Eleanor Iselin

The Manchurian Candidate

Played by Angela Lansbury

Being a Godless commie doesn’t necessarily make one a bad parent. Brainwashing your son into becoming a political assassin, however, does. Such is the case with Eleanor Iselin (Angela Lansbury), whose idea of family game night is demanding that her son Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) play a few rounds of solitaire, thereby turning him into a remorseless killing machine. She also doesn’t like his fiancée, his friends, or anyone that might distract him from assassinating presidential candidates and allowing her to wrest control of the country. But she’s not the only dubious parent in The Manchurian Candidate; Raymond’s stepdad, Senator John Yerkes Iselin, is too busy making bombastic public statements to exhibit much interest in his war hero stepson.