Elsa Lanchester
Acting • Born 1902-10-28 – Died 1986-12-26
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
Filmography
114 credits
Bride of Frankenstein
Movie • 1935
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / The Monster's Mate
Mary Poppins
Movie • 1964
Katie Nanna
Lassie Come Home
Movie • 1943
Mrs. Helen Carraclough
Bell, Book and Candle
Movie • 1958
Aunt Queenie Holroyd
Murder by Death
Movie • 1976
Jessica Marbles
The Spiral Staircase
Movie • 1946
Mrs. Oates
Tales of Manhattan
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Smith
The Inspector General
Movie • 1949
Maria
Hell's Half Acre
Movie • 1954
Lida O'Reilly
Willard
Movie • 1971
Henrietta Stiles
Ladies in Retirement
Movie • 1941
Emily Creed
Witness for the Prosecution
Movie • 1957
Miss Plimsoll
The Private Life of Henry VIII
Movie • 1933
Anne of Cleves
The Secret Garden
Movie • 1949
Martha
Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake
Movie • 1942
Bristol Isabel
Naughty Marietta
Movie • 1935
Madame d'Annard
Blackbeard's Ghost
Movie • 1968
Emily Stowecroft
My Dog, the Thief
Movie • 1969
Mrs. Formby
Buccaneer's Girl
Movie • 1950
Madame Brizar
Easy Come, Easy Go
Movie • 1967
Madame Neherina
Androcles and the Lion
Movie • 1952
Megaera
The Bishop's Wife
Movie • 1947
Matilda
Rembrandt
Movie • 1936
Hendrickje Stoffels
The Big Clock
Movie • 1948
Louise Patterson
Mystery Street
Movie • 1950
Mrs. Smerrling
Rascal
Movie • 1969
Mrs. Satterfield
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Movie • 1983
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Pajama Party
Movie • 1964
Aunt Wendy
The Razor's Edge
Movie • 1946
Miss Keith
The American Nightmare
Movie • 2000
Self
Dreamboat
Movie • 1952
Mathilda Coffey
Honeymoon Hotel
Movie • 1964
Chambermaid
The Girls of Pleasure Island
Movie • 1953
Thelma
Come to the Stable
Movie • 1949
Amelia Potts
One of the Best
Movie • 1927
Kitty
The Petty Girl
Movie • 1950
Dr. Crutcher
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Movie • 2018
Self (archive footage)
Northwest Outpost
Movie • 1947
Princess 'Tanya' Tatiana
The Ghost Goes West
Movie • 1935
Miss Shepperton
Les Miserables
Movie • 1952
Madame Magloire
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
Movie • 1991
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / The Monster's Mate
Arnold
Movie • 1973
Hester
Vessel of Wrath
Movie • 1938
Martha Jones
Me, Natalie
Movie • 1969
Miss Dennison
The Glass Slipper
Movie • 1955
Widow Sonder
Terror in the Wax Museum
Movie • 1973
Julia Hawthorn
Passport to Destiny
Movie • 1944
Ella Muggins
Frenchie
Movie • 1950
Countess
In Name Only
Movie • 1969
Gertrude Caruso
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
Movie • 2014
Mary Shelley / The Monster's Mate (archive footage)
David Copperfield
Movie • 1935
Clickett
Die Laughing
Movie • 1980
Sophie
Blue Bottles
Movie • 1928
Elsa
The Love Habit
Movie • 1931
Matilde
Ashes
Movie • 1930
Girl
Thumbs Up
Movie • 1943
Emily "Emmy" Ffinch
The Constant Nymph
Movie • 1928
Lady
Alice in Wonderland
Movie • 1955
Red Queen
Forever and a Day
Movie • 1943
Mamie
3 Ring Circus
Movie • 1954
The Bearded Lady
Daydreams
Movie • 1928
Elsa / Heroine in Dream Sequence
The Tonic
Movie • 1928
Elsa
Comets
Movie • 1930
Herself
That Darn Cat!
Movie • 1965
Mrs. MacDougall
Potiphar's Wife
Movie • 1931
Thérèse
The Stronger Sex
Movie • 1931
Thompson
The Officers' Mess
Movie • 1931
Cora Melville
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Movie • 1940
Self
Commercial Entertainment Product
Movie • 1992
The Monster's Bride
The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama
Movie • 1924
Beatrice de Carolle
Turnabout: The Story of the Yale Puppeteers
Movie • 1993
Self
Noah and the Flood
Movie • 1962
Noah's wife
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
Movie • 2007
Self (archive footage)
Universal Horror
Movie • 1998
(archive footage)
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
Movie • 1988
Heidi
Movie • 1955
Fräulein Rottenmeier
Legacy of Screams: The Evolution of Horror Movies
Movie • 2025
Self - (archive footage)
Mondo Hollywood
Movie • 1967
Burke's Law
TV • 1963
Mrs. Ormsby
Here's Lucy
TV • 1968
Mumsie Westcott
I Love Lucy
TV • 1951
Edna Grundy
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self
The Bill Cosby Show
TV • 1969
Mrs. Wochuk
Night Gallery
TV • 1970
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Hanna Winters
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Red Queen
Nanny and the Professor
TV • 1970
Aunt Henrietta
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Emily
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Betsey Monk, the Widow
Adventures in Paradise
TV • 1959
Miss Creshaw
The 20th Century Fox Hour
TV • 1955
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
TV • 1956
Self
Ben Casey
TV • 1961
Follow the Sun
TV • 1961
Robert Montgomery Presents
TV • 1950
The John Forsythe Show
TV • 1965
Margaret Culver
Star Time
TV • 1950
Self
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Miss Mabel
Burke's Law
TV • 1963
Bessie Mopes
Studio One
TV • 1948
Jenny Pratt
Mannix
TV • 1967
Portia Penhaven
The Ford Television Theatre
TV • 1952
Rosie Bowker
The Dick Cavett Show
TV • 1968
Self - Guest
The Wonderful World of Disney
TV • 1954
Mrs. Formby
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
TV • 1962
Aggie McGregor
Mannix
TV • 1967
Edna Barrington
Shirley Temple's Storybook
TV • 1958
Mother Goose
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
TV • 1957
Self
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Presenter
Then Came Bronson
TV • 1969
Hattie Calter
The Ed Wynn Show
TV • 1949
Self
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
TV • 1964
Dr. Agnes Dabree