Elsa Lanchester

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Born

1902-10-28

Place of Birth

Lewisham, London, England, UK

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

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Acting History

2025
Legacy of Screams: The Evolution of Horror Movies as Self - (archive footage)
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)
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
1988
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
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
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
1965
The John Forsythe Show as Margaret Culver
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 Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self
1962
The Merv Griffin Show as Self
1962
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as Aggie McGregor
1962
Noah and the Flood as Noah's wife
1962
Noah and the Flood as Noah's Wife
1961
Ben Casey
1961
Follow the Sun
1959
Adventures in Paradise as Miss Creshaw
1958
Bell, Book and Candle as Aunt Queenie Holroyd
1958
Shirley Temple's Storybook as Mother Goose
1957
Witness for the Prosecution as Miss Plimsoll
1957
Tonight Starring Jack Paar as Self
1956
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show as Self
1955
Alice in Wonderland as Red Queen
1955
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
Heidi as Fräulein Rottenmeier
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
1949
The Inspector General as Maria
1949
The Ed Wynn Show as Self
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
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
1944
Golden Globe Awards as Self - Presenter
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 Mrs. 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 Girl
1930
Comets as Herself
1928
Blue Bottles as Elsa
1928
Daydreams as Elsa / Heroine in Dream Sequence
1928
The Tonic as Elsa
1928
The Constant Nymph as Lady
1927
One of the Best as Kitty
1924
The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama as Beatrice de Carolle