| Elsa Lanchester | |
|---|---|
 in Bride of Frankenstein |
|
| Born | October 28, 1902 Lewisham, London, England |
| Died | December 26, 1986 (aged 84) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California |
Elsa Lanchester (October 28, 1902 Lewisham, London - December 26, 1986 Woodland Hills, California) was an Oscar-nominated English character actress who became a naturalized American citizen in 1950 along with her husband, actor Charles Laughton. Events 306 - Maxentius is proclaimed Roman Emperor. 312 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Lewisham is a district in south-east London, England and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Lewisham. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 1481 - Battle of Westbrook - Holland defeats troops of Utrecht. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Woodland Hills is a district in the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. Events 306 - Maxentius is proclaimed Roman Emperor. 312 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Lewisham is a district in south-east London, England and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Lewisham. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Events 1481 - Battle of Westbrook - Holland defeats troops of Utrecht. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Woodland Hills is a district in the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A character actor is an Actor who predominantly plays a particular type of role rather than leading ones Naturalization is the acquisition of Citizenship or Nationality by somebody who was not a citizen or national of that country when he or she was born Charles Laughton ( 1 July, 1899 &ndash 15 December, 1962) was an English Academy Award -winning stage and She is best remembered for her role as the title character in Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Bride of Frankenstein (advertised as The Bride of Frankenstein) is a science fiction / Horror film.
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Early life
Lanchester was born Elsa Sullivan Lanchester in Lewisham, London, England [1]. Lewisham is a district in south-east London, England and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Lewisham. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Her parents, James Sullivan and Edith Lanchester, were considered Bohemian, and refused to legalize their union in any conventional way to satisfy the era's conservative society. The term bohemian, of French origin was first used in the English language in the nineteenth century to describe the untraditional lifestyles of marginalized and impoverished Artists Edith's parents even successfully sent her to an asylum for a while, as she refused to wed James even if she wanted to live with him. An older sibling, Waldo (b. 1898), completed the family.
As a child, Elsa studied dance in Paris under Isadora Duncan, whom she disliked. Isadora Duncan (May 26 1877 &ndash September 14 1927 was an American dancer When the school was discontinued due to the start of First World War she returned to England. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All At that point (she was about twelve years of age) she considered herself capable to teach dancing in the Isadora Duncan style (despite her own scathing remarks about her former teacher's style) and, very enterprisingly, started to give classes to children of her South London neighbourhood, with which she earned a welcome bit of extra income in her household.
Film career
Lanchester married actor Charles Laughton in 1929. Charles Laughton ( 1 July, 1899 &ndash 15 December, 1962) was an English Academy Award -winning stage and [2] In 1928 she had appeared in a couple of 'silent shorts' - Bluebottles and Daydreams - in which Laughton made brief appearances. A daydream is a visionary fantasy experienced while awake especially one of happy pleasant thoughts hopes or ambitions They also appeared together in a 1930 'film revue' entitled Comets, featuring British variety acts, in which they duetted in 'The Ballad of Frankie and Johnnie. A comet is a small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and when close enough to the Sun exhibits a visible coma (atmosphere or a tail — ' Lanchester appeared in several other early British talkies, including Potiphar's Wife, starring Laurence Olivier (1931). She acted with Laughton again in 1933 in one of her best-known early screen appearances, as a highly comical Anne of Cleves in The Private Life of Henry VIII. Anne of Cleves Queen of England (22 September 1515&ndash16 July 1557 ( German: Anna von Jülich-Kleve-Berg) was the fourth wife of Henry VIII The Private Life of Henry VIII is a 1933 film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Laughton was by now making films in Hollywood so Lanchester joined him there and made small appearances in David Copperfield (1935) and Naughty Marietta (1935). Naughty Marietta is a 1935 movie based on the operetta of the same name by Victor Herbert: Jeanette MacDonald stars as a flirty flighty These and her appearances in British films helped her gain the title role in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), the film for which she is now best remembered. Bride of Frankenstein (advertised as The Bride of Frankenstein) is a science fiction / Horror film. She and Laughton returned to England in 1936 to appear together again in Rembrandt and two years later in Vessel of Wrath. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15 1606 &ndash October 4 1669 was a Dutch painter and etcher.
They both returned to Hollywood in 1939 where he made The Hunchback of Notre Dame though Elsa didn't appear in another movie until 1941 with Ladies in Retirement. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre-Dame de Paris is an 1831 French novel written by Victor Hugo. Ladies in Retirement is a 1941 film starring Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward. She and Laughton played husband and wife (their characters were named Charles and Elsa Smith) in Tales of Manhattan (1942) and they both appeared again in the all-star mostly British cast of Forever and a Day (1943). Tales of Manhattan is a 1942 Black-and-white Anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier. Elsa received top billing in Passport to Destiny (1944) for the only time in any of her Hollywood movies. In this, she played a cockney charlady who scrubs her way across Occupied Europe in order to try and assassinate Hitler. Elsa played a comical role in the otherwise gripping 1948 thriller, The Big Clock in which Laughton also starred as a murderous, megalomaniac press tycoon. The Big Clock is a Film noir thriller directed by John Farrow based on the novel of the same name by Kenneth Fearing.
