Angela Lansbury, whose full name was Angela Brigid Lansbury, was born on October 16, 1925, in London, England. She was a British-American actress and singer whose career in film, television, and theater lasted more than seven decades. She made her film debut in Gaslight (1944), receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She earned two further Oscar nominations for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962). From 1984 to 1996, she portrayed mystery novelist and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, appearing throughout the series' twelve seasons. Her Broadway credits included Mame, Gypsy, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. She also voiced Mrs. Potts in Disney's animated film Beauty and the Beast (1991). Lansbury died in Los Angeles on October 11, 2022, five days before her 97th birthday.

Early Life and Education

Angela Lansbury was born in the Regent's Park area of London on October 16, 1925. Her father, Edgar Isaac Lansbury, was a timber merchant and politician. Her mother, Moyna Macgill, was an Irish-born actress who appeared in theater and films.

Her paternal grandfather, George Lansbury, was a British Labour Party politician who served as leader of the party from 1932 to 1935.

Angela had two younger twin brothers, Edgar Lansbury Jr. and Bruce Lansbury, both of whom later worked in entertainment production. She also had an older half-sister, Isolde Denham, from her mother's previous marriage.

Her father died in 1935, when Angela was nine years old. She subsequently studied acting at the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art in London.

In 1940, during the Second World War, her family left Britain and moved to the United States. They settled initially in New York, where Lansbury continued her theatrical education at the Feagin School of Drama and Radio.

She later moved to Los Angeles with her mother and began seeking work in the film industry. Lansbury became a naturalized American citizen in 1951 while retaining her British citizenship.

Hollywood Debut and Early Films

In 1944, Angela Lansbury made her film debut in Gaslight, directed by George Cukor. The psychological thriller starred Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, and Joseph Cotten.

Lansbury played Nancy Oliver, a young maid working in the household at the center of the story. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress when she was 19 years old.

Later in 1944, she appeared in National Velvet, playing Edwina Brown, the older sister of the character portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor.

In 1945, Lansbury played Sibyl Vane in The Picture of Dorian Gray, an adaptation of the novel by Oscar Wilde. She received a second Academy Award nomination and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

During the following years, she appeared in productions including The Harvey Girls (1946), State of the Union (1948), The Three Musketeers (1948), and Samson and Delilah (1949).

Film Career During the 1950s and 1960s

Angela Lansbury continued working in Hollywood throughout the 1950s. Her films included Remains to Be Seen (1953), The Court Jester (1955), and The Long, Hot Summer (1958).

In 1961, she portrayed Sarah Lee Gates, the mother of Elvis Presley's character, in the musical film Blue Hawaii. Although Lansbury was only ten years older than Presley, she was cast in the maternal role.

In 1962, she played Eleanor Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate, directed by John Frankenheimer. The political thriller also starred Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, and Janet Leigh.

Her portrayal of a politically influential and manipulative mother earned her a third Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and her second Golden Globe Award in that category.

Other films from this period included All Fall Down (1962), In the Cool of the Day (1963), The World of Henry Orient (1964), and The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965).

Broadway Career and Tony Awards

Angela Lansbury made her Broadway debut in 1957 in the play Hotel Paradiso. She subsequently appeared in A Taste of Honey (1960) and Stephen Sondheim's musical Anyone Can Whistle (1964).

In 1966, she played the title character in Mame, a musical by Jerry Herman. The role earned her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

She won a second Tony Award for Dear World (1969), also composed by Jerry Herman.

In 1974, Lansbury portrayed Rose in a Broadway revival of Gypsy, a musical featuring music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. She received her third Tony Award for the performance.

In 1979, she originated the role of Mrs. Nellie Lovett opposite Len Cariou in the Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, composed by Stephen Sondheim.

Her portrayal of Mrs. Lovett earned her a fourth Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

After returning to Broadway in Deuce (2007), Lansbury appeared as Madame Arcati in a revival of Blithe Spirit (2009). This performance earned her a fifth competitive Tony Award, for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

In 2010, she appeared in a Broadway revival of A Little Night Music, followed by Gore Vidal's The Best Man in 2012.

