
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).
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Known For
Acting History
2025
Legacy of Screams: The Evolution of Horror Movies as Self - (archive footage)
2018Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
2014Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film as Mary Shelley / The Monster's Mate (archive footage)
2007Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman as Self (archive footage)
2000The American Nightmare as Self
1998Universal Horror as (archive footage)
1993Turnabout: The Story of the Yale Puppeteers as Self
1992Commercial Entertainment Product as The Monster's Bride
1991Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / The Monster's Mate
1988Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
1983Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1980Die Laughing as Sophie
1976Murder by Death as Jessica Marbles
1973Arnold as Hester
1973Terror in the Wax Museum as Julia Hawthorn
1971Willard as Henrietta Stiles
1970Night Gallery
1970Nanny and the Professor as Aunt Henrietta
1969In Name Only as Gertrude Caruso
1969My Dog, the Thief as Mrs. Formby
1969Then Came Bronson as Hattie Calter
1969The Bill Cosby Show as Mrs. Wochuk
1969Me, Natalie as Miss Dennison
1969Rascal as Mrs. Satterfield
1968Here's Lucy as Mumsie Westcott
1968The Dick Cavett Show as Self - Guest
1968Blackbeard's Ghost as Emily Stowecroft
1967Mannix as Portia Penhaven
1967Mannix as Edna Barrington
1967Easy Come, Easy Go as Madame Neherina
1965That Darn Cat! as Mrs. MacDougall
1965The John Forsythe Show as Margaret Culver
1964Mary Poppins as Katie Nanna
1964Pajama Party as Aunt Wendy
1964The Man from U.N.C.L.E. as Dr. Agnes Dabree
1964Honeymoon Hotel as Chambermaid
1963Burke's Law as Mrs. Ormsby
1963Burke's Law as Bessie Mopes
1962The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self
1962The Merv Griffin Show as Self
1962The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as Aggie McGregor
1962Noah and the Flood as Noah's wife
1962Noah and the Flood as Noah's Wife
1961Ben Casey
1961Follow the Sun
1959Adventures in Paradise as Miss Creshaw
1958Bell, Book and Candle as Aunt Queenie Holroyd
1958Shirley Temple's Storybook as Mother Goose
1957Witness for the Prosecution as Miss Plimsoll
1957Tonight Starring Jack Paar as Self
1956The Dinah Shore Chevy Show as Self
1955Alice in Wonderland as Red Queen
1955The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955Heidi as Fräulein Rottenmeier
1955The Glass Slipper as Widow Sonder
19543 Ring Circus as The Bearded Lady
1954The Wonderful World of Disney as Mrs. Formby
1954Hell's Half Acre as Lida O'Reilly
1953The Girls of Pleasure Island as Thelma
1953General Electric Theater as Hanna Winters
1952Androcles and the Lion as Megaera
1952The Ford Television Theatre as Rosie Bowker
1952Les Miserables as Madame Magloire
1952Dreamboat as Mathilda Coffey
1951Hallmark Hall of Fame as Red Queen
1951I Love Lucy as Edna Grundy
1951Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Betsey Monk, the Widow
1950Frenchie as Countess
1950Lux Video Theatre as Emily
1950Lux Video Theatre as Miss Mabel
1950Star Time as Self
1950The Petty Girl as Dr. Crutcher
1950Mystery Street as Mrs. Smerrling
1950Buccaneer's Girl as Madame Brizar
1950Robert Montgomery Presents
1949The Inspector General as Maria
1949The Ed Wynn Show as Self
1949Come to the Stable as Amelia Potts
1949The Secret Garden as Martha
1948Studio One as Jenny Pratt
1948The Ed Sullivan Show as Self
1948The Big Clock as Louise Patterson
1947The Bishop's Wife as Matilda
1947Northwest Outpost as Princess 'Tanya' Tatiana
1946The Razor's Edge as Miss Keith
1946The Spiral Staircase as Mrs. Oates
1944Passport to Destiny as Ella Muggins
1944Golden Globe Awards as Self - Presenter
1943Lassie Come Home as Mrs. Helen Carraclough
1943Thumbs Up as Emily "Emmy" Ffinch
1943Forever and a Day as Mamie
1942Tales of Manhattan as Mrs. Smith
1942Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake as Bristol Isabel
1941Ladies in Retirement as Emily Creed
1940Cavalcade of the Academy Awards as Self
1938Vessel of Wrath as Martha Jones
1936Rembrandt as Hendrickje Stoffels
1935The Ghost Goes West as Miss Shepperton
1935Bride of Frankenstein as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / The Monster's Mate
1935Naughty Marietta as Madame d'Annard
1935David Copperfield as Clickett
1933The Private Life of Henry VIII as Anne of Cleves
1931The Officers' Mess as Cora Melville
1931Potiphar's Wife as Thérèse
1931The Stronger Sex as Thompson
1931The Love Habit as Matilde
1930Ashes as Girl
1930Comets as Herself
1928Blue Bottles as Elsa
1928Daydreams as Elsa / Heroine in Dream Sequence
1928The Tonic as Elsa
1928The Constant Nymph as Lady
1927One of the Best as Kitty
1924The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama as Beatrice de Carolle








