Editing Elsa Lanchester

{{short description|British-American actress (1902–1986)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Elsa Lanchester
| image              = Elsa Lanchester.jpg
| caption            = Lanchester in 1935
| birthname          = Elsa Sullivan Lanchester
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1902|10|28|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham|Lewisham]], London, England
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1986|12|26|1902|10|28|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| years_active       = 1925–1983
| occupation         = Actress
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Charles Laughton]]|1929|1962|end=died}}
| parents            = [[Edith Lanchester]] (mother)
| relatives          = [[Waldo Lanchester]] (brother)
}}
'''Elsa Sullivan Lanchester''' (28 October 1902&nbsp;– 26 December 1986) was a British actress with a long career in theatre, film and television.<ref name="WVobit">Obituary ''[[Variety Obituaries|Variety]]'', 31 December 1986.</ref>

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). Her success in American films resulted in the couple moving to Hollywood, where Lanchester played small film roles.

Her role as the title character in ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1935) brought her recognition. She played the lead in ''[[Passport to Destiny]]'' (1944) and 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 film)|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 [[Walt Disney|Disney]] films as ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'' (1964), ''[[Pajama Party (film) |Pajama Party]]'' (1964), ''[[That Darn Cat! (1965 film)|That Darn Cat!]]'' (1965) and ''[[Blackbeard's Ghost]]'' (1968). The horror film ''[[Willard (1971 film)|Willard]]'' (1971) was highly successful, and one of her last roles was in ''[[Murder by Death]]'' (1976).

==Early life==
Elsa Sullivan Lanchester was born in [[Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham|Lewisham]], London.<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|id=57311|title=Lanchester [married name Laughton], Elsa Sullivan (1902–1986)}}</ref> Her parents, James "[[Séamus]]" Sullivan (1872–1945) and [[Edith Lanchester|Edith "Biddy" Lanchester]] (1871–1966), were [[Bohemianism|Bohemian]]s, and refused to marry in a religious or legal way as a rebellion against [[Edwardian era]] society. Sullivan and Lanchester were both [[Marxism|socialist]]s, according to Lanchester's 1970<!-- probably not 1972, see talk. --> interview with [[Dick Cavett]]. Elsa's older brother, [[Waldo Lanchester|Waldo Sullivan Lanchester]], born five years earlier, was a [[puppeteer]], with his own [[marionette]] company based in [[Malvern, Worcestershire|Malvern]], [[Worcestershire]], and later in [[Stratford-upon-Avon]].<ref>{{cite magazine |date=1951 |author=<!--Not stated-->   |title=The Lanchester Marionettes |magazine= The British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild Festival Exhibition |location=London, mUK |publisher= British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild |page=43}}</ref> Elsa studied dance in [[Paris]] under [[Isadora Duncan]], whom she disliked. When the school was discontinued due to outbreak of [[World War I]], she returned to the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|UK]]. At that point (she was about twelve years of age) she began teaching dance in the Duncan style and gave classes to children in her [[south London]] district, through which she earned some welcome extra income for her household.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}

==Career==
After World War I, Lanchester started the Children's Theatre, and later the Cave of Harmony, a nightclub at which modern plays and cabaret turns were performed. She revived old Victorian songs and ballads, many of which she retained for her performances in another revue entitled ''Riverside Nights''. Her first film performance came in 1924 in the amateur production ''The Scarlet Woman'', which was written by [[Evelyn Waugh]] who also appeared in two roles himself.<ref>[https://www.evelynwaugh.org.uk/styled-2/index.html Information about ''The Scarlet Woman'' on the Evelyn Waugh website]</ref><ref>[https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-the-scarlet-woman-1924-online Complete film and information at the British Film Institute]</ref>