She received the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre in 2022, bringing her total number of Tony Awards to six, including five competitive awards.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Agatha Christie Adaptations

In 1971, Angela Lansbury starred as Eglantine Price, an apprentice witch, in Disney's musical fantasy film Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The production combined live action with animation.

In 1978, she portrayed Salome Otterbourne, a novelist and passenger aboard a Nile riverboat, in Death on the Nile, directed by John Guillermin and adapted from the novel by Agatha Christie.

The cast included Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Mia Farrow, Jane Birkin, and David Niven.

In 1980, Lansbury portrayed Agatha Christie's detective Miss Marple in The Mirror Crack'd, opposite Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and Kim Novak.

These detective films preceded her later television role as Jessica Fletcher.

Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996)

On September 30, 1984, Angela Lansbury began starring in Murder, She Wrote, a CBS mystery television series created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson, and William Link.

She portrayed Jessica Beatrice Fletcher, a widowed former English teacher who becomes a mystery novelist and investigates murders in the fictional community of Cabot Cove, Maine, and other locations.

The series ran for twelve seasons, concluding on May 19, 1996. Lansbury appeared as the central character throughout its run.

Her co-stars included Tom Bosley as Sheriff Amos Tupper, William Windom as Dr. Seth Hazlitt, and Ron Masak as Sheriff Mort Metzger.

From 1992 until the series ended in 1996, Lansbury also served as an executive producer through the family-associated company Corymore Productions. Her son Anthony Pullen Shaw directed numerous episodes, while her brother Bruce Lansbury worked as a producer.

Lansbury received twelve consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Jessica Fletcher. She also won four Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama.

Following the conclusion of the regular series, she returned to the character in four television films released between 1997 and 2003.

Voice Acting and Later Film Roles

In 1982, Angela Lansbury voiced Mommy Fortuna in the animated fantasy film The Last Unicorn.

In 1991, she voiced Mrs. Potts in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. She also performed the film's title song in character, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman.

In 1997, Lansbury voiced the Dowager Empress Marie in the animated film Anastasia.

She subsequently appeared in the television films The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (1999) and The Blackwater Lightship (2004).

In 2005, she played Aunt Adelaide Stitch in Nanny McPhee, starring Emma Thompson.

Her later screen credits included Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), in which she portrayed Selma Van Gundy, and the 2017 television adaptation of Little Women, where she played Aunt March.

In 2018, she appeared as the Balloon Lady in Mary Poppins Returns, directed by Rob Marshall, and voiced Mayor McGerkle in The Grinch.

Her final film appearance was a brief cameo as herself in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022), released after her death.

Personal Life and Family

Angela Lansbury married American actor Richard Cromwell on September 27, 1945. The marriage ended in divorce in 1946.

On August 12, 1949, she married actor and producer Peter Shaw. They remained married until his death on January 29, 2003.

The couple had two children: Anthony Pullen Shaw, born in 1952, and Deirdre Angela Shaw, born in 1953. Lansbury was also the stepmother of David Shaw, Peter Shaw's son from a previous relationship.

During the 1970s, the family spent considerable time in Ireland, where Lansbury and her husband maintained a home in County Cork.

Awards and Honors

Angela Lansbury received three Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress, five competitive Tony Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, and eighteen Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1996.

In 1997, she received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award and the United States National Medal of Arts.

In 2000, she was among the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors.

She received an Honorary Academy Award in 2013 for her contributions to motion pictures.

In 2014, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Lansbury a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to drama and charitable work.

Death

Angela Lansbury died in her sleep on October 11, 2022, at her home in Los Angeles, California, United States. She was 96 years old and five days away from her 97th birthday.

