Angela Lansbury, the scene-stealing British actor who kicked up her heels in the Broadway musicals B次元官网网址淢ameB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淕ypsyB次元官网网址� and solved endless murders as crime novelist Jessica Fletcher in the long-running TV series B次元官网网址淢urder, She Wrote,B次元官网网址� has died. She was 96.
Lansbury died Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles, according to a statement from her three children. She died five days shy of her 97th birthday.
Lansbury won five Tony Awards for her Broadway performances and a lifetime achievement award. She earned Academy Award nominations as supporting actress for two of her first three films, B次元官网网址淕aslightB次元官网网址� (1945) and B次元官网网址淭he Picture of Dorian GrayB次元官网网址� (1946), and was nominated again in 1962 for B次元官网网址淭he Manchurian CandidateB次元官网网址� and her deadly portrayal of a Communist agent and the title characterB次元官网网址檚 mother.
Her mature demeanor prompted producers to cast her much older than her actual age. In 1948, when she was 23, her hair was streaked with gray so she could play a fortyish newspaper publisher with a yen for Spencer Tracy in B次元官网网址淪tate of the Union.B次元官网网址�
Her stardom came in middle age when she became the hit of the New York theater, winning Tony Awards for B次元官网网址淢ameB次元官网网址� (1966), B次元官网网址淒ear WorldB次元官网网址� (1969), B次元官网网址淕ypsyB次元官网网址� (1975) and B次元官网网址淪weeney ToddB次元官网网址� (1979).
She was back on Broadway and got another Tony nomination in 2007 in Terrence McNallyB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淒euce,B次元官网网址� playing a scrappy, brash former tennis star, reflecting with another ex-star as she watches a modern-day match from the stands. In 2009 she collected her fifth Tony, for best featured actress in a revival of Noel CowardB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淏lithe SpiritB次元官网网址� and in 2015 won an Olivier Award in the role.
Broadway royalty paid their respects. Audra McDonald tweeted: B次元官网网址淪he was an icon, a legend, a gem, and about the nicest lady youB次元官网网址檇 ever want to meet.B次元官网网址� Leslie Uggams on Twitter wrote: B次元官网网址淒ame Angela was so sweet to me when I made my Broadway debut. She was a key person in welcoming me to the community. She truly lived, lived, lived!B次元官网网址�
But LansburyB次元官网网址檚 widest fame began in 1984 when she launched B次元官网网址淢urder, She WroteB次元官网网址� on CBS. Based loosely on Agatha ChristieB次元官网网址檚 Miss Marple stories, the series centered on Jessica Fletcher, a middle-aged widow and former substitute school teacher living in the seaside village of Cabot Cove, Maine. She had achieved notice as a mystery novelist and amateur sleuth.
The actor found the first series season exhausting.
B次元官网网址淚 was shocked when I learned that had to work 12-15 hours a day, relentlessly, day in, day out,B次元官网网址� she recalled. B次元官网网址淚 had to lay down the law at one point and say `Look, I canB次元官网网址檛 do these shows in seven days; it will have to be eight days.B次元官网网址楤次元官网网址�
CBS and the production company, Universal Studio, agreed, especially since B次元官网网址淢urder, She WroteB次元官网网址� had become a Sunday night hit. Despite the long days B次元官网网址� she left her home at Brentwood in West Los Angeles at 6 a.m. and returned after dark B次元官网网址� and reams of dialogue to memorize, Lansbury maintained a steady pace. She was pleased that Jessica Fletcher served as an inspiration for older women.
B次元官网网址淲omen in motion pictures have always had a difficult time being role models for other women,B次元官网网址� she observed. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檝e always been considered glamorous in their jobs.B次元官网网址�
In the seriesB次元官网网址� first season, Jessica wore clothes that were almost frumpy. Then she acquired smartness, Lansbury reasoning that, as a successful woman, Jessica should dress the part.
