Elsa Lanchester

1.1. Birth and Family

Elsa Sullivan Lanchester was born on 28 October 1902, in Lewisham, London. Her parents, James "Séamus" Sullivan (1872-1945) and Edith "Biddy" Lanchester (1871-1966), were self-proclaimed Bohemians and socialists. In a deliberate act of rebellion against Edwardian era societal norms, they refused to formalize their union through either religious or legal marriage. According to an interview Lanchester gave to Dick Cavett in 1970, both of her parents adhered to socialist principles. Elsa also had an elder brother, Waldo Sullivan Lanchester, born five years earlier. Waldo later became a notable puppeteer, establishing his own marionette company first in Malvern, Worcestershire, and subsequently in Stratford-upon-Avon.

1.2. Education and Early Artistic Activities

From a young age, Lanchester cultivated her artistic talents, particularly in dance. She studied dance in Paris under the renowned dancer Isadora Duncan, though Lanchester expressed a dislike for her teacher. Her formal education was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I, which led to the discontinuation of Duncan's school and Lanchester's return to the United Kingdom. At approximately twelve years of age, she began teaching dance herself, specifically in the Duncan style. She offered classes to children in her South London neighborhood, a venture that not only allowed her to continue her artistic pursuits but also provided a welcome source of supplementary income for her household.

2.1. Stage and Cabaret

Following World War I, Elsa Lanchester embarked on her professional artistic journey. She first established the Children's Theatre, showcasing her early dedication to performance. Later, she founded the Cave of Harmony, a notable nightclub that served as a venue for contemporary plays and cabaret acts. In these settings, Lanchester developed a unique act, reviving and performing old Victorian songs and ballads. Many of these musical selections were later featured in another popular revue titled Riverside Nights. Her stage debut occurred in 1922. Her growing fame led to her recording some of these numbers on 78 rpm discs. In 1926, she recorded "Please Sell No More Drink to My Father" and "He Didn't Oughter," followed in 1930 by "Don't Tell My Mother I'm Living in Sin" and "The Ladies Bar." These recordings featured piano arrangement and accompaniment by Kay Henderson. Lanchester's cabaret and nightclub performances paved the way for more serious theatrical engagements.

2.2. Early Film Appearances and Marriage to Charles Laughton

Elsa Lanchester made her initial foray into film with an appearance in the amateur production The Scarlet Woman in 1924, a film written by Evelyn Waugh, who also acted in it. Her early filmography also includes three silent shorts released in 1928-Blue Bottles, Daydreams, and The Tonic-which were written specifically for her by H. G. Wells and directed by Ivor Montagu. Notably, Charles Laughton made brief appearances in all three of these shorts, marking their early collaborations. The two also appeared together in Comets, a 1930 film revue featuring various British stage and musical acts, where they performed a duet of "The Ballad of Frankie and Johnnie".

Lanchester's film debut came in 1927. Her stage work led to her meeting Charles Laughton in 1927 while performing in Arnold Bennett's play Mr Prohack. Two years later, in 1929, they were married. The couple continued to collaborate frequently both on stage and screen. Lanchester played Laughton's daughter in the 1931 stage play Payment Deferred. They performed together during the Old Vic's 1933-34 season, taking on roles in Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Wilde plays. In 1936, Lanchester played Peter Pan to Laughton's Captain Hook in J. M. Barrie's play at the London Palladium. Their final joint stage appearance was in Jane Arden's The Party in 1958 at the New Theatre in London.

She appeared in several other early British talkies, including Potiphar's Wife (1931), which starred Laurence Olivier. Lanchester and Laughton reunited on screen in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), where she portrayed Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife, alongside Laughton in the title role.

3.1. Hollywood Breakthrough and Defining Roles

As Charles Laughton began making films in Hollywood, Elsa Lanchester joined him. She initially took on minor roles in American productions such as David Copperfield (1935) and Naughty Marietta (1935). Her success in these and earlier British films helped her secure the title role in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), a role for which she is arguably most identified and which brought her widespread recognition.

Following this breakthrough, she and Laughton returned to Britain to appear together in Rembrandt (1936) and later in Vessel of Wrath (released in the US as The Beachcomber, 1938). They subsequently returned to Hollywood, where Laughton starred in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939). Lanchester did not appear in another film until Ladies in Retirement (1941). She and Laughton played a married couple (their characters named Charles and Elsa Smith) in Tales of Manhattan (1942), and both appeared in the ensemble cast of Forever and a Day (1943). In 1944, Lanchester received top billing for the only time in her Hollywood career in Passport to Destiny.

