Elsa Lanchester

Born: 1902-10-28

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


Placeholder

Mary Poppins

as Katie Nanna
Released: 1964-12-17

Mr Banks is looking for a nanny for his two mischievous children and comes across Mary Poppins,...

Movie page

Witness for the Prosecution

as Miss Plimsoll
Released: 1957-12-17

An ailing famous barrister agrees to defend a man in a sensational murder trial where his...

Movie page

Bride of Frankenstein

as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / The Monster's Mate
Released: 1935-04-20

Dr. Frankenstein and his monster both turn out to be alive, not killed as previously believed....

Movie page

The Bishop's Wife

as Matilda
Released: 1947-12-25

An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham, has been working for months on the plans for an elaborate...

Movie page

That Darn Cat!

as Mrs. MacDougall
Released: 1965-12-02

A young woman suspects foul play when her cat comes home wearing a wristwatch. Convincing the...

Movie page

Lassie Come Home

as Mrs. Helen Carraclough
Released: 1943-12-01

Hard times come for the Carraclough family and they are forced to sell their dog, Lassie, to the...

Movie page

Murder by Death

as Jessica Marbles
Released: 1976-06-23

Lionel Twain invites the world's five greatest detectives to a 'dinner and murder'. Included are...

Movie page

The Big Clock

as Louise Patterson
Released: 1948-03-18

Stroud, a crime magazine's crusading editor has to post-pone a vacation with his wife, again,...

Movie page

Blackbeard's Ghost

as Emily Stowecroft
Released: 1968-02-08

The eponymous wraith returns to Earth to aid his descendant, elderly Emily Stowecroft. The...

Movie page

The Secret Garden

as Martha
Released: 1949-04-30

When Cholera takes the parents of Mary Lennox, she is shipped from India to England to live with...

Movie page

David Copperfield

as Clickett
Released: 1935-01-18

Charles Dickens' timeless tale of an ordinary young man who lives an extraordinary life, filled...

Movie page

Mystery Street

as Mrs. Smerrling
Released: 1950-06-23

When a young woman's skeletal remains turn up on a Massachusetts beach, Barnstable cop Peter...

Movie page

The Spiral Staircase

as Mrs. Oates
Released: 1946-02-06

On a stormy night, the mute servant to an ailing matriarch is stalked by a serial killer.

Movie page

Bell, Book and Candle

as Aunt Queenie Holroyd
Released: 1958-12-25

A modern-day witch likes her neighbor but despises his fiancée, so she enchants him to love her...

Movie page

Come to the Stable

as Amelia Potts
Released: 1949-07-27

Two nuns arrive unannounced in the small New England town of Bethlehem, where they recruit...

Movie page

The Private Life of Henry VIII

as Anne of Cleves
Released: 1933-08-17

Renowned for his excess, King Henry VIII goes through a series of wives during his rule. With...

Movie page

Willard

as Henrietta Stiles
Released: 1971-07-30

A social misfit, Willard is made fun of by his co-workers, and squeezed out of the company...

Movie page

The Ghost Goes West

as Miss Shepperton
Released: 1935-12-17

Donald Glourie shares his crumbling ancestral home with the ghost of his Highland ancestor,...

Movie page

The Razor's Edge

as Miss Keith
Released: 1946-11-19

An adventurous young man goes off to find himself and loses his socialite fiancée in the...

Movie page

Naughty Marietta

as Madame d'Annard
Released: 1935-03-29

In order to avoid a prearranged marriage, a rebellious French princess sheds her identity and...

Movie page

The Inspector General

as Maria
Released: 1949-12-31

An illiterate stooge in a traveling medicine show wanders into a strange town and is picked up...

Movie page

The American Nightmare

as Self
Released: 2000-09-11

An examination into the nature of 1960's-70's horror films, the involved artists, and how they...

Movie page

Easy Come, Easy Go

as Madame Neherina
Released: 1967-05-28

Navy frogman Ted Jackson balances his time between twin careers as a deep-sea diver and...

Movie page

Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake

as Bristol Isabel
Released: 1942-01-29

Sir Arthur Blake has inherited title and lands from his brother. He also has his orphaned nephew...

Movie page

3 Ring Circus

as The Bearded Lady
Released: 1954-12-22

Jerry and Pete are two friends with no money and are looking for a job. They finally find...

Movie page

Terror in the Wax Museum

as Julia Hawthorn
Released: 1973-05-02

Terrifying wax figures of renowned personalities, such as Attila the Hun and Jack the Ripper,...

Movie page

Tales of Manhattan

as Elsa (Mrs Charles) Smith
Released: 1942-08-05

Ten screenwriters collaborated on this series of tales concerning the effect a tailcoat cursed...

Movie page

Pajama Party

as Aunt Wendy
Released: 1964-11-11

A Martian teenager sent to prepare for an invasion falls in love with an Earth girl.

Movie page

Rascal

as Mrs. Satterfield
Released: 1969-06-11

A comedy filled with tenderness as a baby raccoon snuggles his way into the life of a lonely...

