Known For
Acting
Born
Oct 28, 1902
Died
Dec 26, 1986
Place of Birth
Lewisham, London, England, UK
Credits
114 titles
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). Description above from the Wikipedia article Elsa Lanchester, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Known For
Filmography
Charmed Lives: A Family Romance
Self (archive footage)
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
Mary Shelley / The Monster's Mate (archive footage)
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
Self (archive footage)
The American Nightmare
Self
Universal Horror
(archive footage)
Turnabout: The Story of the Yale Puppeteers
Self
Commercial Entertainment Product
The Monster's Bride
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / The Monster's Mate
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
(archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Die Laughing
Sophie
The Hollywood Greats: Charles Laughton
Self
Murder by Death
Jessica Marbles
Arnold
Hester
Terror in the Wax Museum
Julia Hawthorn
Willard
Henrietta Stiles
Night Gallery
Nanny and the Professor
Aunt Henrietta
In Name Only
Gertrude Caruso
My Dog, the Thief
Mrs. Formby
Then Came Bronson
Hattie Calter
The Bill Cosby Show
Mrs. Wochuk
Me, Natalie
Miss Dennison
Rascal
Mrs. Satterfield
Here's Lucy
Mumsie Westcott
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
Blackbeard's Ghost
Emily Stowecroft
Mannix
Portia Penhaven
Mondo Hollywood
Easy Come, Easy Go
Madame Neherina
That Darn Cat!
Mrs. MacDougall
The John Forsythe Show
Margaret Culver
Mary Poppins
Katie Nanna
Pajama Party
Aunt Wendy
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Dr. Agnes Dabree
Honeymoon Hotel
Chambermaid
Burke's Law
Mrs. Ormsby
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Aggie McGregor
Noah and the Flood
Noah's wife
Ben Casey
Follow the Sun
Startime
Self
Adventures in Paradise
Miss Creshaw
Bell, Book and Candle
Aunt Queenie Holroyd
Shirley Temple's Storybook
Mother Goose
Witness for the Prosecution
Miss Plimsoll
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Self