She became sufficiently famous for Columbia to invite her into the recording studio to make 78 rpm discs of four of the numbers she sang in these revues, with piano arrangement and accompaniment by [[Kay Henderson (pianist)|Kay Henderson]]: "Please Sell No More Drink to My Father" and "He Didn't Oughter" were on one disc (recorded in 1926) and "Don't Tell My Mother I'm Living in Sin" and "The Ladies Bar" were on the other (recorded 1930).<ref name="Maltin p. 494">Maltin 1994, p. 494.</ref> Her cabaret and nightclub appearances led to more serious stage work and it was in a play by [[Arnold Bennett]] called ''Mr Prohack'' (1927) that Lanchester first met another member of the cast, [[Charles Laughton]]. They were married two years later and continued to act together from time to time, both on stage and screen. She played his daughter in the stage play ''[[Payment Deferred]]'' (1931) though not in the subsequent Hollywood film version. Lanchester and Laughton appeared in the [[Old Vic]] season of 1933–34, playing Shakespeare, Chekhov and Wilde, and in 1936 she was [[Peter Pan]] to Laughton's Captain Hook in [[J. M. Barrie]]'s play at the [[London Palladium]]. Their last stage appearance together was in [[Jane Arden (director)|Jane Arden]]'s ''[[The Party (1958 play)|The Party]]'' (1958) at the [[Noël Coward Theatre|New Theatre]], London.<ref name="Maltin p. 494" />[[File:Bride gip.jpg|right|thumb|219x219px|[[Colin Clive]], Lanchester, [[Boris Karloff]] and [[Ernest Thesiger]] in ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1935)]]
[[File:Bride of Frankenstein (1935 pictorial snipe).jpg|thumb|Universal's art director [[Karoly Grosz (illustrator)|Karoly Grosz]] designed this offbeat 1935 advertisement featuring Lanchester and [[Boris Karloff]]|left|270x270px]]Lanchester made her film debut in ''The Scarlet Woman'' (1925) and in 1928 appeared in three silent shorts written for her by [[H. G. Wells]] and directed by [[Ivor Montagu]]: ''Blue Bottles'', ''Daydreams'' and ''The Tonic''. Laughton made brief appearances in all of them. They also appeared together in a 1930 [[film revue]] entitled ''Comets'', featuring British stage, musical and variety acts, in which they sang in duet "[[Frankie and Johnny (song)|The Ballad of Frankie and Johnnie]]". Lanchester appeared in several other early British talkies, including ''[[Potiphar's Wife (1931 film)|Potiphar's Wife]]'' (1931), a film starring [[Laurence Olivier]]. She appeared opposite Laughton again as [[Anne of Cleves]] in ''[[The Private Life of Henry VIII]]'' (1933), with Laughton in [[Henry VIII|the title role]]. Laughton was by now making films in Hollywood, so Lanchester joined him there, making minor appearances in ''[[David Copperfield (1935 film)|David Copperfield]]'' (1935) and ''[[Naughty Marietta (film)|Naughty Marietta]]'' (1935). These and her appearances in British films helped her gain the [[Bride of Frankenstein (character)|title role]] in ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1935), arguably the role with which she remains most identified. She and Laughton returned to Britain to appear together again in ''[[Rembrandt (1936 film)|Rembrandt]]'' (1936) and later in ''[[Vessel of Wrath]]'' (US: ''The Beachcomber''. 1938).<ref name="Maltin p. 494" /> They both returned to Hollywood, where he made ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939 film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' (1939)  although Lanchester didn't appear in another film until ''[[Ladies in Retirement]]'' (1941). 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 film)|Forever and a Day]]'' (1943). She received top billing in ''[[Passport to Destiny]]'' (1944) for the only time in her Hollywood career.<ref name="RKO">Jewell and Harbin 1982, p. 193.</ref>
[[File:ELSA-L.jpg|thumb|236x236px|Lanchester in the 1940s]]
Lanchester played supporting roles in ''[[The Spiral Staircase (1946 film)|The Spiral Staircase]]'' and ''[[The Razor's Edge (1946 film)|The Razor's Edge]]'' (both 1946). She appeared as the housekeeper in ''[[The Bishop's Wife]]'' (1947) with [[David Niven]] playing the bishop, [[Loretta Young]] his wife, and [[Cary Grant]] an angel. Lanchester played a comical role as an artist in the thriller, ''[[The Big Clock (film)|The Big Clock]]'' (1948), in which Laughton starred as a [[wiktionary:megalomania|megalomaniacal]] press tycoon. She had a part as a painter specialising in nativity scenes in ''[[Come to the Stable]]'' (1949), for which she was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]] (1949).<ref name="Maltin p. 494" /> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,794401,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516055445/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,794401,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 May 2010|title=Theater: Elsa's Gazebo|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|location=New York City|date=24 May 1948}}</ref> Here she performed her solo vaudeville act in conjunction with a marionette show, singing somewhat off-colour songs which she later recorded for a couple of LPs.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110131123905/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,813718,00.html "Music: New Pitch in the Persian Room"], time.com, 6 November 1950.</ref><ref>
{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p21762|label=Elsa Lanchester}}
</ref> Onscreen, she appeared alongside [[Danny Kaye]] in ''[[The Inspector General (1949 film)|The Inspector General]]'' (1949), played a blackmailing landlady in ''[[Mystery Street]]'' (1950), and was [[Shelley Winters]]'s travelling companion in ''[[Frenchie (film)|Frenchie]]'' (1950). More supporting roles followed in the early 1950s, including a 2-minute cameo as the Bearded Lady in ''[[3 Ring Circus]]'' (1954), about to be shaved by [[Jerry Lewis]]. She had another substantial and memorable part when she appeared again with her husband in ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)|Witness for the Prosecution]]'' (1957) a screen version of [[Agatha Christie]]'s [[Witness for the Prosecution (play)|1953 play]] for which both received [[Academy Award]] nominations&nbsp;– she for the second time as Best Supporting Actress, and Laughton for the third time for Best Actor. Neither won. However she did win the [[Golden Globe]] for Best Supporting Actress for the film.

