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

Known For

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Golden Globe Awards

Mannix

Mannix

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

Robert Montgomery Presents

The Merv Griffin Show

I Love Lucy

All Movies (78)

• Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood2018 · as Self (archive footage)
• Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film2014 · as Mary Shelley / The Monster's Mate (archive footage)
• Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman2007 · as Self (archive footage)
• The American Nightmare2000 · as Self
• Universal Horror1998 · as (archive footage)
• Turnabout: The Story of the Yale Puppeteers1993 · as Self
• Commercial Entertainment Product1992 · as The Monster's Bride
• Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook1991 · as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / The Monster's Mate
• Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies1988 · as (archive footage) (uncredited)
• Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage1983 · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• Die Laughing1980 · as Sophie
• Murder by Death1976 · as Jessica Marbles
• Arnold1973 · as Hester
• Terror in the Wax Museum1973 · as Julia Hawthorn
• Willard1971 · as Henrietta Stiles
• In Name Only1969 · as Gertrude Caruso
• My Dog, the Thief1969 · as Mrs. Formby
• Me, Natalie1969 · as Miss Dennison
• Rascal1969 · as Mrs. Satterfield
• Blackbeard's Ghost1968 · as Emily Stowecroft
• Mondo Hollywood1967
• Easy Come, Easy Go1967 · as Madame Neherina
• That Darn Cat!1965 · as Mrs. MacDougall
• Mary Poppins1964 · as Katie Nanna
• Pajama Party1964 · as Aunt Wendy
• Honeymoon Hotel1964 · as Chambermaid
• Noah and the Flood1962 · as Noah's wife
• Bell, Book and Candle1958 · as Aunt Queenie Holroyd
• Witness for the Prosecution1957 · as Miss Plimsoll
• Alice in Wonderland1955 · as Red Queen
• Heidi1955 · as Fräulein Rottenmeier
• The Glass Slipper1955 · as Widow Sonder
• 3 Ring Circus1954 · as The Bearded Lady
• Hell's Half Acre1954 · as Lida O'Reilly
• The Girls of Pleasure Island1953 · as Thelma
• Androcles and the Lion1952 · as Megaera
• Les Miserables1952 · as Madame Magloire
• Dreamboat1952 · as Mathilda Coffey
• Frenchie1950 · as Countess
• The Petty Girl1950 · as Dr. Crutcher
• Mystery Street1950 · as Mrs. Smerrling
• Buccaneer's Girl1950 · as Madame Brizar
• The Inspector General1949 · as Maria
• Come to the Stable1949 · as Amelia Potts
• The Secret Garden1949 · as Martha
• The Big Clock1948 · as Louise Patterson
• The Bishop's Wife1947 · as Matilda
• Northwest Outpost1947 · as Princess 'Tanya' Tatiana
• The Razor's Edge1946 · as Miss Keith
• The Spiral Staircase1946 · as Mrs. Oates
• Passport to Destiny1944 · as Ella Muggins
• Lassie Come Home1943 · as Mrs. Helen Carraclough
• Thumbs Up1943 · as Emily "Emmy" Ffinch
• Forever and a Day1943 · as Mamie
• Tales of Manhattan1942 · as Mrs. Smith
• Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake1942 · as Bristol Isabel
• Ladies in Retirement1941 · as Emily Creed
• Cavalcade of the Academy Awards1940 · as Self
• Vessel of Wrath1938 · as Martha Jones
• Rembrandt1936 · as Hendrickje Stoffels
• The Ghost Goes West1935 · as Miss Shepperton
• Bride of Frankenstein1935 · as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / The Monster's Mate
• Naughty Marietta1935 · as Madame d'Annard
• David Copperfield1935 · as Clickett
• The Private Life of Henry VIII1933 · as Anne of Cleves
• The Officers' Mess1931 · as Cora Melville
• Potiphar's Wife1931 · as Thérèse
• The Stronger Sex1931 · as Thompson
• The Love Habit1931 · as Matilde
• Ashes1930 · as Girl
• Comets1930 · as Herself
• Mr. Smith Wakes Up1929 · as Their Daughter
• Blue Bottles1928 · as Elsa
• Daydreams1928 · as Elsa / Heroine in Dream Sequence
• The Tonic1928 · as Elsa
• The Constant Nymph1928 · as Lady
• One of the Best1927 · as Kitty
• The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama1924 · as Beatrice de Carolle

All TV Shows (37)

• Night Gallery1970
• Nanny and the Professor1970 · as Aunt Henrietta
• Then Came Bronson1969 · as Hattie Calter
• The Bill Cosby Show1969 · as Mrs. Wochuk
• Here's Lucy1968 · as Mumsie Westcott
• The Dick Cavett Show1968 · as Self - Guest
• Mannix1967 · as Portia Penhaven
• Mannix1967 · as Edna Barrington
• The John Forsythe Show1965 · as Margaret Culver
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E.1964 · as Dr. Agnes Dabree
• Burke's Law1963 · as Mrs. Ormsby
• Burke's Law1963 · as Bessie Mopes
• The Merv Griffin Show1962 · as Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson1962 · as Self
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour1962 · as Aggie McGregor
• Ben Casey1961
• Follow the Sun1961
• Startime1959 · as Self
• Adventures in Paradise1959 · as Miss Creshaw
• Shirley Temple's Storybook1958 · as Mother Goose
• Tonight Starring Jack Paar1957 · as Self
• The Dinah Shore Chevy Show1956 · as Self
• The 20th Century Fox Hour1955
• The Wonderful World of Disney1954 · as Mrs. Formby
• General Electric Theater1953 · as Hanna Winters
• Omnibus1952
• The Ford Television Theatre1952 · as Rosie Bowker
• Hallmark Hall of Fame1951 · as Red Queen
• I Love Lucy1951 · as Edna Grundy
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars1951 · as Betsey Monk, the Widow
• Lux Video Theatre1950 · as Emily
• Lux Video Theatre1950 · as Miss Mabel
• Robert Montgomery Presents1950
• The Ed Wynn Show1949 · as Self
• Studio One1948 · as Jenny Pratt
• The Ed Sullivan Show1948 · as Self
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Presenter