Ladies Of Character Character Actresses
Elsa Lanchester
The Private Life Of Henry VIII/ Anne Of Cleaves
The Bride Of Frankenstein/ Mary Shelley/The Monster's Mate
Bell, Book And Candle/ Aunt Queenie Holroyd
Lassie Come Home/ Mrs. Carraclough
Per Quinlan's Character Stars:
Bright, bird like, chestnut haired British leading lady whose heroines tended to be eccentric, later became an attention grabbing character actress.
Elsa Lanchester was born in 1902 at Lewisham, London, England into an unconventional family. Both parents were socialists and active members of the Social Democratic Foundation.
She originally wanted to become a classical dancer and she was enrolled by her mother into the Isadora Duncan Bellevue School in Paris. The First World War caused this effort to be curtailed and she returned to England where she began appearing in music halls with an act as an Egyptian dancer.
Ms. Lanchester made her stage debut in 1922 and continued this effort on the stage for several years. She also opened a nightclub with her partner Harold Scott singing cabaret songs and performing in one act plays by Chekhov and Pirandello.
She made her film debut in 1927 in the film One Of The Best.
Some of the film roles of Elsa lanchester were:
One of The Best (1927) as Kitty
The Constant Nymph ( 1928) as A Lady
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 4th Wife
The Private Life Of Don Juan (1934) as Maid
David Copperfield (1935) as Clickett
Naughty Marietta (1935) as Madame d'Annaurd
The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley/ The Monster's Bride
The Ghost Goes West (1935) as Miss Shepperton
Rembrandt (1936) as Hendrickje
The Beachcomber (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 Smith
Forever And A Day (1942) asMamie
Thumbs Up (1943) as Emma Finch
Lassie Come Home (1943) as Mrs. Carraclough
Passport To Destiny (1944) as Ella Muggins
The Spiral Staircase (1946) as Mrs.Oates
The Razor's Edge (1946) as MissKeith
Northwest Outpost (1947) as Princess Tatiana
The Bishop's Wife (1947) as matilda
The Big Clock (1947) as Louise Patterson
The Secret Garden (1948) as Martha
Come To The Stable (1949) as Amelia Potts
The Inspector General (1949) asMaria
Buccaneer's Girl (1950) as Mme. Brizar
Mystery Street (1950) as Mrs. Smerrling
The Pretty Girl (1950) as Dr. Crutcher
Frenchie (1950) as Countess
Dreamboat (1952) as Dr. Mathilda Coffey
Les Miserables (1952) as Madame Magloire
Androcles And The Lion (1952) as Magaera
The Girls Of Pleasure Island (19530 as Thelma
Hell's Half Acre (1954) as Lida O'Reilly
3 Ring Circus (1954) as The BeardedLady
The Glass Slipper (1955) as Widow Sonder
Alice In Wonderland (1955-TV) 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) as Noah's Wife
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 (19690 as Mrs. Dennison
In Name Only (1969-TV) as Gertrude Caruso
Willard (1971) as Henrietta Stiles
Terror In The Wax Museum (1973) as Julia Hawthorne
Arnold (1973) as Hester
Murder By Death (1976) as Jessica Marbles
Where's Poppa? (1979-TV) as Momma Hocheiser
Die Laughing (1980) as Sophie
Ms. Lanchester was active on television appearing in such programs as Studio One In Hollywood, Schlitz Playhouse Of Stars, The Ford Television Theater, The Best Of Broadway, Max Liebman Spectaculars, The Star & The Story, Shower Of Stars, Lux Video Theater, The 20th Century Fox Hour, I Love Lucy, Robert Montgomery Presents, Shirley Temple's Storybook, Adventures In Paradise, General Electric Theater, The Dick Powell Theater, Follow The Sun, The Eleventh Hour,
Burke's Law, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Ben Casey, The Man From UNCLE, Slattery's People, The John Forsythe Show, Off To See The Wizard, Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color, Then Came Bronson, It Takes A Thief, The Bill Cosby Show, Nanny And The Professor, Night Gallery, Mannix and Here's Lucy.
She was married to actor Charles Laughton from 1929 until his death in 1962. She appeared in several films with her husband including The Private Life Of Henry VIII, Les Miserables, Witness For The Prosecution, The Big Clock and Rembrandt.
Elsa Lanchester passed away in 1986 of bronchial pneumonia.
For me her outstanding performances were in The Bride Of Frankenstein, Bell, Book and Candle, Witness For The Prosecution, The Big Clock, Alice In Wonderland (TV), Lassie Come Home and Les Miserables.
Louie The Movie Buff