Elsa Lanchester facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Elsa Lanchester
Lanchester in 1935
Born	Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (1902-10-28)28 October 1902 Lewisham, London, England
Died	26 December 1986(1986-12-26) (aged 84) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1925–1983
Spouse(s)	Charles Laughton ​ ​ (m. 1929; died 1962)​
Parent(s)	Edith Lanchester (mother)
Relatives	Waldo Lanchester (brother)

Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (born October 28, 1902 – died December 26, 1986) was a talented British-American actress. She had a very long career acting in plays, movies, and on television.

When she was a child, Elsa studied dance. After World War I, she started performing in plays and cabaret shows. This is how she became well-known over the next ten years. She met the actor Charles Laughton in 1927, and they got married two years later. Elsa began acting in small parts in British movies. One of her roles was Anne of Cleves in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), where she acted alongside Laughton.

Elsa's success in American movies led her and Charles to move to Hollywood. There, she continued to play many different roles. Her most famous role was the main character in Bride of Frankenstein (1935). She continued to play supporting roles throughout the 1940s and 1950s. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress twice. These nominations were for her roles in Come to the Stable (1949) and Witness for the Prosecution (1957). This last film was one of twelve movies she made with her husband, Charles Laughton.

After Charles Laughton passed away in 1962, Elsa continued her acting career. She appeared in popular Disney films like Mary Poppins (1964), That Darn Cat! (1965), and Blackbeard's Ghost (1968). The horror movie Willard (1971) was very successful. One of her last roles was in the mystery comedy Murder by Death (1976).

Elsa's Early Life

Elsa Sullivan Lanchester was born in Lewisham, London, England. Her parents were James "Séamus" Sullivan and Edith "Biddy" Lanchester. They had an unconventional lifestyle. Elsa's older brother, Waldo Lanchester, was a puppeteer. He had his own marionette company.

Elsa studied dance in Paris with a famous dancer named Isadora Duncan. However, Elsa did not enjoy her time there. When World War I started, the dance school closed. Elsa returned to the UK. Around age twelve, she began teaching dance to children in her neighborhood. This helped her earn some extra money for her family.

Elsa's Acting Career

After World War I, Elsa Lanchester started a group called the Children's Theatre. Later, she opened a nightclub called the Cave of Harmony. At this club, she performed modern plays and cabaret acts. She was known for singing old Victorian songs.

Her first movie role was in an amateur film called The Scarlet Woman in 1924. She became famous enough that a record company asked her to record some of her songs. She recorded "Please Sell No More Drink to My Father" and "He Didn't Oughter" in 1926. Later, she recorded "Don't Tell My Mother I'm Living in Sin" and "The Ladies Bar" in 1930.

Her performances in clubs led to more serious acting jobs on stage. In 1927, she met Charles Laughton while they were both in a play called Mr Prohack. They got married two years later. They often acted together in plays and movies. She played his daughter in the stage play Payment Deferred (1931). In 1936, she played Peter Pan to Laughton's Captain Hook in a play by J. M. Barrie. Their last play together was The Party in London in 1958.

Early Film Roles

Elsa's first film was The Scarlet Woman (1925). In 1928, she appeared in three short silent films. These were Blue Bottles, Daydreams, and The Tonic. H. G. Wells, a famous writer, wrote these films for her. Charles Laughton also had small parts in all of them.

Elsa and Charles also sang a duet in a 1930 film called Comets. Elsa appeared in other early British "talkies" (movies with sound). These included Potiphar's Wife (1931), which also starred Laurence Olivier. She acted with Laughton again as Anne of Cleves in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). Laughton played Henry VIII in this movie.

Moving to Hollywood

Charles Laughton started making movies in Hollywood. Elsa joined him there. She had small roles in David Copperfield (1935) and Naughty Marietta (1935). These roles helped her get the main part in Bride of Frankenstein (1935). This is probably the role she is most remembered for.

Colin Clive, Lanchester, Boris Karloff and Ernest Thesiger in Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Universal's art director Karoly Grosz designed this advertisement featuring Lanchester and Boris Karloff

Elsa and Charles returned to Britain to act together in Rembrandt (1936). Later, they were in Vessel of Wrath (1938). They both went back to Hollywood. Charles made The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939). Elsa did not appear in another film until Ladies in Retirement (1941).