Lanchester played the role of Aunt Queenie, a witch in ''[[Bell, Book and Candle]]'' (1958), and appeared in such films as ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'' (1964), in which her husband's goddaughter [[Karen Dotrice]] also starred, ''[[That Darn Cat! (1965 film)|That Darn Cat!]]'' (1965), and ''[[Blackbeard's Ghost]]'' (1968). She appeared on 9 April 1959, on [[NBC]]'s ''[[The Ford Show|The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford]]''. She performed in two episodes of NBC's ''[[The Wonderful World of Disney]]''. Additionally, she had memorable guest roles in an episode of ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' in 1956 and in episodes of NBC's ''[[The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)|The Eleventh Hour]]'' (1964) and ''[[The Man From U.N.C.L.E.]]'' (1965).<ref name="Fan">Favell, Jack. [https://www.tcm.com/?threadID=133073 "A Fan Tribute to Elsa Lanchester"], Turner Classic Movies; retrieved 19 May 2013.</ref> Lanchester continued to make occasional film appearances, singing a duet with [[Elvis Presley]] in ''[[Easy Come, Easy Go (1967 film)|Easy Come, Easy Go]]'' (1967), and playing the mother in the original version of ''[[Willard (1971 film)|Willard]]'' (1971), alongside [[Bruce Davison]] and [[Ernest Borgnine]], which scored well at the box office. She was Jessica Marbles, a sleuth based on [[Agatha Christie]]'s [[Miss Marple|Jane Marple]], in the 1976 murder mystery spoof ''[[Murder by Death]]'', and she made her last film in 1980 as Sophie in ''[[Die Laughing (film)|Die Laughing]]''. She released three LP albums in the 1950s. Two (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 song about her husband's "clock" not working. Laughton provided the spoken introductions to each number and even joined Lanchester in the singing of "[[She Was Poor but She Was Honest]]". Her third LP was entitled ''Cockney London'', a selection of old London songs for which Laughton wrote the sleeve-notes.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/richmond-times-dispatch-look-listen/148842466/ |title=Look & Listen |newspaper=[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]] |page=72 |date=1961-08-06 |access-date=2024-06-06 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Lanchester married [[Charles Laughton]] in 1929.<ref name="ODNB"/> In 1938 she published a book 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 never had children because he was homosexual.<ref>{{cite web |first=John |last=Houseman |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05E3DF1638F934A25757C0A965948260|title=The Bride of Frankenstein'|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=17 April 1983|access-date=12 August 2007}}</ref> However, Laughton's friend and co-star [[Maureen O'Hara]] denied this was the reason for the couple's childlessness. She claimed Laughton had told her that the reason he and his wife never had children was because of a botched abortion Lanchester had early in her career when performing burlesque. Lanchester admitted in her autobiography that she had two abortions in her youth (one being Laughton's), but it is not clear if the second left her incapable of becoming pregnant again.<ref>Lanchester 1983 {{page needed|date=May 2013}}.</ref> According to biographer [[Charles Higham (biographer)|Charles Higham]], the reason she did not have children was that she did not want any.<ref>{{Harvnb|Higham|1976|page=27}}</ref>

