Elsa Lanchester
Acting
- Born:
- 1902-10-28
- Died:
- 1986-12-26
- Place of birth:
- Lewisham, London, England, UK
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
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
The American Nightmare
Universal Horror
Turnabout: The Story of the Yale Puppeteers
Commercial Entertainment Product
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Die Laughing
Murder by Death
Arnold
Terror in the Wax Museum
Willard
Night Gallery
Nanny and the Professor
In Name Only
My Dog, the Thief
Then Came Bronson
The Bill Cosby Show
Me, Natalie
Rascal
Here's Lucy
The Dick Cavett Show
Blackbeard's Ghost
Mannix
Mondo Hollywood
Easy Come, Easy Go
That Darn Cat!
The John Forsythe Show
Mary Poppins
Pajama Party
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Honeymoon Hotel
Burke's Law
The Merv Griffin Show
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Noah and the Flood
Ben Casey
Follow the Sun
Startime
Adventures in Paradise
Bell, Book and Candle
Shirley Temple's Storybook
Witness for the Prosecution
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Alice in Wonderland
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Heidi
The Glass Slipper
3 Ring Circus
The Wonderful World of Disney
Hell's Half Acre
The Girls of Pleasure Island
General Electric Theater
Androcles and the Lion
Omnibus
The Ford Television Theatre
Les Miserables
Dreamboat
Hallmark Hall of Fame
I Love Lucy
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Frenchie
Lux Video Theatre
The Petty Girl
Mystery Street
Buccaneer's Girl
Robert Montgomery Presents
The Inspector General
The Ed Wynn Show
Come to the Stable
The Secret Garden
Studio One
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Big Clock
The Bishop's Wife
Northwest Outpost
The Razor's Edge
The Spiral Staircase
Passport to Destiny
Golden Globe Awards
Lassie Come Home
Thumbs Up
Forever and a Day
Tales of Manhattan
Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake
Ladies in Retirement
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Vessel of Wrath
Rembrandt
The Ghost Goes West
Bride of Frankenstein
Naughty Marietta
David Copperfield
The Private Life of Henry VIII
The Officers' Mess
Potiphar's Wife
The Stronger Sex
The Love Habit
Ashes
Comets
Mr. Smith Wakes Up
Blue Bottles
Daydreams
The Tonic
The Constant Nymph
One of the Best
The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama