Elsa Lanchester
(1902-1986), ActressSitter in 14 portraits
Taking her mother's name as her stage name, in 1921 Lanchester co-founded the Cave of Harmony in Gower Street, a night club devoted to cabaret and avant-garde plays. Her first theatrical appearance was in Thirty Minutes in a Street at the Kingsway Theatre (1922). She married Charles Laughton in 1929, and in 1932 they moved to Hollywood. She co-starred with Laughton in a number of films including The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) and Rembrandt (1936), but was best known for the title role in the film The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Post-war films included Mary Poppins. She became an American citizen in 1950.
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