Elsa Lanchester Herself
by Elsa Lanchester
Like many readers, I suspect, I purchased a copy of Elsa Lanchester Herself because I was looking for information about Charles Laughton. Despite the title, the vast majority of the book focuses on her marriage to Charles; but I hardly view that as a criticism. She was married to him for thirty-five years, so it’s only natural that much of her own biography overlapped with his.
However, the first few chapters that focus solely on Elsa’s childhood and young adulthood are fascinating. Her parents were free spirits during a time when that was shunned by polite society. Her mother was unmarried, a raging feminist and a political activist. As we see Elsa developing into an exuberant, magnetic young woman who loves every creative art, we’re then introduced to a shy, introspective, insecure actor who believes he’s too ugly to be loved. In one of my favorite sentences of the book, Elsa wrote, “I found beauty in Charles’s face.” Their courtship was very sweet and tender, as they learned to like as well as love. They would walk for hours together appreciating nature and discussing the wildflowers along the path.
I chose this book because I read synopses and reviews of other Charles Laughton biographies, and they all seemed to turn his homosexuality into something salacious and gossipy. I didn’t want to read about him being picked on by authors with an axe to grind or a simple wish for a best-seller about a hot topic. Instead, I chose to read about it from the one person who would know the most: his wife. If she was willing to share intimate, humiliating details of her marriage, I wanted to give them both the respect they deserved by reading only what she wanted me to know. It’s clear from the first introduction of Charles into her life, Elsa would take a tender, sensitive approach to his inner turmoil. She never ridiculed, insulted, or exploited him. She shared that he was, in fact, “homosexual part of the time” (the term “bisexual” hadn’t been used at the time), and that she became aware of it years into their marriage. Charles was deeply ashamed and conflicted about it, and her decision to stay with him after his confession led her to decades of pain.
Thankfully, this book doesn’t paint anyone in a bad light, with the exception of Henry Fonda who was unspeakably cruel to Charles. After reading Elsa’s account of their life together, Charles Laughton is still revered and on his pedestal, in my opinion. Yes, he was a tormented artist who often had mood swings and purposely hurt Elsa on certain occasions, but she explains his character so thoroughly, I understood why he did it.
The entire book is very well researched, citing other books and memoirs as back-up and often producing replicated documents and newspaper articles. While I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants a true biography on Charles Laughton, there is one caution I give: Similar to Lauren Bacall’s By Myself and Then Some memoir, there are a few chapters in this book about the illness and death of her husband. It’s very sad to read, so if you find it all too upsetting, you might want to skip ahead to Elsa’s widowhood.
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's page reviewing Charles Laughton's movies here!
However, the first few chapters that focus solely on Elsa’s childhood and young adulthood are fascinating. Her parents were free spirits during a time when that was shunned by polite society. Her mother was unmarried, a raging feminist and a political activist. As we see Elsa developing into an exuberant, magnetic young woman who loves every creative art, we’re then introduced to a shy, introspective, insecure actor who believes he’s too ugly to be loved. In one of my favorite sentences of the book, Elsa wrote, “I found beauty in Charles’s face.” Their courtship was very sweet and tender, as they learned to like as well as love. They would walk for hours together appreciating nature and discussing the wildflowers along the path.
I chose this book because I read synopses and reviews of other Charles Laughton biographies, and they all seemed to turn his homosexuality into something salacious and gossipy. I didn’t want to read about him being picked on by authors with an axe to grind or a simple wish for a best-seller about a hot topic. Instead, I chose to read about it from the one person who would know the most: his wife. If she was willing to share intimate, humiliating details of her marriage, I wanted to give them both the respect they deserved by reading only what she wanted me to know. It’s clear from the first introduction of Charles into her life, Elsa would take a tender, sensitive approach to his inner turmoil. She never ridiculed, insulted, or exploited him. She shared that he was, in fact, “homosexual part of the time” (the term “bisexual” hadn’t been used at the time), and that she became aware of it years into their marriage. Charles was deeply ashamed and conflicted about it, and her decision to stay with him after his confession led her to decades of pain.
Thankfully, this book doesn’t paint anyone in a bad light, with the exception of Henry Fonda who was unspeakably cruel to Charles. After reading Elsa’s account of their life together, Charles Laughton is still revered and on his pedestal, in my opinion. Yes, he was a tormented artist who often had mood swings and purposely hurt Elsa on certain occasions, but she explains his character so thoroughly, I understood why he did it.
The entire book is very well researched, citing other books and memoirs as back-up and often producing replicated documents and newspaper articles. While I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants a true biography on Charles Laughton, there is one caution I give: Similar to Lauren Bacall’s By Myself and Then Some memoir, there are a few chapters in this book about the illness and death of her husband. It’s very sad to read, so if you find it all too upsetting, you might want to skip ahead to Elsa’s widowhood.
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's page reviewing Charles Laughton's movies here!