"In the 1933 film ""The Private Life of Henry VIII"", starring Charles Laughton, the part of Anne of Cleves was played by Laughton's wife in real life. Can you name this actress?"
The Private Life of Henry VIII execution of his second wife, Anne Boleyn (Merle Oberon), King Henry VIII (Charles Laughton) marries Jane Seymour (Wendy Barrie), who dies in childbirth eighteen months later. He then weds a German princess, Anne of Cleves (played by Laughton's real-life wife Elsa Lanchester). This marriage ends in divorce when Anne deliberately makes herself unattractive so she can be free to marry her sweetheart. (In an imaginative and high-spirited scene, Anne "wins her freedom" from Henry in a game of cards on their wedding night.) After this divorce, Henry marries the beautiful and ambitious Lady Katherine Howard (Binnie Barnes). She has rejected
Charles Laughton and remained together until Laughton's death. Over the years, they appeared together in several films, including "Rembrandt" (1936), "Tales of Manhattan" (1942) and "The Big Clock" (1948). Lanchester portrayed Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's fourth wife, opposite Laughton in "The Private Life of Henry VIII". They both received Academy Award nominations for their performances in "Witness for the Prosecution" (1957)—Laughton for Best Actor, and Lanchester for Best Supporting Actress—but neither won. Laughton's bisexuality was corroborated by several of his contemporaries and is generally accepted by Hollywood historians, actress Maureen O'Hara, a friend and co-star of Laughton, disputed the contention that