Portrait of Elsa Lanchester

Elsa Lanchester

Acting

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

Born: October 28, 1902

Place of Birth: Lewisham, London, England, UK

Filmography

2018
2014
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film

as Mary Shelley / The Monster's Mate (archive footage)

2007
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman

as Self (archive footage)

1998
Universal Horror

as (archive footage)

1992
Commercial Entertainment Product

as The Monster's Bride

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
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 Hattie Calter

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 Portia Penhaven

1967
Mannix

as Edna Barrington

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
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

as Dr. Agnes Dabree

1964
Honeymoon Hotel

as Chambermaid

1963
Burke's Law

as Mrs. Ormsby

1963
Burke's Law

as Bessie Mopes

1962
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

as Aggie McGregor

1962
Noah and the Flood

as Noah's Wife

1959
Adventures in Paradise

as Miss Creshaw

1958
Bell, Book and Candle

as Aunt Queenie Holroyd

1958
1957
1955
1955
Heidi

as Fräulein Rottenmeier

1955
The Glass Slipper

as Widow Sonder

1954
3 Ring Circus

as The Bearded Lady

1954
Hell's Half Acre

as Lida O'Reilly

1953
General Electric Theater

as Hanna Winters

1952
1952
Les Miserables

as Madame Magloire

1952
Dreamboat

as Mathilda Coffey

1951
1951
I Love Lucy

as Edna Grundy

1951
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

as Betsey Monk, the Widow

1950
Frenchie

as Countess

1950
The Petty Girl

as Dr. Crutcher

1950
Mystery Street

as Mrs. Smerrling

1950
Buccaneer's Girl

as Madame Brizar

1949
Come to the Stable

as Amelia Potts

1949
1948
Studio One

as Jenny Pratt

1948
The Big Clock

as Louise Patterson

1947
1947
Northwest Outpost

as Princess 'Tanya' Tatiana

1946
The Razor's Edge

as Miss Keith

1946
1944
Passport to Destiny

as Ella Muggins

1944
Golden Globe Awards

as Self - Presenter

1943
Lassie Come Home

as Mrs. Helen Carraclough

1943
Thumbs Up

as Emily "Emmy" Ffinch

1943
1942
Tales of Manhattan

as Mrs. Smith

1941
Ladies in Retirement

as Emily Creed

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
1933
1931
Potiphar's Wife

as Thérèse

1931
The Stronger Sex

as Thompson

1931
The Love Habit

as Matilde

1930
Comets

as Herself

1928
1928
The Tonic

as Elsa

1928
Daydreams

as Elsa / Heroine in Dream Sequence

    Elsa Lanchester - Filmography | 321movies