Charles Laughton was born on 1 July 1899 in the Victoria Hotel, 79 Westborough, Scarborough, Yorkshire, one of the five children of Robert Laughton (1868-1924) and Eliza Laughton (1869-1953).
On the 1901 census form he is shown as aged one year, living at the Victoria Hotel with his parents. The census shows that his father was a hotel proprietor employing two male servants: a chef and an under-boots, together with seven female servants: a hotel bookkeeper; a barmaid; a nurse; two housemaids; a waitress and a kitchen maid.
Two of his brothers were Robert Thomas Laughton (1903-1984) and Francis Laughton (1907-1964).
He was shown as a student, boarding at St John's, Beaumont, Old Windsor, Berkshire, in the 1911 census.
During World War One he served in the army in the Huntingdonshire Cyclists and was awarded both the British War Medal 1914-1918 and the Victory Medal. The Hunts Cyclist website gives considerable information about his early life and his wartime service.
He married the actress Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (1902-1986) in the 1st quarter of 1929 in the St Martin registration district, Westminster, London. Her parents were the unmarried James Sullivan (1872-1945) and Edith Lanchester (1871-1966).
They both became American citizens in 1950. He died, aged 62 years, on 15 December 1962 in Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USA and his ashes were interred in the Single Wall Crypt 310, Courts of Remembrance section, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, California 90068, USA.
He is also commemorated with a plaque on the Victoria Hotel, Scarborough and on the Imperial War Museum's Lives of the First World War website. His Wikipedia page gives much information about his acting on stage and in films.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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