In Tales of Manhattan (1942), Elsa and Charles played a married couple. They also appeared together in Forever and a Day (1943). Elsa received top billing (her name was listed first) in Passport to Destiny (1944). This was the only time this happened in her Hollywood career.

Lanchester in the 1940s

Later Roles and Awards

Elsa played supporting roles in movies like The Spiral Staircase and The Razor's Edge (both 1946). She was the housekeeper in The Bishop's Wife (1947). In this film, David Niven played the bishop, Loretta Young his wife, and Cary Grant an angel. Elsa played a funny artist in the thriller The Big Clock (1948). Charles Laughton starred in this movie as a powerful newspaper owner.

She played a painter in Come to the Stable (1949). For this role, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. During the late 1940s and 1950s, she had many small but memorable supporting roles in films. At the same time, she performed her own solo show in Hollywood. She sang unique songs, which she later recorded on albums.

On screen, she acted with Danny Kaye in The Inspector General (1949). She played a landlady who blackmailed people in Mystery Street (1950). She was also Shelley Winters's travel friend in Frenchie (1950). More supporting roles followed in the early 1950s. She had a short role as the Bearded Lady in 3 Ring Circus (1954).

Elsa had another important role with her husband in Witness for the Prosecution (1957). This movie was based on a play by Agatha Christie. Both Elsa and Charles were nominated for Academy Awards for their acting in this film. Elsa was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for the second time. Charles was nominated for Best Actor. Neither of them won an Oscar. However, Elsa did win the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for the movie.

Elsa played Aunt Queenie, a witch, in Bell, Book and Candle (1958). She also appeared in Mary Poppins (1964). In this movie, her husband's goddaughter, Karen Dotrice, also starred. Other films included That Darn Cat! (1965) and Blackbeard's Ghost (1968).

She also appeared on television shows. These included The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford in 1959. She was in two episodes of The Wonderful World of Disney. She also had memorable guest roles in an episode of I Love Lucy in 1956. She appeared in episodes of The Eleventh Hour (1964) and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1965).

Elsa continued to make movies occasionally. She sang a duet with Elvis Presley in Easy Come, Easy Go (1967). She played the mother in the original version of Willard (1971). This movie was very popular. She played Jessica Marbles, a detective character, in the 1976 movie Murder by Death. Her last film role was as Sophie in Die Laughing in 1980.

In the 1950s, she released three music albums. Two were called "Songs for a Shuttered Parlour" and "Songs for a Smoke-Filled Room". Charles Laughton introduced each song and even sang with Elsa on one song. Her third album was called "Cockney London," which featured old London songs.

Elsa's Personal Life

Elsa Lanchester married Charles Laughton in 1929. She wrote a book about her relationship with him called Charles Laughton and I. In March 1983, she released her autobiography, titled Elsa Lanchester Herself.

Elsa Lanchester passed away in Woodland Hills, California on December 26, 1986. She was 84 years old. She died at the Motion Picture Hospital from pneumonia. Her body was cremated, and her ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.

Filmography

Film roles

With Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

Colin Clive, Lanchester, Boris Karloff and Ernest Thesiger in Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Lobby card for re-release of Bride of Frankenstein with Douglas Walton as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lanchester as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and Gavin Gordon as Lord Byron

Partial television credits

• I Love Lucy (1956) as Mrs Edna Grundy, episode "Off to Florida"
• Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964) "The McGregor Affair"
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1965) as Dr. Agnes Dabree
• Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1969) as Mrs. Formby, episodes "My Dog, the Thief", parts 1 and 2
• The Bill Cosby Show (1970) as Mrs. Wochuk, episode "The Elevator Doesn't Stop Here Anymore"
• Nanny and the Professor (1971) as Aunt Henrietta (3 episodes)
• Night Gallery (1972) as Lydia Bowen, episode "Green Fingers"
• Here's Lucy (1973) as Mumsie Westcott, episode "Lucy Goes to Prison"
• Mannix (1973) as Portia Penhaven, episode "A Matter of Principle"

See also

In Spanish: Elsa Lanchester para niños