For decades, the common assumption was that the actress famous for Bride of Frankenstein had been cremated and her remains scattered at sea following her passing in 1986.
However a Hollywood historian, creator of a company specializing in celebrity death sites, made a surprising discovery: her cremated remains were actually interred in a rose garden under her legal name, Elsa Lanchester Laughton.
"For almost 40 years no one had made the connection – until now," he says.
An Interest for Tinseltown's Tragic Tales
Mr Michaels, sixty-three, focuses in the dark side of Hollywood. He provided expertise for films such as Quentin Tarantino's a film about the Manson murders.
Deeply passionate about forgotten stars, he arranges fundraisers for marginalized or iconic performers, like the actor known as Pinhead and Ken Weatherwax.
This fascination that led him to investigate what happened to the actress's ashes.
The Career of a Hollywood Legend
Her birthdate was October 28, 1902 in London's Lewisham district, Lanchester was a young performer in stage and cabaret, and even made records of old ballads.
At 25 she met and married co-star Charles Laughton, and starred alongside him in The Private Life of Henry VIII, for which he won the Academy Award.
He played the lead character in the 1939 classic, and the couple 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 nominated before in 1949 for a drama, and after Laughton's death she continued to work regularly, in a number of Disney films like Mary Poppins and a comedy.
Recollections from Co-Stars
Bruce Davison, who played Willard alongside Lanchester as his controlling mother Henreitta, recalls warmly of their collaboration.
She told me: 'When a director gives you nonsense? Just say 'Oooh, that's very interesting, let me do that.' And then just do exactly as you please!' he laughs.
Davison also recalled something that would excite horror fans now.
"I used to take a home movie camera to set, and once I filmed her at the staircase when she did The Bride for me," he added. "She appreciated for the iconic part," she recognized what it had done for her.
The Mystery of Where She Was Buried
While 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 issue of what happened to her body after her death was poorly documented.
She wrote in her memoirs that she did not like the location of her husband's burial plot in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills cemetery – he passed away in 1962. She wrote she would rather to be burned with no ceremony, which is partly why everyone assumed for years that her ashes had been scattered.
The Expert's Early Interest with Mortality
A fascination with mortality started young for the tour guide, who was raised in Detroit.
He remembers seeing the funeral canopy at a relative's burial and inquiring of his mother "are we going to the circus? He was just a toddler.
Additionally, the family home was on one of the most dangerous intersections in the city. As a boy witnessed so many collisions that it almost became business as usual, and the springboard for an unique profession celebrating those who have died.
Upon discovering of where she was buried, during his ongoing investigations into old records, he determined she would be his latest tribute effort.
A Legacy That Deserves Recognition
Her brief, dialogue-free appearance with the horror icon as the Bride was iconic – she earned to have her memory honored.
She was essentially the only female star of the Universal Horror cast.
"Many people also forget that she played Mary Shelley at the beginning of the film," he notes.
Interest in Lanchester had been sparked earlier in the year when the film studio issued products and special editions of Bride of Frankenstein to celebrate the film's nine-decade milestone.
It was a surprise when Mr Michaels found that her representative had placed her ashes at Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood – and that her cremains had not been scattered as had been widely believed.
"Maybe she didn't really care about what occurred posthumously," he speculates.
A Fitting Tribute
Within a day and a half, he had raised funds sufficient money for a commemorative plaque to recognize this cinema icon.
The dedication event will be held on 28 October – the anniversary of her birth.
"I aimed to commemorate on her 123rd birthday," he explains, "and truly I forgot that it was just a few days before the spooky season."
