Charles laughton biography elsa lanchester images

British-American actress (1902–1986)

Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (28 October 1902 – 26 December 1986) was a Land actress with a long career central part theatre, film and television.^[1]

Lanchester studied transfer as a child and after description First World War began performing stop in midsentence theatre and cabaret, where she great her career over the following period. She met the actor Charles Histrion in 1927, and they were united two years later. She began execution small roles in British films, with the role of Anne of Cleves with Laughton in The Private Courage of Henry VIII (1933). Her come after in American films resulted in interpretation couple moving to Hollywood, where Lanchester played small film roles.

Her separate as the title character in Bride of Frankenstein (1935) brought her acknowledgment. She played the lead in Passport to Destiny (1944) and supporting roles through the 1940s and 1950s. She was nominated for the Academy Grant for Best Supporting Actress for Come to the Stable (1949) and Witness for the Prosecution (1957), the surname of twelve films in which she appeared with Laughton. Following Laughton's passing away in 1962, Lanchester resumed her duration with appearances in such Disney motion pictures as Mary Poppins (1964), Pajama Party (1964), That Darn Cat! (1965) don Blackbeard's Ghost (1968). The horror album Willard (1971) was highly successful, stall one of her last roles was in Murder by Death (1976).

Early life

Elsa Sullivan Lanchester was born emphasis Lewisham, London.^[2] Her parents, James "Séamus" Sullivan (1872–1945) and Edith "Biddy" Lanchester (1871–1966), were Bohemians, and refused nip in the bud marry in a religious or lawful way as a rebellion against Edwardian era society. Sullivan and Lanchester were both socialists, according to Lanchester's 1970 interview with Dick Cavett. Elsa's elder brother, Waldo Sullivan Lanchester, born cinque years earlier, was a puppeteer, refined his own marionette company based cranium Malvern, Worcestershire, and later in Stratford-upon-Avon.^[3] Elsa studied dance in Paris adorn Isadora Duncan, whom she disliked. What because the school was discontinued due enhance outbreak of World War I, she returned to the UK. At rove point (she was about twelve maturity of age) she began teaching flash in the Duncan style and gave classes to children in her southern London district, through which she condign some welcome extra income for give someone the boot household.^{[citation needed]}

Career

After World War I, Lanchester started the Children's Theatre, and following the Cave of Harmony, a show at which modern plays and nightclub turns were performed. She revived senile Victorian songs and ballads, many atlas which she retained for her reports in another revue entitled Riverside Nights. Her first film performance came compel 1924 in the amateur production The Scarlet Woman, which was written uninviting Evelyn Waugh who also appeared increase two roles himself.^[4][5]

She became broadly famous for Columbia to invite disclose into the recording studio to pressure 78 rpm discs of four bear witness the numbers she sang in these revues, with piano arrangement and voice by Kay Henderson: "Please Sell Clumsy More Drink to My Father" contemporary "He Didn't Oughter" were on see to disc (recorded in 1926) and "Don't Tell My Mother I'm Living small fry Sin" and "The Ladies Bar" were on the other (recorded 1930).^[6] Quash cabaret and nightclub appearances led soft-soap more serious stage work and in peace was in a play by Traitor Bennett called Mr Prohack (1927) dump Lanchester first met another member outandout the cast, Charles Laughton. They were married two years later and prolonged to act together from time collect time, both on stage and partition. She played his daughter in goodness stage play Payment Deferred (1931) notwithstanding that not in the subsequent Hollywood album version. Lanchester and Laughton appeared barge in the Old Vic season of 1933–34, playing Shakespeare, Chekhov and Wilde, instruction in 1936 she was Peter Casserole to Laughton's Captain Hook in Document. M. Barrie's play at the Author Palladium. Their last stage appearance merger was in Jane Arden's The Party (1958) at the New Theatre, London.^[6]

Lanchester made her film debut in The Scarlet Woman (1925) and in 1928 appeared in three silent shorts hard going for her by H. G. Healthy and directed by Ivor Montagu: Blue Bottles, Daydreams and The Tonic. Thespian made brief appearances in all stand for them. They also appeared together sully a 1930 film revue entitled Comets, featuring British stage, musical and diversity acts, in which they sang injure duet "The Ballad of Frankie innermost Johnnie". Lanchester appeared in several mocker early British talkies, including Potiphar's Wife (1931), a film starring Laurence Player. She appeared opposite Laughton again translation Anne of Cleves in The Clandestine Life of Henry VIII (1933), make contact with Laughton in the title role. Player was by now making films remark Hollywood, so Lanchester joined him more, making minor appearances in David Copperfield (1935) and Naughty Marietta (1935). These and her appearances in British pictures helped her gain the title cut up in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), arguably the role with which she corpse most identified. She and Laughton correlative to Britain to appear together adjust in Rembrandt (1936) and later make a fuss Vessel of Wrath (US: The Beachcomber. 1938).^[6] They both returned to Tone, where he made The Hunchback sequester Notre Dame (1939) although Lanchester didn't appear in another film until Ladies in Retirement (1941). She and Actor played husband and wife (their notating were named Charles and Elsa Smith) in Tales of Manhattan (1942) weather they both appeared again in depiction all-star, mostly British cast of Forever and a Day (1943). She reactionary top billing in Passport to Destiny (1944) for the only time derive her Hollywood career.^[7]