Lanchester was an [[atheist]].<ref>Elsa Lanchester, ''Charles Laughton and I'', (Harcourt, Brace, 1938)</ref> She was a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] and she and Laughton were supportive of [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]]'s campaign during the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 presidential election]].<ref>''Motion Picture and Television Magazine'', November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers</ref> In 1984, Lanchester's health took a turn for the worse.<ref>{{cite web |first=Martin |last=Weil |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1986/12/27/actress-elsa-lanchester-dies/587cd3ff-dd6d-43e7-b4a9-3e9ee7d9345d/|title=Actress Elsa Lanchester Dies|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=27 December 1986|access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref> Within 30 months, she had suffered two strokes, becoming totally incapacitated. She required constant care and was confined to bedrest. In March 1986, the [[Motion Picture and Television Fund]] filed to become conservator of Lanchester and her estate, which was valued at $900,000.<ref>{{harvnb|Mank|1999|page=315}}</ref>

==Death==
Lanchester died in [[Woodland Hills, Los Angeles]], California,  on 26 December 1986, aged 84, at the [[Motion Picture Hospital]] from [[bronchial pneumonia]]. Her body was cremated on 5 January 1987, at the Chapel of the Pines in [[Los Angeles]] and her ashes scattered over the [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref>{{harvnb|Mank|1999|page=316}}</ref>