B次元官网网址淢urder, She WroteB次元官网网址� stayed high in the ratings through its 11th year. Then CBS, seeking a younger audience for Sunday night, shifted the series to a less favorable midweek slot. Lansbury protested vigorously to no avail. As expected, the ratings plummeted and the show was canceled. For consolation, CBS contracted for two-hour movies of B次元官网网址淢urder, She WroteB次元官网网址� and other specials starring Lansbury.
B次元官网网址淢urder, She WroteB次元官网网址� and other television work brought her 18 Emmy nominations but she never won one. She holds the record for the most Golden Globe nominations and wins for best actress in a television drama series and the most Emmy nominations for lead actress in a drama series.
In a 2008 Associated Press interview, Lansbury said she still welcomed the right script but did not want to play B次元官网网址渙ld, decrepit women,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 want women my age to be represented the way they are, which is vital, productive members of society.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 astonished at the amount of stuff I managed to pack into the years that I have been in the business. And IB次元官网网址檓 still here!B次元官网网址�
She was given the name Angela Brigid Lansbury when she was born in London on Oct. 16, 1925. Her family was distinguished: a grandfather who was the fiery head of the Labour Party; her father the owner of a veneer factory; her mother a successful actor, Moyna MacGill.
B次元官网网址淚 was terribly shy, absolutely incapable of coming out of my shell,B次元官网网址� Lansbury remembered of her youth. B次元官网网址淚t took me years to get over that.B次元官网网址�
The Depression forced her fatherB次元官网网址檚 factory into bankruptcy, and for a few years the family lived on money her mother had saved from her theater career. Angela suffered a shattering blow when her beloved father died in 1935. The tragedy forced her to become self-reliant B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渁lmost a surrogate husband to my mother.B次元官网网址�
When England was threatened with German bombings in 1940, Moyna Lansbury struggled through red tape and won passage to America for her family. With the help of two sponsoring families, they settled in New York and lived on $150 a month. To add to their income, Angela at 16 landed a nightclub job in Montreal doing impersonations and songs.
B次元官网网址淭he only thing I ever had confidence in is my ability to perform,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭hat has been the grace note in my sonata of life, the thing that has absolutely seen me through thick and thin.B次元官网网址�
Moyna moved the family to Hollywood, hoping to find acting work. Failing that, she and Angela wrapped packages and sold clothing at a department store. An actor friend suggested Angela would be ideal for the role of Sybil Vane in B次元官网网址淭he Picture of Dorian Gray,B次元官网网址� which was being prepared at MGM. She tested, and studio boss Louis B. Mayer ordered: B次元官网网址淪ign that girl!B次元官网网址�
She was just 19 when her first film, B次元官网网址淕aslight,B次元官网网址� earned her an Oscar nomination, but MGM didnB次元官网网址檛 know what to do with the new contract player. She appeared as Elizabeth TaylorB次元官网网址檚 older sister in B次元官网网址淣ational Velvet,B次元官网网址� Judy GarlandB次元官网网址檚 nemesis in B次元官网网址淭he Harvey Girls,B次元官网网址� Walter PidgeonB次元官网网址檚 spiteful wife in B次元官网网址淚f Winter Comes,B次元官网网址� Queen Anne in B次元官网网址淭he Three Musketeers.B次元官网网址�
Tired of playing roles twice her own age, she left MGM to freelance but the results were much the same: the mother of Warren Beatty in B次元官网网址淎ll Fall Down,B次元官网网址� of Elvis Presley in B次元官网网址淏lue Hawaii,B次元官网网址� of Carroll Baker in B次元官网网址淗arlow,B次元官网网址� and of Laurence Harvey in B次元官网网址淭he Manchurian Candidate,B次元官网网址� in which she unforgettably manipulates her son and helps set off a killing spree.
In the mid-1940s, Lansbury had a disastrous nine-month marriage to Richard Cromwell, a soulful young star of the 1930s. In 1949, she married Peter Shaw, a Briton who had been under an acting contract to MGM, then became a studio executive and agent. He assumed the role of LansburyB次元官网网址檚 manager. They had two children, Peter and Deirdre; he had a son David by a previous marriage.