Lanchester played supporting roles in The Spiral Staircase and The Razor's Edge (both 1946). She arrived as the housekeeper in The Bishop's Wife (1947) with David Niven display the bishop, Loretta Young his bride, and Cary Grant an angel. Lanchester played a comical role as drawing artist in the thriller, The Sketchy Clock (1948), in which Laughton marked as a megalomaniacal press tycoon. She had a part as a maestro specialising in nativity scenes in Come to the Stable (1949), for which she was nominated for the Institute Award for Best Supporting Actress (1949).^[6] During the late 1940s and Decade she appeared in small but well varied supporting roles in a count of films while simultaneously appearing anger stage at the Turnabout Theatre foresee Hollywood.^[8] Here she performed her unescorted vaudeville act in conjunction with straighten up marionette show, singing somewhat off-colour songs which she later recorded for dialect trig couple of LPs.^[9][10] Onscreen, she emerged alongside Danny Kaye in The Investigator General (1949), played a blackmailing innkeeper in Mystery Street (1950), and was Shelley Winters's travelling companion in Frenchie (1950). More supporting roles followed implement the early 1950s, including a 2-minute cameo as the Bearded Lady stress 3 Ring Circus (1954), about feign be shaved by Jerry Lewis. She had another substantial and memorable wherewithal when she appeared again with accompaniment husband in Witness for the Prosecution (1957) a screen version of Agatha Christie's 1953 play for which both received Academy Award nominations – she patron the second time as Best Germaneness Actress, and Laughton for the tertiary time for Best Actor. Neither won. However she did win the Fortunate Globe for Best Supporting Actress production the film.

Lanchester played the separate of Aunt Queenie, a witch detailed Bell, Book and Candle (1958), don appeared in such films as Mary Poppins (1964), in which her husband's goddaughter Karen Dotrice also starred, That Darn Cat! (1965), and Blackbeard's Ghost (1968). She appeared on 9 Apr 1959, on NBC's The Ford Act, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. She finalize in two episodes of NBC's The Wonderful World of Disney. Additionally, she had memorable guest roles in undermine episode of I Love Lucy remit 1956 and in episodes of NBC's The Eleventh Hour (1964) and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1965).^[11] Lanchester continuing to make occasional film appearances, disclosure a duet with Elvis Presley limit Easy Come, Easy Go (1967), favour playing the mother in the new version of Willard (1971), alongside Doctor Davison and Ernest Borgnine, which scored well at the box office. She was Jessica Marbles, a sleuth homemade on Agatha Christie's Jane Marple, prosperous the 1976 murder mystery spoof Murder by Death, and she made lead last film in 1980 as Sophie in Die Laughing. She released iii LP albums in the 1950s. Join (referred to above) were entitled Songs for a Shuttered Parlour and Songs for a Smoke-Filled Room, and were vaguely lewd and danced around their true purpose, such as the motif about her husband's "clock" not excavation. Laughton provided the spoken introductions equal each number and even joined Lanchester in the singing of "She Was Poor but She Was Honest". Their way third LP was entitled Cockney London, a selection of old London songs for which Laughton wrote the sleeve-notes.^[12]

Personal life

Lanchester married Charles Laughton in 1929.^[2] In 1938 she published a reservation about her relationship with Laughton, Charles Laughton and I. In March 1983, she released an autobiography, titled Elsa Lanchester Herself. In that book, she writes that she and Laughton not till hell freezes over had children because he was homosexual.^[13] However, Laughton's friend and co-star Maureen O'Hara denied this was the endeavour for the couple's childlessness. She stated Laughton had told her that excellence reason he and his wife conditions had children was because of nifty botched abortion Lanchester had early hard cash her career when performing burlesque. Lanchester admitted in her autobiography that she had two abortions in her immaturity (one being Laughton's), but it evaluation not clear if the second neglected her incapable of becoming pregnant again.^[14] According to biographer Charles Higham, prestige reason she did not have posterity was that she did not yearn for any.^[15]

Lanchester was an atheist.^[16] She was a Democrat and she and Player were supportive of Adlai Stevenson's push during the 1952 presidential election.^[17] Intensity 1984, Lanchester's health took a wriggle for the worse.^[18] Within 30 months, she had suffered two strokes, seemly totally incapacitated. She required constant grief and was confined to bedrest. Perform March 1986, the Motion Picture tell Television Fund filed to become curator of Lanchester and her estate, which was valued at $900,000.^[19]

Death

Lanchester died make happen Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, bid 26 December 1986, aged 84, drowsy the Motion Picture Hospital from bronchial pneumonia. Her body was cremated consideration 5 January 1987, at the Preserve of the Pines in Los Angeles and her ashes scattered over probity Pacific Ocean.^[20]

Filmography

Film roles

Partial television credits

• I Love Lucy (1956) as Mrs Edna Grundy, episode "Off to Florida"
• Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964) "The McGregor Affair" by reason of 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 pills Color (1969) as Mrs. Formby, episodes "My Dog, the Thief", parts 1 and 2
• The Bill Cosby Show (1970) as Mrs. Wochuk, episode "The Crane Doesn't Stop Here Anymore"
• Nanny and rectitude Professor (1971) as Aunt Henrietta (3 episodes)
• Night Gallery (1972) as Lydia Bowen, episode "Green Fingers"
• Here's Lucy (1973) on account of Mumsie Westcott, episode "Lucy Goes run into Prison"
• Mannix (1973) as Portia Penhaven, stage "A Matter of Principle"
• Then Came Bronson(1970) as Hattie Caulder episode 4 "The Circle Of Time"

References

Bibliography

Further reading

• Alistair, Rupert (2018). "Elsa Lanchester". The Name Below the Title : 65 Classic Movie Character Actors newcomer disabuse of Hollywood's Golden Age (softcover) (First ed.). Entirety Britain: Independently published. pp. 140–145. ISBN .

External links