==Filmography==

=== Film roles ===
[[File:Private-Life-Henry-VIII.jpg|right|thumb|upright|With [[Charles Laughton]] in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933)]]
[[File:BrideofFrankenstein13B.jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[Colin Clive]], Lanchester, Boris Karloff and [[Ernest Thesiger]] in ''Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935)]]
[[File:Bride of Frankenstein (1935) poster 1.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Lobby card for re-release of ''Bride of Frankenstein'' with [[Douglas Walton (actor)|Douglas Walton]] as [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]], Lanchester as [[Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley]] and [[Gavin Gordon (actor)|Gavin Gordon]] as [[Lord Byron]]]]
{{Div col}}
* ''The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama'' (1925 short) as Beatrice de Carolle
* ''[[One of the Best (film)|One of the Best]]'' (1927) as Kitty
* ''[[The Constant Nymph (1928 film)|The Constant Nymph]]'' (1928) as Lady
* ''The Tonic'' (1928, Short) as Elsa
* ''Daydreams'' (1928, Short) as Elsa / Heroine in Dream Sequence
* ''Blue Bottles'' (1928, Short) as Elsa
* ''Mr. Smith Wakes Up'' (1929, Short)
* ''Comets'' (1930) as Herself
* ''Ashes'' (1930, Short) as Girl
* ''[[The Love Habit]]'' (1931) as Mathilde
* ''[[The Officers' Mess]]'' (1931) as Cora Melville
* ''[[The Stronger Sex]]'' (1931) as Thompson
* ''[[Potiphar's Wife (film)|Potiphar's Wife]]'' (1931) as Therese
* ''[[The Private Life of Henry VIII]]'' (1933) as Anne of Cleves, the Fourth Wife
* ''[[David Copperfield (1935 film)|David Copperfield]]'' (1935) as Clickett
* ''[[Naughty Marietta (film)|Naughty Marietta]]'' (1935) as Madame d'Annard
* ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1935) as [[Mary Shelley]]/The Monster's Mate
* ''[[The Ghost Goes West]]'' (1935) as Miss Shepperton
* ''[[Rembrandt (1936 film)|Rembrandt]]'' (1936) as Hendrickje Stoffels
* ''Miss Bracegirdle Does Her Duty'' (1936 unreleased short) as Millicent Bracegirdle
* ''[[Vessel of Wrath]]'' (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 (Mrs Charles) Smith
* ''[[Forever and a Day (1943 film)|Forever and a Day]]'' (1943) as Mamie
* ''[[Thumbs Up (film)|Thumbs Up]]'' (1943) as Emma Finch
* ''[[Lassie Come Home]]'' (1943) as Mrs. Carraclough
* ''[[Passport to Destiny]]'' (1944) as Ella Muggins
* ''[[The Spiral Staircase (1946 film)|The Spiral Staircase]]'' (1945) as Mrs. Oates
* ''[[The Razor's Edge (1946 film)|The Razor's Edge]]'' (1946) as Miss Keith
* ''[[Northwest Outpost]]'' (1947) as Princess "Tanya" Tatiana
* ''[[The Bishop's Wife]]'' (1947) as Matilda
* ''[[The Big Clock (1948 film)|The Big Clock]]'' (1948) as Louise Patterson
* ''[[The Secret Garden (1949 film)|The Secret Garden]]'' (1949) as Martha
* ''[[Come to the Stable]]'' (1949) as Amelia Potts
** [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
* ''[[The Inspector General (1949 film)|The Inspector General]]'' (1949) as Maria
* ''[[Buccaneer's Girl]]'' (1949) as Mme. Brizar
* ''[[Mystery Street]]'' (1950) as Mrs. Smerrling
* ''[[The Petty Girl]]'' (1950) as Dr. Crutcher
* ''[[Frenchie (film)|Frenchie]]'' (1950) as Countess
* ''[[Dreamboat (film)|Dreamboat]]'' (1952) as Dr. Mathilda Coffey
* ''[[Les Misérables (1952 film)|Les Misérables]]'' (1952) as Madame Magloire
* ''[[Androcles and the Lion (1952 film)|Androcles and the Lion]]'' (1952) as Megaera
* ''[[The Girls of Pleasure Island]]'' (1953) as Thelma
* ''[[Hell's Half Acre (1954 film)|Hell's Half Acre]]'' (1954) as Lida O'Reilly
* ''[[3 Ring Circus]]'' (1954) as the Bearded Lady
* ''[[The Glass Slipper (film)|The Glass Slipper]]'' (1955) as Widow Sonder
* ''Alice in Wonderland'' (1955 TV movie) as the Red Queen
* ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)|Witness for the Prosecution]]'' (1957) as Miss Plimsoll
** [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
** [[Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Award]] winner for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture]]
* ''[[Bell, Book and Candle]]'' (1958) as Aunt Queenie Holroyd
* ''The Flood'' (1962 TV movie) as Noah's Wife (voice)
* ''[[Honeymoon Hotel (1964 film)|Honeymoon Hotel]]'' (1964) as Chambermaid
* ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'' (1964) as Katie Nanna
* ''[[Pajama Party (film)|Pajama Party]]'' (1964) as Aunt Wendy
* ''[[That Darn Cat! (1965 film)|That Darn Cat!]]'' (1965) as Mrs. MacDougall
* ''[[Easy Come, Easy Go (1967 film)|Easy Come, Easy Go]]'' (1967) as Madame Neherina
* ''[[Blackbeard's Ghost]]'' (1968) as Emily Stowecroft
* ''[[Rascal (film)|Rascal]]'' (1969) as Mrs. Satterfield
* ''[[Me, Natalie]]'' (1969) as Miss Dennison
* ''In Name Only'' (1969, TV Movie) as Gertrude Caruso
* ''[[Willard (1971 film)|Willard]]'' (1971) as Henrietta Stiles
* ''[[Terror in the Wax Museum]]'' (1973) as Julia Hawthorn
* ''[[Arnold (film)|Arnold]]'' (1973) as Hester
* ''[[Murder by Death]]'' (1976) as Jessica Marbles
* ''Where's Poppa?'' (1979, TV Movie) as Momma Hocheiser
* ''[[Die Laughing (film)|Die Laughing]]'' (1980) as Sophie (final film role)
{{Div col end}}