3.2. Supporting Roles and Critical Acclaim

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Elsa Lanchester frequently played diverse and memorable supporting roles. She appeared in thrillers such as The Spiral Staircase and The Razor's Edge (both 1946). In The Bishop's Wife (1947), she played the housekeeper alongside David Niven as the bishop, Loretta Young as his wife, and Cary Grant as an angel. Lanchester took on a comical role as an artist in the 1948 thriller The Big Clock, which featured Laughton as a megalomaniacal press tycoon. She earned her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination in 1949 for her portrayal of Amelia Potts, a painter specializing in nativity scenes, in Come to the Stable.

During this period, she also performed her solo vaudeville act at the Turnabout Theatre in Hollywood, often in conjunction with a marionette show. Her act featured "off-colour" songs, which she later recorded on two LPs titled Songs for a Shuttered Parlour and Songs for a Smoke-Filled Room. These albums contained vaguely lewd songs that hinted at their true purpose, such as a song about her husband's "clock" not working. Charles Laughton provided spoken introductions for each number and even joined Lanchester in singing "She Was Poor but She Was Honest". Her third LP, Cockney London, was a collection of old London songs for which Laughton wrote the sleeve-notes.

On screen, she appeared alongside Danny Kaye in The Inspector General (1949), played a blackmailing landlady in Mystery Street (1950), and was Shelley Winters's traveling companion in Frenchie (1950). Further supporting roles followed in the early 1950s, including a two-minute cameo as the Bearded Lady in 3 Ring Circus (1954). She had another substantial and memorable part reunited with her husband in Witness for the Prosecution (1957), a screen adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1953 play. Both Lanchester and Laughton received Academy Award nominations for their performances-Lanchester for her second Best Supporting Actress nomination, and Laughton for his third Best Actor nomination. While neither won an Oscar, Lanchester received the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film.

3.3. Later Career and Television

Following Charles Laughton's death in 1962, Elsa Lanchester continued her acting career. She appeared in several Disney films, including Mary Poppins (1964), in which Laughton's goddaughter Karen Dotrice also starred, Pajama Party (1964), That Darn Cat! (1965), and Blackbeard's Ghost (1968). She also sang a duet with Elvis Presley in Easy Come, Easy Go (1967).

Lanchester returned to the horror genre with the highly successful film Willard (1971), playing the mother alongside Bruce Davison and Ernest Borgnine. She continued to take roles in horror films, appearing in Terror in the Wax Museum (1973) and Arnold (1973). One of her last notable film roles was as Jessica Marbles, a sleuth character based on Agatha Christie's Jane Marple, in the 1976 murder mystery spoof Murder by Death. Her final film role was Sophie in Die Laughing in 1980.

Beyond film, Lanchester also made numerous television appearances. She was featured on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford on 9 April 1959. She had memorable guest roles in a 1956 episode of I Love Lucy (as Mrs. Edna Grundy in "Off to Florida"), and in episodes of The Eleventh Hour (1964) and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1965). Lanchester also appeared in two episodes of The Wonderful World of Disney (1969), The Bill Cosby Show (1970), Nanny and the Professor (three episodes in 1971), Night Gallery (1972), Here's Lucy (1973), and Mannix (1973), and Then Came Bronson (1970).

4.1. Marriage to Charles Laughton

Elsa Lanchester married Charles Laughton in 1929. Their marriage was a significant aspect of both their public and private lives, often intertwined with their professional collaborations. In 1938, Lanchester published a book about their relationship titled Charles Laughton and I. She later released a more extensive autobiography, Elsa Lanchester Herself, in March 1983.

In her autobiography, Lanchester openly discussed the subject of their childlessness, attributing it to Laughton's homosexuality. However, Maureen O'Hara, a close friend and co-star of Laughton, contradicted this claim, stating that Laughton had told her their inability to have children stemmed from a botched abortion Lanchester had undergone early in her career while performing burlesque. Lanchester herself admitted in her autobiography to having had two abortions in her youth, one of which was Laughton's child. It remains unclear if the second abortion rendered her unable to conceive again. Adding another perspective, biographer Charles Higham suggested that Lanchester simply did not desire to have children. These varying accounts underscore the complexities and private nature of their personal choices and experiences.

4.2. Other Personal Aspects

Beyond her marriage, Elsa Lanchester was known for her distinct personal beliefs and political leanings. She acquired United States citizenship in 1950. She was an atheist. Politically, Lanchester was a committed Democrat and, along with Charles Laughton, actively supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 United States presidential election.

In her later years, Lanchester's health significantly declined. In 1984, her health took a turn for the worse. Over a period of 30 months, she suffered two strokes, which left her completely incapacitated and requiring constant care, confined to bedrest. In March 1986, the Motion Picture and Television Fund filed to become the conservator of Lanchester and her estate, which was valued at approximately 900.00 K USD.