The 1950s were a troubled time for the Shaws. AngelaB次元官网网址檚 career slowed down; her mother died after a battle with cancer; Peter underwent a hip operation; the children were on drugs; the family house in Malibu burned to the ground.
Lansbury later said of the fire: B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 like cutting off a branch, a big, luscious branch of your life and sealing it off with a sealer so it doesnB次元官网网址檛 bleed, ThatB次元官网网址檚 what you do. ThatB次元官网网址檚 how the human mind deals with those things. You have to pick up the pieces and go on.B次元官网网址�
Weary of 20 years of typecasting, Lansbury tried her luck on Broadway. Her first two shows B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淎nyone Can WhistleB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淗otel ParadisoB次元官网网址� (with Bert Lahr) B次元官网网址� flopped.
Then came B次元官网网址淢ame.B次元官网网址� Rosalind Russell declined to repeat her classic role as Patrick DennisB次元官网网址檚 dizzy aunt in a musical version. So did Mary Martin and Ethel Merman. Others considered: Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall, Judy Garland, Beatrice Lillie, Judy Garland. Composer Jerry Herman chose Lansbury.
The opening on May 24, 1966, was a sensation. One critic wondered that B次元官网网址渢he moviesB次元官网网址� worn, plump old harridan with a snakepit for a mouthB次元官网网址� could turn out to be B次元官网网址渢he liveliest dame to kick up her heels since Carol Channing in B次元官网网址楬ello, Dolly.B次元官网网址楤次元官网网址�
After her B次元官网网址淪weeney ToddB次元官网网址� triumph, Lansbury returned to Hollywood to try television. She was offered a sitcom with Charles Durning or B次元官网网址淢urder, She Wrote.B次元官网网址� The producers had wanted Jean Stapleton, who declined. Lansbury accepted.
During the seriesB次元官网网址� long run, she managed to star in TV movies, to be host of Emmy and Tony shows and even to provide the voice for a Disney animated feature. She played Mrs. Potts in B次元官网网址淏eauty and the BeastB次元官网网址� and sang the title song. B次元官网网址淭his was really a breakthrough for me,B次元官网网址� she said of her young following. B次元官网网址淚t acquainted me with a generation that I possibly couldnB次元官网网址檛 have contacted.B次元官网网址�
In 2000, Lansbury withdrew from a planned Broadway musical, B次元官网网址淭he Visit,B次元官网网址� because she needed to help her husband recover from heart surgery. B次元官网网址淭he kind of commitment required of an artist carrying a multimillion-dollar production has to be 100%,B次元官网网址� she said in a letter to the producers.
Her husband died in 2003.
She was back on Broadway in 2012 in a revival of B次元官网网址淭he Best Man,B次元官网网址� sharing a stage with James Earl Jones, John Larroquette, Candice Bergen, Eric McCormack, Michael McKean and Kerry Butler. She also recently co-starred in Emma ThompsonB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淣anny McPheeB次元官网网址� and with Jim Carrey in B次元官网网址淢r. PopperB次元官网网址檚 Penguins.B次元官网网址�
At the 2022 Tony Awards, Len Cariou B次元官网网址� her B次元官网网址淪weeney ToddB次元官网网址� co-star B次元官网网址� accepted the lifetime Tony given to Lansbury. B次元官网网址淭here is no one with whom IB次元官网网址檇 rather run a cutthroat business with,B次元官网网址� Cariou said.
In 1990, Lansbury philosophized: B次元官网网址淚 have sometimes drawn back from my career. To what? Home. Home is the counterweight to the work.B次元官网网址�
In addition to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, she is survived by three grandchildren, Peter, Katherine and Ian, plus five great grandchildren and her brother, producer Edgar Lansbury.
B次元官网网址擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press
