For decades, it was widely believed that Elsa Lanchester had been cremated and her ashes spread at sea after her death in 1986.
However Scott Michaels, creator of Dearly Departed Tours, uncovered an unexpected truth: her cremated remains were actually buried in a garden of roses under her legal name, Elsa Lanchester Laughton.
"For nearly four decades the link had gone unnoticed – until this moment," he says.
A Passion for Tinseltown's Tragic Tales
Mr Michaels, 63, focuses in the dark side of Hollywood. He has consulted for movies including the director's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Extremely dedicated about forgotten stars, he organizes fundraisers for overlooked or iconic performers, like the actor known as Pinhead and Ken Weatherwax.
It was this interest that led him to investigate what became of Lanchester's remains.
The Career of a Hollywood Legend
Her birthdate was October 28, 1902 in London's Lewisham district, she was a young performer in theatre and cabaret, and even made records of ancient Victorian songs.
At 25 she met and married fellow actor her husband, and appeared with him in a historical drama, for which he won the Academy Award.
He played the title role in the 1939 classic, and the pair worked on a dozen movies together, most notably Witness for the Prosecution in 1957, for which they were both nominated for Academy Awards.
Lanchester had been previously nominated in 1949 for Come to the Stable, and after Laughton's death she kept acting regularly, including a number of family movies like Mary Poppins and a comedy.
Memories from Fellow Actors
Actor Bruce Davison, who starred as Willard with her as his controlling mother Henreitta, speaks fondly of that time.
She advised me: 'You know when a director is giving you a load of codswallop? What you do is say 'Oooh, that's very interesting, let me do that.' Then perform exactly as you please!' he laughs.
Davison also recalled an incident that would tantalise genre enthusiasts now.
"I brought a Super 8 camera to set, and once I recorded her at the staircase when she did The Bride for me," he continued. "She was glad for the Bride role," she understood what it had done for her.
The Puzzle of Where She Was Buried
Although The Bride of Frankenstein – in which her hair was stretched up over a wire beehive contraption – did indeed earn her a place in film history, the question of what happened to her remains after her death was poorly documented.
In her autobiography that she disliked the location of her husband's burial plot in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills cemetery – Laughton died in 1962. She stated she would prefer to be burned with no ceremony, which is a reason everyone assumed for years that her ashes had been scattered.
The Expert's Fascination with Death
A fascination with mortality started young for Mr Michaels, who was raised in Detroit.
He remembers observing the funeral canopy at a family funeral and asking his mom "is this a circus?" He was three years old.
Additionally, the family home was on one of the riskiest crossroads in the city. As a boy witnessed so many car accidents that it almost became business as usual, and the springboard for an unusual career celebrating those who have passed away.
Upon discovering of Lanchester's interment, during his regular research into historic death certificates, he decided she would be his latest tribute effort.
An Impact That Deserves Recognition
Her brief, dialogue-free appearance alongside the horror icon as the Bride of Frankenstein was legendary – she earned to have her memory honored.
She was basically the sole leading lady of the Universal Horror cast.
"It's often overlooked that she portrayed Mary Shelley at the start of the film," he notes.
Interest in Lanchester had been ignited earlier in the year when Universal Studios issued merchandise and special editions of Bride of Frankenstein to celebrate the film's nine-decade milestone.
The discovery was unexpected when Mr Michaels found that Lanchester's agent had placed her ashes at a cemetery in a Los Angeles neighborhood – and that her cremains had remained interred as was commonly thought.
"Perhaps she was indifferent about what occurred posthumously," he speculates.
A Fitting Tribute
Within a day and a half, Mr Michaels had raised funds sufficient money for a formal wall marker to recognize this cinema icon.
The unveiling ceremony will be held on 28 October – the anniversary of her birth.
"I aimed to commemorate on her 123rd birth anniversary," Michaels says, "and truly I overlooked that it was just a few days before Halloween."
