Self
(1998)
Universal Horror
as (archive footage)
(1993)
(1992)
Commercial Entertainment Product
as The Monster's Bride
(1991)
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / The Monster's Mate
(1983)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1980)
Die Laughing
as Sophie
(1976)
Murder by Death
as Jessica Marbles
(1973)
Arnold
as Hester
(1973)
Terror in the Wax Museum
as Julia Hawthorn
(1971)
Willard
as Henrietta Stiles
(1969)
Me, Natalie
as Miss Dennison
(1969)
Rascal
as Mrs. Satterfield
(1969)
My Dog, the Thief
as Mrs. Formby
(1969)
In Name Only
as Gertrude Caruso
(1968)
Blackbeard's Ghost
as Emily Stowecroft
(1967)
Easy Come, Easy Go
as Madame Neherina
(1965)
That Darn Cat!
as Mrs. MacDougall
(1964)
Mary Poppins
as Katie Nanna
(1964)
Pajama Party
as Aunt Wendy
(1964)
Honeymoon Hotel
as Chambermaid
(1962)
The Flood
as Noah's wife
(1958)
Bell, Book and Candle
as Aunt Queenie Holroyd
(1957)
Witness for the Prosecution
as Miss Plimsoll
(1955)
Alice in Wonderland
as Red Queen
(1955)
The Glass Slipper
as Widow Sonder
(1954)
Hell's Half Acre
as Lida O'Reilly
(1954)
3 Ring Circus
as The Bearded Lady
(1953)
The Girls of Pleasure Island
as Thelma
(1952)
Les Miserables
as Madame Magloire
(1952)
Androcles and the Lion
as Megaera
(1952)
Dreamboat
as Mathilda Coffey
(1950)
Mystery Street
as Mrs. Smerrling
(1950)
Buccaneer's Girl
as Madame Brizar
(1950)
Frenchie
as Countess
(1950)
The Petty Girl
as Dr. Crutcher
(1949)
The Inspector General
as Maria
(1949)
The Secret Garden
as Martha
(1949)
Come to the Stable
as Amelia Potts
(1948)
The Big Clock
as Louise Patterson
(1947)
The Bishop's Wife
as Matilda
(1947)
Northwest Outpost
as Princess 'Tanya' Tatiana
(1946)
The Spiral Staircase
as Mrs. Oates
(1946)
The Razor's Edge
as Miss Keith
(1944)
Passport to Destiny
as Ella Muggins
(1943)
Lassie Come Home
as Mrs. Helen Carraclough
(1943)
Forever and a Day
as Mamie
(1943)
Thumbs Up
as Emily "Emmy" Ffinch
(1942)
Tales of Manhattan
as Elsa (Mrs Charles) Smith
(1942)
Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake
as Bristol Isabel
(1941)
Ladies in Retirement
as Emily Creed
(1940)
(1938)
Vessel of Wrath
as Martha Jones
(1936)
Rembrandt
as Hendrickje Stoffels
(1935)
Bride of Frankenstein
as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / The Monster's Mate
(1935)
David Copperfield
as Clickett
(1935)
Naughty Marietta
as Madame d'Annard
(1935)
The Ghost Goes West
as Miss Shepperton
(1933)
The Private Life of Henry VIII
as Anne of Cleves
(1931)
The Stronger Sex
as Thompson
(1931)
Potiphar's Wife
as Thérèse
(1931)
The Love Habit
as Matilde
(1931)
The Officers' Mess
as Cora Melville
(1930)
Comets
as Herself
(1930)
(1928)
The Constant Nymph
as Lady
(1928)
Blue Bottles
as Elsa
(1928)
Daydreams
as Elsa / Heroine in Dream Sequence
(1928)
The Tonic
as Elsa
(1927)
One of the Best
as Kitty
(1924)
The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama
as Beatrice de Carolle