This Day in Horror: Happy Birthday Elsa Lanchester
Alyse Wax
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Born on this day in 1902: Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Lanchester will forever be best known as the bride created by Dr. Frankenstein for his monster in Bride of Frankenstein. With her silent stare and shock of white-streaked hair, she is an icon in film history.
Born in London in 1902, Elsa studied dance and theater from an early age. Her older brother, Wallace, was also a performer: he had a marionette company. Elsa would later incorporate marionettes and other puppetry in review, cabaret, and burlesque performances.
Elsa had a number of roles in smaller British films, until she moved to Los Angeles with her husband, actor Charles Laughton. Though Bride of Frankenstein was not her first film, it was the role that brought her to the attention of American audiences. She had a varied career, playing both comedic and dramatic roles, two of which earned her two Best Supporting Actress Academy Awards nominations.
She didn’t have many horror roles after Bride of Frankenstein, but she did appear in the original Willard and Terror in the Wax Museum. She died of pneumonia after years of failing health on December 26, 1986 at the age of 84.
Categorized:News This Day in Horror