===Partial television credits===
* ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' (1956) as Mrs Edna Grundy, episode "Off to Florida"
* ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents|Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]'' (1964) "The McGregor Affair" as Aggie McGregor
* ''[[The Man from U.N.C.L.E.]]'' (1965) as Dr. Agnes Dabree, episode "The Brain-Killer Affair"
* ''[[Walt Disney anthology television series#Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1961–1969)|Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color]]'' (1969) as Mrs. Formby, episodes "My Dog, the Thief", parts 1 and 2
* ''[[The Bill Cosby Show]]'' (1970) as Mrs. Wochuk, episode "The Elevator Doesn't Stop Here Anymore"
* ''[[Nanny and the Professor]]'' (1971) as Aunt Henrietta (3 episodes) 
* ''[[Night Gallery]]'' (1972) as Lydia Bowen, episode "[[List of Night Gallery episodes|Green Fingers]]"
* ''[[Here's Lucy]]'' (1973) as Mumsie Westcott, episode "Lucy Goes to Prison" 
* ''[[Mannix]]'' (1973) as Portia Penhaven, episode "A Matter of Principle"
* ''[[Then Came Bronson]]''(1970) as Hattie Caulder episode 4 "The Circle Of Time"

==References==

{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title=Charles Laughton: A Difficult Actor |author-link=Simon Callow |last=Callow |first=Simon |location=Mt Prospect, Illinois |publisher=Fromm International |date=1987 |isbn=978-0-31224-377-7}}
* {{cite book |title=Charles Laughton: An Intimate Biography |last=Higham |first=Charles |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday |date=1976 |isbn=978-0-38509-403-0}}
* {{cite book |title=The RKO Story |last1=Jewell |first1=Richard |first2=Vernon |last2=Harbin |location=New Rochelle, New York |publisher=Arlington House |date=1982 |isbn=978-0-70641-285-7}}
* {{cite book |title=Charles Laughton and I |last=Lanchester |first=Elsa |location=San Diego, California |publisher= Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich |date=1938 |isbn=0-15-164019-X}}
* {{cite book |title=Elsa Lanchester Herself |last=Lanchester |first=Elsa |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |date=1984 |isbn=978-0-31224-377-7 |author-mask=2}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=Elsa Lanchester |last=Maltin |first=Leonard |encyclopedia=Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia |location=New York |publisher=Dutton |date=1994 |isbn=0-525-93635-1}}
* {{cite book |title=Women in Horror Films, 1930s |last=Mank |first=Gregory William |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland & Company |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-78640-553-4}}
* {{cite book |title=The Charles Laughton Story |last=Singer |first=Kurt |location=London |publisher=R. Hale |date=1952}}
* {{cite book |title=The Laughton story; An Intimate Story of Charles Laughton |last=Singer |first=Kurt |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Winston |date=1954 |author-mask=2}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last= Alistair |first= Rupert |title= The Name Below the Title : 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age |chapter= Elsa Lanchester |pages= 140–145 |date= 2018 |edition= First |type= softcover |publisher= Independently published |location= Great Britain |isbn = 978-1-7200-3837-5}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{Official website|http://elsalanchester.freeservers.com/main.htm}}
* {{IMDb name|6471}}
* {{Tcmdb name}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{Screenonline name|id=486033}}
* [http://www.cultsirens.com/lanchester/lanchester.htm Cult Sirens: Elsa Lanchester]
* [http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/1371/elsa-lanchester Elsa Lanchester] at Virtual History

{{GoldenGlobeBestSuppActressMotionPicture 1943-1960}}
{{The President's Memorial Award}}

{{Authority control}}

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