Elsa Lanchester
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
Credits
- 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 · Turnabout: The Story of the Yale Puppeteers as Self
- 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
- 1970 · Night Gallery as
- 1970 · Nanny and the Professor as Aunt Henrietta
- 1969 · In Name Only as Gertrude Caruso
- 1969 · My Dog the Thief as Mrs. Formby
- 1969 · Then Came Bronson as
- 1969 · The Bill Cosby Show as Mrs. Wochuk
- 1969 · Me, Natalie as Miss Dennison
- 1969 · Rascal as Mrs. Satterfield
- 1968 · Here's Lucy as Mumsie Westcott
- 1968 · The Dick Cavett Show as Self - Guest
- 1968 · Blackbeard's Ghost as Emily Stowecroft
- 1967 · Mannix as
- 1967 · Mannix as Portia Penhaven
- 1967 · Easy Come, Easy Go as Madame Neherina
- 1965 · That Darn Cat! as Mrs. MacDougall
- 1965 · The John Forsythe Show as Margaret Culver
- 1964 · Mary Poppins as Katie Nanna
- 1964 · Pajama Party as Aunt Wendy
- 1964 · Honeymoon Hotel as Chambermaid
- 1963 · Burke's Law as Mrs. Ormsby
- 1963 · Burke's Law as Bessie Mopes
- 1962 · The Merv Griffin Show as Self
- 1962 · The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as Aggie McGregor
- 1962 · The Flood as Noah's wife
- 1961 · Ben Casey as
- 1961 · Follow the Sun as
- 1959 · Adventures in Paradise as Miss Creshaw
- 1958 · Bell, Book and Candle as Aunt Queenie Holroyd
- 1957 · Witness for the Prosecution as Miss Plimsoll
- 1956 · The Dinah Shore Chevy Show as Self
- 1955 · Alice in Wonderland as Red Queen
- 1955 · The 20th Century Fox Hour as
- 1955 · The Glass Slipper as Widow Sonder
- 1954 · 3 Ring Circus as The Bearded Lady
- 1954 · The Wonderful World of Disney as Mrs. Formby
- 1954 · Hell's Half Acre as Lida O'Reilly
- 1953 · The Girls of Pleasure Island as Thelma
- 1953 · General Electric Theater as Hanna Winters
- 1952 · Androcles and the Lion as Megaera
- 1952 · The Ford Television Theatre as Rosie Bowker
- 1952 · Les Miserables as Madame Magloire
- 1952 · Dreamboat as Mathilda Coffey
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Red Queen
- 1951 · I Love Lucy as Edna Grundy
- 1951 · Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Betsey Monk, the Widow
- 1950 · Frenchie as Countess
- 1950 · Lux Video Theatre as Emily
- 1950 · Lux Video Theatre as Miss Mabel
- 1950 · Star Time as Self
- 1950 · The Petty Girl as Dr. Crutcher
- 1950 · Mystery Street as Mrs. Smerrling
- 1950 · Buccaneer's Girl as Madame Brizar
- 1950 · Robert Montgomery Presents as
- 1949 · The Inspector General as Maria
- 1949 · Come to the Stable as Amelia Potts
- 1949 · The Secret Garden as Martha
- 1948 · Studio One as Jenny Pratt
- 1948 · The Ed Sullivan Show as Self - Guest
- 1948 · The Big Clock as Louise Patterson
- 1947 · The Bishop's Wife as Matilda
- 1947 · Northwest Outpost as Princess 'Tanya' Tatiana
- 1946 · The Razor's Edge as Miss Keith
- 1946 · The Spiral Staircase as Mrs. Oates
- 1944 · Passport to Destiny as Ella Muggins
- 1943 · Lassie Come Home as Mrs. Helen Carraclough
- 1943 · Thumbs Up as Emily "Emmy" Ffinch
- 1943 · Forever and a Day as Mamie
- 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 · Cavalcade of the Academy Awards as Self
- 1938 · Vessel of Wrath as Martha Jones
- 1936 · Rembrandt as Hendrickje Stoffels
- 1935 · The Ghost Goes West as Miss Shepperton
- 1935 · Bride of Frankenstein as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / The Monster's Mate
- 1935 · Naughty Marietta as Madame d'Annard
- 1935 · David Copperfield as Clickett
- 1933 · The Private Life of Henry VIII as Anne of Cleves
- 1931 · The Officers' Mess as Cora Melville
- 1931 · Potiphar's Wife as Thérèse
- 1931 · The Stronger Sex as Thompson
- 1931 · The Love Habit as Matilde
- 1930 · Ashes as
- 1930 · Comets as Herself
- 1928 · Blue Bottles as Elsa
- 1928 · The Tonic as Elsa
- 1928 · Daydreams as Elsa / Heroine in Dream Sequence
- 1928 · The Constant Nymph as Lady
- 1927 · One of the Best as Kitty
- 1924 · The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama as Beatrice de Carolle