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Elsa Lanchester (1902 - 1986)
Throughout her life, Elsa was known as a dedicated non-conformist, largely due to her highly unconventional upbringing by her eccentric parents. The fact that her parents refused to get married, coupled with other outlandish behaviors, led to her mother's abduction and forced commital to an asylum by Elsa's maternal grandfather and uncle, in what was widely reported in papers as "The Lanchester Kidnapping." Elsa's parents enrolled her in Isadora Duncan's dance school in Paris, but she was forced to return the following year with the outbreak of World War I. Elsa worked her way through school teaching dance, and organized and ran The Children's Theater when she was 16. She also joined the Cave of Harmony Productions theatrical group, performing in numerous one-act plays and skits. In 1924 she appeared in a short subject film, The Scarlet Woman, and made her first major screen appearance in 1927 in One of the Best. A scandal occurred during a 1926 performance at the London Metropole when her rendition of "Please Sell No More Drink to My Father" caused a member of the Royal Family to get up and leave. During this same time she met and befriended James Whale and through him met Charles Laughton, whom she married in 1929. Elsa learned of Laughton's homosexuality two years into the marriage and claimed to have gone deaf for several days from the shock, yet they remained happily married until his death in 1962. The jury is still out as to whether Elsa herself was a lesbian or simply a very loving and understanding wife. In his Gay Book of Days, Martin Grief notes that her introduction to Laughton's biography shows just as much courage, heart, and brilliance on her part as it does on her husband's. Elsa made her American film debut with her husband in The Private Life of Henry VIII, playing Henry's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, following this with an uncredited part in The Private Life of Don Juan. In 1935 James Whale approached her to appear in The Bride of Frankenstein, as both the creature's mate and as Frankenstein author Mary Shelley. Whale may or may not have considered Elsa for this latter part because the Shelleys' own bohemian lifestyles mimiced those of her parents. Elsa was credited for the part of Mary Shelley but a question mark was placed by the role of the mate in the end credits. Still, it became her most famous role. Following Bride, Elsa pursued a long and prosperous career as a character performer, playing supporting roles in many of the great classics of cinema. These included roles in David Copperfield (1935); The Ghost Goes West (1935); Sullivan's Travels (1941); Tales of Manhattan (1942, with Laughton); Lassie Come Hone (1943, with Roddy McDowell); The Razor's Edge (1946); The Spiral Staircase (1946); The Bishop's Wife (1947, with Cary Grant); The Inspector General (1947, with Danny Kaye); The Glass Slipper (1955); Mary Poppins (1964); Pajama Party (1964, with Tommy Kirk); That Darn Cat (1965); and Willard (1971). She was nominated for Academy Awards for her performances in Come to the Stable in 1949, and Witness for the Prosecution in 1957. In 1958 she appeared with James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Jack Lemmon in Bell, Book, and Candle, one of the inspirations for Bewitched, playing a character which provided the basis for Samantha's bumbling Aunt Clara on that series. One of her last screen appearances was in Murder by Death (1976), a hilarious Neil Simon satire of murder mysteries, in which she played Jessica Marbles, a send-up of Agatha Christie's Jane Marple. Among her co-stars was Truman Capote as murder victim Lionel Twain. She also appeared several times on television, guest-starring on I Love Lucy; The Man From UNCLE; Night Gallery;Nanny and the Professor; and Mannix, as well as appearing in a television version of Where's Poppa?. Elsa's first love, however, was singing in music halls and cabarets, as evidenced by her LP recording, Songs for a Smoke-Filled Room. Elsa Lanchester's last film appearance was in Die Laughing in 1980, with Robbie Benson and Bud Cort. Declining health soon forced her departure from performing. She died at the Motion Picture and Televison Hospital in Woodland Hills, California after a bout with bronchial pneumonia. Internet Movie Database - Elsa Lanchester American Film Institute - Elsa Lanchester
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