During the late 1940s and 1950s she appeared in small but highly varied supporting roles in a number of films while simultaneously appearing on stage at the Turnabout Theatre in Hollywood. Here she performed her solo vaudeville act, singing somewhat off-colour songs which she later recorded for a couple of LPs. On screen, she had a substantial part when she appeared again with her husband in the screen version of Agatha Christie's play Witness for the Prosecution (1957), for which both received Academy Award nominations - she for Best Supporting Actress, and Laughton for Best Actor. Agatha Mary Clarissa Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 &ndash 12 January 1976 commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English Witness for the Prosecution is a 1957 Crime film based on a short story (and later play) by Agatha Christie dealing with "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Neither won. However, Lanchester did win the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for the film. The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and Television programs given out each year during a formal dinner Lanchester was previously nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for Come to the Stable, in 1950. Come to the Stable is a 1949 film which tells the story of two French nuns who come to a small New England town and involve the townsfolk in helping them
Lanchester had another big part, as a witch, in Bell, Book and Candle and sang a duet with Elvis Presley in Easy Come, Easy Go. Bell Book and Candle is a 1958 Romantic comedy directed by Richard Quine and starring James Stewart and Kim Novak Easy Come Easy Go is a 1967 Musical film starring Elvis Presley. She is also known for her appearances in a few Walt Disney films including: Mary Poppins, That Darn Cat! and Blackbeard's Ghost. Walter Elias Disney (December 5 1901 – December 15 1966 was a multiple Academy Award -winning American Film producer, director, Screenwriter Mary Poppins is a 1964 American Musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke and produced by This article is about 1965 film For the 1997 remake see That Darn Cat (1997 film. Blackbeard's Ghost is a live-action 1968 Disney film starring Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette, directed She also appeared in two episodes of the 1960s show, The Wonderful World of Disney. The first incarnation of the Walt Disney anthology television series, commonly called The Wonderful World of Disney, premiered on ABC on October 27 Additionally, she had memorable guest roles in a classic I Love Lucy episode in 1956 and in an early episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1965). I Love Lucy is an American Situation comedy, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley The Man from UNCLE is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January She continued television work into the early 1970s, appearing as a recurring character in Nanny and the Professor. Nanny And The Professor is a US fantasy Situation comedy created by AJ Carothers and produced by 20th Century Fox Television [3]
Lanchester continued to act in films, making occasional appearances such as the departing nanny, Katie Nanna, in the opening scenes of Mary Poppins, the mother in the original version of Willard and a sleuth based on Agatha Christie's Jane Marple in the 1976 murder mystery spoof, Murder by Death. Mary Poppins is a 1964 American Musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke and produced by Willard is a 1971 Horror film starring Bruce Davison and Ernest Borgnine, directed by Daniel Mann. Jane Marple, usually known as Miss Marple, is a Fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christie Murder by Death is a comedy movie written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.
Private life
Following Laughton's death in 1962, she wrote a book alleging that they never had children because Laughton was actually homosexual. Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. [4] Actress Maureen O'Hara, a friend and co-star of Laughton, firmly denied this. Maureen O'Hara (born Maureen FitzSimons on 17 August 1920 in Ranelagh, County Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish film actress She claimed that Laughton had told her that his biggest regret was never having had children of his own. Laughton also told O'Hara that the reason he and his wife never had children was because of a botched abortion Lancaster had early in her career while performing burlesque. Elsa Lanchester mentioned in her own biography Elsa Lanchester Herself having had two abortions in her youth (one of them, a child from Charles), though she doesn't mention whether this left her incapable of becoming pregnant again or not.