Selected Awards

1946 – Golden Globe Award, Best Supporting Actress – The Picture of Dorian Gray
1963 – Golden Globe Award, Best Supporting Actress – The Manchurian Candidate
1966 – Tony Award, Best Actress in a Musical – Mame
1969 – Tony Award, Best Actress in a Musical – Dear World
1975 – Tony Award, Best Actress in a Musical – Gypsy
1979 – Tony Award, Best Actress in a Musical – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
1985 – Golden Globe Award, Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama – Murder, She Wrote
1987 – Golden Globe Award, Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama – Murder, She Wrote
1990 – Golden Globe Award, Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama – Murder, She Wrote
1992 – Golden Globe Award, Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama – Murder, She Wrote
1997 – Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award
2009 – Tony Award, Best Featured Actress in a Play – Blithe Spirit
2013 – Honorary Academy Award
2014 – Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
2015 – Laurence Olivier Award, Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Blithe Spirit
2022 – Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

Films

1944 – Gaslight – Nancy Oliver
1944 – National Velvet – Edwina Brown
1945 – The Picture of Dorian Gray – Sibyl Vane
1946 – The Harvey Girls – Em
1947 – If Winter Comes – Mabel Sabre
1948 – State of the Union – Kay Thorndyke
1948 – Tenth Avenue Angel – Susan Bratten
1948 – The Three Musketeers – Queen Anne
1949 – Samson and Delilah – Semadar
1953 – Remains to Be Seen – Valeska Chauvel
1955 – The Court Jester – Princess Gwendolyn
1956 – Please Murder Me! – Myra Leeds
1958 – The Long, Hot Summer – Minnie Littlejohn
1960 – A Breath of Scandal – Countess Lina
1961 – Blue Hawaii – Sarah Lee Gates
1962 – All Fall Down – Annabell Willart
1962 – The Manchurian Candidate – Eleanor Iselin
1963 – In the Cool of the Day – Sybil Logan
1964 – The World of Henry Orient – Isabel Boyd
1965 – The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders – Lady Blystone
1970 – Something for Everyone – Countess Herthe von Ornstein
1971 – Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Eglantine Price
1978 – Death on the Nile – Salome Otterbourne
1980 – The Mirror Crack'd – Miss Marple
1982 – The Last Unicorn – Mommy Fortuna (Voice)
1983 – The Pirates of Penzance – Ruth
1984 – The Company of Wolves – Grandmother
1991 – Beauty and the Beast – Mrs. Potts (Voice)
1997 – Anastasia – Dowager Empress Marie (Voice)
2005 – Nanny McPhee – Aunt Adelaide Stitch
2011 – Mr. Popper's Penguins – Selma Van Gundy
2018 – The Grinch – Mayor McGerkle (Voice)
2018 – Mary Poppins Returns – Balloon Lady
2022 – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Herself (Cameo)

Television Films and Series

1950–1957 – Lux Video Theatre – Various Roles
1958–1959 – Playhouse 90 – Hazel Wills / Various Roles
1984 – The First Olympics: Athens 1896 – Alice Garrett (Miniseries)
1984–1996 – Murder, She Wrote – Jessica Fletcher
1992 – Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris – Ada Harris (Television Film)
1997 – Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest – Jessica Fletcher (Television Film)
1999 – The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax – Emily Pollifax (Television Film)
2000 – Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For – Jessica Fletcher (Television Film)
2001 – Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man – Jessica Fletcher (Television Film)
2003 – Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle – Jessica Fletcher (Television Film)
2004 – The Blackwater Lightship – Dora (Television Film)
2015 – Great Performances: Driving Miss Daisy – Daisy Werthan
2017 – Little Women – Aunt March (Miniseries)

Documentaries and Television Appearances

1987 – Biography – Herself
1999 – Fantasia 2000 – Presenter
2003 – AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains – Herself
2009 – The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story – Herself
2012 – Carol Channing: Larger Than Life – Herself
2017 – The Forsaken Westerns – Vanessa Peters (Archival Appearance)

Theater and Broadway Productions

1957 – Hotel Paradiso
1960 – A Taste of Honey
1964 – Anyone Can Whistle
1966 – Mame – Mame Dennis
1969 – Dear World – Countess Aurelia
1974 – Gypsy – Rose
1979 – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Mrs. Lovett
2007 – Deuce
2009 – Blithe Spirit – Madame Arcati
2009–2010 – A Little Night Music – Madame Armfeldt
2012 – Gore Vidal's The Best Man – Mrs. Sue-Ellen Gamadge
2013–2014 – Driving Miss Daisy – Daisy Werthan (Stage Production)

Producer Credits

1992–1996 – Murder, She Wrote – Executive Producer
1997–2003 – Murder, She Wrote Television Films – Executive Producer

Source: Biyografiler.com