Reign of the Scream Queens: Elsa Lanchester

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Elsa Lanchester was born on October 28, 1902. Of all of the Scream Queens on this list, Mrs. Lanchester probably has the most iconic role with the least amount of screen time. That role, obviously, is the titular character of the Universal Monsters film, 1935’s The Bride of Frankenstein. She actually portrayed two characters in the film, the iconic Bride and Mary Shelley, the writer of the original Frankenstein book that is considered by many to be the first science fiction novel. Despite having ninety-nine film credits, Lanchester is best known for her brief appearance as the Bride.

Lanchester performed in cabaret and theater for years prior to beginning her film career. In fact, she got her start not long after World War I. Her first credited role was as Beatrice de Carolle in the 1925 short, The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama. She continued working in short films until 1931 when she appeared in The Love Habit. From there she worked in a number of comedies, romance films, romantic comedies, and dramas, primarily in the United Kingdom.

By 1935, Lanchester and her husband, Charles Laughton, were working in Hollywood. It was then that she was cast as Mary Shelley/The Bride. She continued to work steadily until 1980, when she received her final film credit in Die Laughing, a comedy-drama starring Robby Benson. In the 1960’s, Lanchester appeared in numerous Disney productions including Mary Poppins (1964), That Darn Cat! (1965), and Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968).

Outside of Bride Of Frankenstein, Lanchester’s horror roles included films like The Spiral Staircase (1945), Arnold (1973), and Terror In The Wax Museum (1973). Of all of the horror films that she made outside of Bride, 1971’s Willard is probably the best known of the bunch.

Thanks for visiting my page and joining me on a look back at the career of an actress who worked for over fifty years but is only remembered for one role. Check out Bride if you haven’t seen it and definitely take a look at Willard. It’s very different.

See you again soon!