Movie page

Me, Natalie

as Miss Dennison
Released: 1969-07-13

Since she was a child, Natalie Miller has always thought she was an ugly ducking. Despite her...

Movie page

Forever and a Day

as Mamie
Released: 1943-01-21

In World War II, American Gates Trimble Pomfret is in London during the Blitz to sell the...

Movie page

Buccaneer's Girl

as Madame Brizar
Released: 1950-03-01

A New Orleans performer loves a pirate who robs only from the shipowner who ruined his father.

Movie page

My Dog the Thief

as Mrs. Formby
Released: 1969-09-21

As ratings for Jack Crandall's lifeless airborne traffic reports plummet, a super-size St....

Movie page

Les Miserables

as Madame Magloire
Released: 1952-08-14

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a...

Movie page

Passport to Destiny

as Ella Muggins
Released: 1944-01-31

An English charwoman, believing herself protected by a magic eye amulet, travels to Nazi Germany...

Movie page

In Name Only

as Gertrude Caruso
Released: 1969-11-25

In this romantic comedy, an unwed couple who run a wedding planning business discover, to their...

Movie page

Ladies in Retirement

as Emily Creed
Released: 1941-09-09

Ellen Creed is a housekeeper who looks after Leonora Fiske, a retired actress living in the...

Movie page

Frenchie

as Countess
Released: 1950-12-25

Frenchie Fontaine sells her successful business in New Orleans to come West. Her reason? Find...

Movie page

The Glass Slipper

as Widow Sonder
Released: 1955-03-24

Musical adaptation of the story of Cinderella and her magical trip to the prince's ball.

Movie page

Androcles and the Lion

as Megaera
Released: 1952-12-01

George Bernard Shaw’s breezy, delightful dramatization of this classic fable—about a Christian...

Movie page

Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2009-01-01

Eight hundred German filmmakers (cast and crew) fled the Nazis in the 1930s. The film uses...

Movie page

Rembrandt

as Hendrickje Stoffels
Released: 1936-11-06

A character study depicting the life of Rembrandt Van Rijn at the height of his fame in the mid...

Movie page

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: 1983-02-25

Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas,...

Movie page

Commercial Entertainment Product

as The Monster's Bride
Released: 1992-11-24

The video debut of experimental musicians and culture jamming artists Emergency Broadcast Network.

Movie page

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2018-07-27

A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling...

Movie page

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

as Self
Released: 1940-07-31

This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including...

Movie page

Dreamboat

as Mathilda Coffey
Released: 1952-07-26

Thornton Sayre, a respected college professor - secretly formerly a silent films romantic action...

Movie page

Universal Horror

as (archive footage)
Released: 1998-10-08

A documentary about the era of classic monster movies that were made at Universal Studios during...

Movie page

Hell's Half Acre

as Lida O'Reilly
Released: 1954-06-01

A woman travels to Hawaii to find out if a man in prison there is actually her missing husband.

Movie page

Arnold

as Hester
Released: 1973-11-16

Karen marries Arnold at his funeral and continues to get his money as long as she stays by his...

Movie page

Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film

as Mary Shelley / The Monster's Mate (archive footage)
Released: 2014-08-01

Join foremost experts discussing true Horror Classics - Frankenstein, Dracula, The Black Cat,...

Movie page

The Girls of Pleasure Island

as Thelma
Released: 1953-04-01

In the spring of 1945, World War II is coming to a close. Roger Halyard, a dignified,...

Movie page

Die Laughing

as Sophie
Released: 1980-04-01

A San Francisco cab driver find himself in possession of a monkey that is carrying a formula for...

Movie page

Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2007-05-16

Famous Monster takes a fast-paced, colorful look at the life of science fiction's greatest fan -...

Movie page

Vessel of Wrath

as Martha Jones
Released: 1938-03-04

Ginger Ted, AKA Edward Claude Wilson, a drunkard and womanizer, and Miss Jones, a missionary,...

Movie page

Honeymoon Hotel

as Chambermaid
Released: 1964-06-03

A man left at the alter goes on his honeymoon trip anyway, taking his best man along instead.

Movie page

Blue Bottles

as Elsa
Released: 1928-05-05

As criminals assemble for a convention, a policeman investigates and is abducted. A young woman...

Movie page

The Petty Girl

as Dr. Crutcher
Released: 1950-08-17

An artist famous for his calendar portraits of beautiful women becomes fascinated by a prim and...

Movie page

Alice in Wonderland

as Red Queen
Released: 1955-10-22

A young girl named Alice falls down a rabbit-hole and finds herself in Wonderland, a fantasy...

Movie page

Comets

as Herself
Released: 1930-09-19

A Musical Revue featuring a number of prominent vaudeville and theatrical British artists of the...

Movie page

Turnabout: The Story of the Yale Puppeteers

as Self
Released: 1993-10-25

Documentary about the Yale Puppeteers. A bit eccentric, certainly off beat and creative, the...

Movie page

The Stronger Sex

as Thompson
Released: 1931-02-26

A man rescues his wife's lover during a disaster at a coal mine

Movie page

Potiphar's Wife

as Thérèse
Released: 1931-03-28

'A good-looking chauffeur, employed by an aristocratic married lady is tempted to misconduct....

