Born Elizabeth Lanchester Sullivan in Lewisham, London, England. Delightful, elfin character actress of British and Hollywood films. As a child she danced with Isadora Duncan's troupe in Paris and at 16 began acting with a children's theater in Soho. She made her first film appearance in 1927 (ONE OF THE BEST) and two years later married Charles Laughton, with whom she went to Hollywood in 1934 and played opposite in 8 subsequent films. In films, she played a wide range of character roles but was at her best in eccentric or comic parts. Among her many memorable portrayals were that of Anne of Cleves, opposite Laughton, in THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII (1933) and of the weird mate created in the lab for Frankenstein's monster in THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), in which she also played author Mary Shelley, creator of the monster. Other notable unnominated film credits include REMBRANDT (1936), LADIES IN RETIREMENT and SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (both 1941), THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE and THE RAZOR'S EDGE (both 1946), THE BISHOP'S WIFE (1947), THE SECRET GARDEN and THE INSPECTOR GENERAL (both 1949), ANDROCLES AND THE LION (1952), BELL BOOK AND CANDLE (1958), MARY POPPINS (1964), THAT DARN CAT! (1965), BLACKBEARD'S GHOST (1968), WILLARD (1971), ARNOLD (1973), MURDER BY DEATH (1976) and DIE LAUGHING, her last film, in 1980. She wrote a book of memoirs, Charles Laughton and I (1938). She remained married to Laughton until his death in 1962.  Nominated for Supporting Actress 1949: COME TO THE STABLE  Nominated for Supporting Actress 1957: WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION 2 nominations