Elsa Raven

Elsa Raven, born Elsa Rabinowitz on September 21, 1929, in Charleston, South Carolina, was an American character actress whose career spanned stage, film, and television. She died on November 2, 2020, in Los Angeles at the age of 91, and was cremated, with her ashes returned to her family.

Raven's Broadway career extended from 1959 to 1975 and included appearances in Trelawny of the "Wells," The Legend of Lizzie, and The Prisoner of Second Avenue. These stage credits established her as a working presence in New York theater across more than a decade.

Her screen work brought her wider recognition. In the 1985 film Back to the Future, she portrayed the clock tower lady, a character whose efforts to collect donations for the preservation of a clock tower — and the accompanying leaflet she distributes — become a plot-significant element later in the story. She appeared in James Cameron's 1997 film Titanic as Ida Straus, opposite Lew Palter, who played Isidor Straus. Earlier, she contributed a voice role to the 1981 animated film American Pop.

On television, Raven was a regular cast member of the sitcom Amen from 1988 to 1990. She also appeared on the series Wiseguy, where she played the mother of the character Vincent Terranova, portrayed by Ken Wahl.

Raven adhered to Judaism throughout her life.