Movie page

The Flood

as Noah's wife
Released: 1962-05-05

Stravinsky and Balanchine's take on the apocalyptic Biblical tale. An opera composed for video.

Movie page

Thumbs Up

as Emily "Emmy" Ffinch
Released: 1943-07-05

In this wartime musical, a feisty singer working in a London dive swears that she will become a...

Movie page

Northwest Outpost

as Princess 'Tanya' Tatiana
Released: 1947-06-25

US cavalry officer James Laurence (Nelson Eddy) arrives at one of the Russian colonies to pave...

Movie page

The Constant Nymph

as Lady
Released: 1928-02-20

Sanger, an eccentric expatriate composer, dies in his house in the Austrian Alps, leaving his...

Movie page

Daydreams

as Elsa / Heroine in Dream Sequence
Released: 1928-05-01

A young cleaning woman in a boarding-house relieves the drudgery of her job by daydreaming that...

Movie page

The Tonic

as Elsa
Released: 1928-05-01

The family of the very wealthy but infirm Great Aunt Louisa await her untimely demise in the...

Movie page

The Love Habit

as Matilde
Released: 1931-01-16

'Paris. Roué poses as secretary to flirt with employer's wife.' (British Film Catalogue)

Movie page

The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama

as Beatrice de Carolle
Released: 1924-01-01

The Pope and Cardinal Montefiasco plot to bring England back within the fold of the Catholic...

Movie page

Ben Casey

as uncredited
First aired: 1961-10-02

Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was...

TV Show page

Robert Montgomery Presents

as uncredited
First aired: 1950-01-30

Robert Montgomery Presents is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC...

TV Show page

Burke's Law

as Mrs. Ormsby
First aired: 1963-09-20

Burke's Law is an American detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on...

TV Show page

Burke's Law

as Bessie Mopes
First aired: 1963-09-20

Burke's Law is an American detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on...

TV Show page

Mannix

as Portia Penhaven
First aired: 1967-09-16

Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS....

TV Show page

Mannix

as Edna Barrington
First aired: 1967-09-16

Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS....

TV Show page

I Love Lucy

as Edna Grundy
First aired: 1951-10-15

Cuban Bandleader Ricky Ricardo would be happy if his wife Lucy would just be a housewife....

TV Show page

The Merv Griffin Show

as Self
First aired: 1962-10-01

The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran...

TV Show page

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

as Aggie McGregor
First aired: 1962-09-20

A continuation of the anthology series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”, hosted by the master of...

TV Show page

Here's Lucy

as Mumsie Westcott
First aired: 1968-09-23

TV Show page

Night Gallery

as uncredited
First aired: 1970-12-16

Rod Serling narrates an anthology of fantasy, horror and sci-fi stories from a set resembling a...

TV Show page

Adventures in Paradise

as Miss Creshaw
First aired: 1959-10-05

Adventures in Paradise is an American television series created by James Michener which ran on...

TV Show page

Studio One

as Jenny Pratt
First aired: 1948-11-07

An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher...

TV Show page

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

as Self
First aired: 1956-10-05

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on...

TV Show page

The Ed Sullivan Show

as Self
First aired: 1948-06-20

The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June...

TV Show page

The Dick Cavett Show

as Self - Guest
First aired: 1968-06-06

The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various...

TV Show page

The 20th Century Fox Hour

as uncredited
First aired: 1955-10-05

The 20th Century Fox Hour is an American drama anthology series televised in the United States...

TV Show page

The Bill Cosby Show

as Mrs. Wochuk
First aired: 1969-09-14

The Bill Cosby Show is an American situation comedy that aired for two seasons on NBC's Sunday...

TV Show page

The Ford Television Theatre

as Rosie Bowker
First aired: 1952-10-02

This show started in New York City, with Broadway actors and actresses. It then moved to...

TV Show page

Nanny and the Professor

as Aunt Henrietta
First aired: 1970-01-21

Nanny and the Professor is an American fantasy situation comedy created by AJ Carothers and...

TV Show page

Then Came Bronson

as uncredited
First aired: 1969-09-17

Then Came Bronson is an American adventure/drama television series starring Michael Parks that...

TV Show page

Shirley Temple's Storybook

as Mother Goose
First aired: 1958-01-12

Shirley Temple's Storybook is an American children's anthology series hosted and narrated by...

TV Show page

The Wonderful World of Disney

as Mrs. Formby
First aired: 1954-10-27

Walt Disney Productions has produced an anthology television series under several different...

TV Show page

Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Red Queen
First aired: 1951-12-24

Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark...

TV Show page

Follow the Sun

as uncredited
First aired: 1961-09-17

Follow the Sun is an American drama series which ran for thirty episodes on the ABC television...

TV Show page

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

as Betsey Monk, the Widow
First aired: 1951-10-05

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS....

TV Show page

General Electric Theater

as Hanna Winters
First aired: 1953-02-01

General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was...

TV Show page