8.1. Film roles

• The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama (1925 short) as Beatrice de Carolle
• One of the Best (1927) as Kitty
• The Constant Nymph (1928) as Lady
• The Tonic (1928, Short) as Elsa
• Daydreams (1928, Short) as Elsa / Heroine in Dream Sequence
• Blue Bottles (1928, Short) as Elsa
• Mr. Smith Wakes Up (1929, Short)
• Comets (1930) as Herself
• Ashes (1930, Short) as Girl
• The Love Habit (1931) as Mathilde
• The Officers' Mess (1931) as Cora Melville
• The Stronger Sex (1931) as Thompson
• Potiphar's Wife (1931) as Therese
• The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) as Anne of Cleves, the Fourth Wife
• The Private Life of Don Juan (1934: uncredited)
• David Copperfield (1935) as Clickett
• Naughty Marietta (1935) as Madame d'Annard
• Bride of Frankenstein (1935) as Mary Shelley/The Monster's Mate
• The Ghost Goes West (1935) as Miss Shepperton
• Miss Bracegirdle Does Her Duty (1936 unreleased short) as Millicent Bracegirdle
• Rembrandt (1936) as Hendrickje Stoffels
• Vessel of Wrath (1938) as Martha Jones
• Ladies in Retirement (1941) as Emily Creed
• Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942) as Bristol Isabel
• Tales of Manhattan (1942) as Elsa (Mrs Charles) Smith
• Forever and a Day (1943) as Mamie
• Thumbs Up (1943) as Emma Finch
• Lassie Come Home (1943) as Mrs. Carraclough
• Passport to Destiny (1944) as Ella Muggins
• The Spiral Staircase (1945) as Mrs. Oates
• The Razor's Edge (1946) as Miss Keith
• Northwest Outpost (1947) as Princess "Tanya" Tatiana
• The Bishop's Wife (1947) as Matilda
• The Big Clock (1948) as Louise Patterson
• The Secret Garden (1949) as Martha
• Come to the Stable (1949) as Amelia Potts
• The Inspector General (1949) as Maria
• Buccaneer's Girl (1949) as Mme. Brizar
• Mystery Street (1950) as Mrs. Smerrling
• The Petty Girl (1950) as Dr. Crutcher
• Frenchie (1950) as Countess
• Dreamboat (1952) as Dr. Mathilda Coffey
• Les Misérables (1952) as Madame Magloire
• Androcles and the Lion (1952) as Megaera
• The Girls of Pleasure Island (1953) as Thelma
• Hell's Half Acre (1954) as Lida O'Reilly
• 3 Ring Circus (1954) as the Bearded Lady
• The Glass Slipper (1955) as Widow Sonder
• Alice in Wonderland (1955 TV movie) as the Red Queen
• Witness for the Prosecution (1957) as Miss Plimsoll
• Bell, Book and Candle (1958) as Aunt Queenie Holroyd
• The Flood (1962 TV movie) as Noah's Wife (voice)
• Honeymoon Hotel (1964) as Chambermaid
• Mary Poppins (1964) as Katie Nanna
• Pajama Party (1964) as Aunt Wendy
• That Darn Cat! (1965) as Mrs. MacDougall
• Easy Come, Easy Go (1967) as Madame Neherina
• Blackbeard's Ghost (1968) as Emily Stowecroft
• Rascal (1969) as Mrs. Satterfield
• Me, Natalie (1969) as Miss Dennison
• In Name Only (1969, TV Movie) as Gertrude Caruso
• Willard (1971) as Henrietta Stiles
• Terror in the Wax Museum (1973) as Julia Hawthorn
• Arnold (1973) as Hester
• Murder by Death (1976) as Jessica Marbles
• Where's Poppa? (1979, TV Movie) as Momma Hocheiser
• Die Laughing (1980) as Sophie (final film role)

8.2. Partial television credits

• I Love Lucy (1956) as Mrs Edna Grundy, episode "Off to Florida"
• Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964) "The McGregor Affair" as Aggie McGregor
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1965) as Dr. Agnes Dabree, episode "The Brain-Killer Affair"
• Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1969) as Mrs. Formby, episodes "My Dog, the Thief", parts 1 and 2
• The Bill Cosby Show (1970) as Mrs. Wochuk, episode "The Elevator Doesn't Stop Here Anymore"
• Nanny and the Professor (1971) as Aunt Henrietta (3 episodes)
• Night Gallery (1972) as Lydia Bowen, episode "Green Fingers"
• Here's Lucy (1973) as Mumsie Westcott, episode "Lucy Goes to Prison"
• Mannix (1973) as Portia Penhaven, episode "A Matter of Principle"
• Then Came Bronson(1970) as Hattie Caulder episode 4 "The Circle Of Time"