Angela Lansbury

Best known as the novelist-sleuth Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, Lansbury's winning charm and towering talent stretches all the way back to the days ...

It amused Lansbury that she was a rare actor who would need to ‘age down’ to play the elderly matriarch, Mrs St Maugham. Perhaps appropriately, as the play was about seances, Lansbury told an interviewer that she felt her mother’s presence in the building. However, she subsequently had doubts about sustaining the stamina to play eight performances a week. In 1966, Lansbury was an unexpected casting for the musical Mame, in the lead role of an eccentric socialite during the Depression. Her career as best-selling crime writer JB Fletcher is launched, with a sideline as an amateur sleuth, solving murders that occur near her home, or in other locations (New York, Los Angeles, Hawaii) to which she has gone on book tours, or speaking engagements. Murder, She Wrote became something of a family business, with Lansbury’s second husband, Peter Shaw, and their son, Anthony, producing or directing many episodes. For the part, she lightly Americanised an accent that remained audibly English off-screen throughout her life. Cast in that on his recommendation, she was signed to a seven-year contract with MGM. She won five Tony awards, and continued to appear on Broadway and in the London West End until her 10th decade. Despite Oscar nominations for both Gaslight and her next film, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Lansbury never quite achieved the Hollywood career that seemed promised. Contradicting the common training of actors to channel their own emotional history into roles, she counselled: “Leave who you are at home ... Her movie career stretched from Gaslight in 1944 to the 2018 children’s films, Buttons and Mary Poppins Returns.

Dame Angela Lansbury, who won international acclaim as the star of the US TV crime series Murder, She Wrote, has died aged 96. The three-time Oscar nominee ...

[Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander](https://twitter.com/IJasonAlexander/status/1579919075014496258) tweeted that "one of the most versatile, talented, graceful, kind, witty, wise, classy ladies I've ever met has left us", adding: "Her huge contribution to the arts and the world remains always." [Viola Davis](https://twitter.com/violadavis/status/1579966440790458371) wrote that she thought the late star "would live forever". Angela Lansbury was that artist." Her portrayal earned her an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress the following year. 🕊— Frank Sinatra (@franksinatra) "The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles," the family said.

The actress was best known for her portrayal of Jessica Fletcher in the American drama series.

The couple had two children of their own, Anthony Peter and Deirdre Ann, and Dame Angela also became a step-mother to David, Shaw’s son from a previous relationship. The couple divorced in 1946, but remained friends until Cromwell’s death in 1960. Dame Angela was criticised for comments she made about women taking the blame for sexual harassment in the wake of allegations made against Harvey Weinstein and others in Hollywood. In 2013, Dame Angela was given an honorary Academy Award for her lifetime achievements in the film industry. The then-19-year-old Dame Angela received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her role in the 1944 film. The Irish-British and American actress was best known for her portrayal of Jessica Fletcher in American drama series Murder, She Wrote.

Josh Gad has paid a glowing tribute to Dame Angela Lansbury. The legendary actress died at her home in Los Angeles on Tuesday (10.11.22), aged 96, and Josh ...

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Elaine Paige, Josh Gad and Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson were among those sharing memories of encounters with the renowned ...

Potts in Beauty and the Beast. “Our Broadway double act will forever be one of the joys of my life. He said: “8 decades as an actor. I spent the 15 minutes chatting with her instead. An extraordinary presence. Angela Lansbury was that artist.