Lanchester once said of O'Hara, "She looks as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, or anywhere else. "
Lanchester died in California on December 26, 1986 from pneumonia. Events 1481 - Battle of Westbrook - Holland defeats troops of Utrecht. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the Lung. Frequently it is described as lung Parenchyma / alveolar inflammation and abnormal
Filmography
|
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| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Eileen Heckart for The Bad Seed |
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture 1958 for Witness for the Prosecution |
Succeeded by Hermione Gingold for Gigi |
References
- ^ GRO Register of Births: MAR 1903 1d 1194 LEWISHAM - Elsa Sullivan Lanchester
- ^ GRO Register of Marriages: MAR 1929 1a 986 ST MARTIN - Charles Laughton = Elsa Sullivan or Lanchester
- ^ Elsa Lanchester at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Houseman, John. The One of the Best was a British Automobile built in 1905 A 9 hp Light car, it was the product of a jack manufacturer named Adams from Tunbridge The Constant Nymph is a Novel by Margaret Kennedy which tells the story of a teenage girl who falls in love with a family friend who eventually marries A daydream is a visionary fantasy experienced while awake especially one of happy pleasant thoughts hopes or ambitions A comet is a small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and when close enough to the Sun exhibits a visible coma (atmosphere or a tail — The Private Life of Henry VIII is a 1933 film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Private Life of Don Juan is a 1934 film about the life of an aging Don Juan, based on the 1920 play L'homme à la Rose by Henry Bataille Naughty Marietta is a 1935 movie based on the operetta of the same name by Victor Herbert: Jeanette MacDonald stars as a flirty flighty Bride of Frankenstein (advertised as The Bride of Frankenstein) is a science fiction / Horror film. The Ghost Goes West is a 1935 British Romantic comedy / Fantasy film starring Robert Donat and Jean Parker and Rembrandt is a 1936 British Biographical film made by London Film Productions of the life of 17th century Dutch painter "The Vessel of Wrath" is a short story by W Somerset Maugham. Ladies in Retirement is a 1941 film starring Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward. Son of Fury The Story of Benjamin Blake is a 1942 Adventure film directed by John Cromwell, starring Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney Tales of Manhattan is a 1942 Black-and-white Anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier. For the Chinese newspaper see Thumbs Up (newspaper. For the Indian Cola drink see Thums Up A thumbs up or thumbs down is Lassie Come Home ( 1943) is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Feature film starring Roddy McDowall and canine actor Pal in a story The Spiral Staircase is a 1945 American Psychological thriller film based on Ethel Lina White 's Novel Some Must Watch, The Razor's Edge is the first film version of W Somerset Maugham 's 1944 novel. The Bishop's Wife ( 1947) is an RKO romantic comedy Feature film starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and The Big Clock is a Film noir thriller directed by John Farrow based on the novel of the same name by Kenneth Fearing. Come to the Stable is a 1949 film which tells the story of two French nuns who come to a small New England town and involve the townsfolk in helping them The Secret Garden is a Novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published in 1909. The Inspector General is a 1949 Musical comedy Film. Loosely based on Nikolai Gogol 's play The Inspector General Mystery Street is 1950 Black-and-white film directed by John Sturges with Cinematography by famed lensman John Alton Frenchie is a 1950 American film of the western genre, directed by Louis King and starring Shelley Winters as Frenchie Fontaine and "Dreamboat" is a Popular song, the words and music to which were written by Jack Hoffman (sometimes incorrectly attributed to Al Hoffman Les Misérables is a 1952 film adaptation of the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. 3 Ring Circus is a film comedy starring Martin and Lewis. The movie was filmed from February 17 - March 31 1954 and released on December 25 1954 Hell's Half Acre is a ( 1954) Film noir set in Hawaii and directed by John H The Glass Slipper is a 1955 Musical film adaptation of Cinderella, made by MGM, directed by Charles Walters Witness for the Prosecution is a 1957 Crime film based on a short story (and later play) by Agatha Christie dealing with Bell Book and Candle is a 1958 Romantic comedy directed by Richard Quine and starring James Stewart and Kim Novak Honeymoon Hotel ( 1934) is an Animated cartoon Short subject in the Leon Schlesinger / Warner Bros Mary Poppins is a 1964 American Musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke and produced by This article is about 1965 film For the 1997 remake see That Darn Cat (1997 film. Easy Come Easy Go is a 1967 Musical film starring Elvis Presley. Blackbeard's Ghost is a live-action 1968 Disney film starring Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette, directed Rascal is a Film that was released in 1969 Willard is a 1971 Horror film starring Bruce Davison and Ernest Borgnine, directed by Daniel Mann. Murder by Death is a comedy movie written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore. Die Laughing is the fourth stand-up comedy album by Doug Stanhope. Eileen Heckart ( March 29, 1919 – December 31, 2001) was an Academy Award - and Tony Award -winning American The Bad Seed is a 1956 Academy Award -nominated horror / thriller film directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance Witness for the Prosecution is a 1957 Crime film based on a short story (and later play) by Agatha Christie dealing with Hermione Gingold ( December 9, 1897 &ndash May 24, 1987) was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued eccentric persona Not to be confused with Gigli. Gigi is a 1958 motion picture musical set in Paris France. The Bride of Frankenstein. The New York Times. 17 April 1983. Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor. Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) Access date: 12 August 2007. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
External links
- Elsa Lanchester at the Internet Movie Database
- Elsa Lanchester at the TCM Movie Database
- Elsa Lanchester at the Internet Broadway Database
- Elsa Lanchester at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
- Obituary
- Cult Sirens: Elsa Lanchester
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lanchester, Elsa |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sullivan, Elsa Lanchester |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1902-10-25 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lewisham, London, England |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1986-12-26 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA |
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