M J Simpson: Elsa Lanchester, Gebunden

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Elsa Lanchester lived an extraordinary life - on and off the screen. In this definitive biography, twenty years in the making, her personal and professional lives are fully explored for the first time.

Striking out on her own early in life, Elsa became the darling of London Bohemian society through her nightclub, the Cave of Harmony. By 1927 she was one of the most famous women in Britain: starring simultaneously in two hit revues while broadcasting on the new-fangled wireless, fronting advertising campaigns and negotiating the switch from silent films to talkies.

She fell in love with and married The Hunchback of Notre Dame star Charles Laughton in 1929; two years later he admitted his sexuality to her but they stayed together till his death in 1962. The couple sailed back and forth across the Atlantic throughout the 1930s before settling in Hollywood. By then, Elsa had created her iconic role as the Bride of Frankenstein.

Elsa continued making films - more than 60 in total - until the 1980s, establishing herself as one of Hollywood's finest character actresses in classic pictures such as Bell, Book and Candle, The Bishop's Wife, Witness for the Prosecution, Murder By Death and Mary Poppins. She also appeared on dozens of TV shows from I Love Lucy to The Man from U. N.C. L.E.

But Elsa never saw herself as a screen actress. Her first love was vaudeville, which led to an incredible 13-year engagement as permanent 'Guest Artist' at L. A.'s Turnabout Theatre, where satirical puppet shows were combined with witty cabaret. She subsequently toured America with her one-woman show, occasionally crisscrossing Charles' own reading tours. Their marriage sometimes wobbled but never collapsed.

Much has been written about Charles Laughton (not least by Elsa herself) but Elsa Lanchester's own unique story has never before been fully researched and documented. And what a story it is: in her 83 years Elsa crossed paths with everyone from H. G. Wells to W. C. Fields, from Aleister Crowley to Elvis Presley. Often at the forefront of changing tastes and technology in the entertainment industry, Elsa Lanchester lived the 20th century, from her remarkable childhood to her lonely death.

Drawing on global archives and exclusive interviews with key figures now deceased, Elsa Lanchester: Bride of the Hunchback examines every aspect of this incredible woman's life and career, finally giving her the acclaim and attention she truly deserves.