Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October16, 1925 – October11, 2022) was a British-American-Irish actress and singer. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles across film, stage, and television. Although based for much of her life in the United States, her work attracted international attention.
Lansbury was born into anupper-middle-class family incentral London, the daughter of Irish actressMoyna Macgill and English politicianEdgar Lansbury. To escapethe Blitz, she moved to the United States in 1940, studying acting in New York City. Proceeding to Hollywood in 1942, she signed withMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and obtained her first film roles, inGaslight (1944),National Velvet (1944), andThe Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). She appeared in 11 further MGM films, mostly in minor roles, and after her contract ended in 1952, she began to supplement her cinematic work with theatrical appearances. Lansbury was largely seen as aB-list star during this period, but her role inThe Manchurian Candidate (1962) received widespread acclaim and is frequently ranked as one of her best performances. Moving into musical theatre, Lansbury gained stardom for playing the leading role in theBroadway musicalMame (1966), winning her firstTony Award.
Amid difficulties in her personal life, Lansbury moved from California to Ireland'sCounty Cork in 1970. She continued to make theatrical and cinematic appearances throughout that decade, including leading roles in the stage musicalsDear World,Gypsy, andSweeney Todd, as well as in theDisney filmBedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). Moving into television in 1984, she achieved worldwide fame as the sleuthJessica Fletcher in the Americanwhodunit seriesMurder, She Wrote, which ran for twelve seasons until 1996, becoming one of the longest-running and most popular detective drama series in television history. In 1989,Corymore Productions, a company that she co-owned with her husbandPeter Shaw, began co-producing the series with Universal, and Lansbury also became itsexecutive producer during its final four seasons. She also moved into voice work, contributing to animated films likeBeauty and the Beast (1991) andAnastasia (1997). In the 21st century, she toured in several theatrical productions and appeared infamily films such asNanny McPhee (2005) andMary Poppins Returns (2018).
Angela Brigid Lansbury was born to anupper-middle-class family on October 16, 1925.[1] Although her birthplace has often been given asPoplar, east London,[2] she rejected this, stating that while she had ancestral connections to Poplar, she was born inRegent's Park,central London.[a] Her mother wasBelfast-born IrishMoyna Macgill (born Charlotte Lillian McIldowie), an actress who regularly appeared on stage in London'sWest End and who also appeared in several films.[4] Her father was the wealthy English timber merchant and politicianEdgar Lansbury, a member of theCommunist Party of Great Britain and former mayor of theMetropolitan Borough of Poplar.[5] Her paternal grandfather was theLabour Party leaderGeorge Lansbury, a man whom she felt "awed" by and considered "a giant in my youth".[6] Angela had an older half-sister, Isolde, from Macgill's previous marriage toReginald Denham.[7] In January 1930, Macgill gave birth to twin boys,Bruce andEdgar, leading the Lansburys to move from their Poplar flat to a house inMill Hill,north London; at weekends, they would stay at a farm inBerrick Salome, Oxfordshire.[8]
I'm eternally grateful for the Irish side of me. That's where I got my sense of comedy and whimsy. As for the English half–that's my reserved side ... But put me onstage, and the Irish comes out. The combination makes a good mix for acting.
When Lansbury was nine, her father died fromstomach cancer; she retreated into playing characters as acoping mechanism.[10] Facing financial difficulty, her mother entered a relationship with a Scottish colonel, Leckie Forbes, and moved into his house inHampstead. Lansbury then received an education atSouth Hampstead High School from 1934 until 1939,[11] where she was a contemporary ofGlynis Johns.[12] She nevertheless considered herself largely self-educated, learning from books, theatre and cinema.[13] Lansbury became a self-professed "complete movie maniac", visiting the cinema regularly.[14] Keen on playing the piano, she briefly studied music at the Ritman School of Dancing, and in 1940 began studying acting at theWebber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art inKensington,west London, first appearing onstage as a lady-in-waiting in the school's production ofMaxwell Anderson'sMary of Scotland.[15]
That year, Lansbury's grandfather died, and with the onset ofthe Blitz, Macgill decided to take Angela, Bruce and Edgar to the United States; Isolde remained in Britain with her new husband, the actorPeter Ustinov. Macgill secured a job supervising 60 British children who were being evacuated to North America aboard theDuchess of Atholl, arriving with them inMontreal, Canada, in August 1940.[16] Macgill then proceeded by train to New York City, where she was financially sponsored by aWall Street businessman, Charles T. Smith, moving in with his family at their home atMahopac, New York.[17] Lansbury gained a scholarship from theAmerican Theatre Wing to study at theFeagin School of Drama and Radio, where she appeared in performances ofWilliam Congreve'sThe Way of the World andOscar Wilde'sLady Windermere's Fan. She graduated in March 1942, by which time the family had moved to an apartment on Morton Street,Greenwich Village.[18]
Macgill secured work in a Canadian touring production ofTonight at 8:30, and was joined by her daughter. There, the 16-year-old Lansbury gained her first theatrical job as a nightclub act at the Samovar Club, Montreal, claiming to be 19 and singing songs byNoël Coward.[19] Lansbury returned to New York City in August 1942, but her mother had moved to Hollywood, Los Angeles, to resurrect her cinematic career; Lansbury and her brothers followed.[20] Moving into a bungalow inLaurel Canyon, both Lansbury and her mother obtained Christmas jobs at theBullocks Wilshire department store in Los Angeles; Macgill was sacked for incompetence, leaving the family to subsist on Lansbury's wages of $28 a week.[21] Befriending a group of gay men, Lansbury became privy to the city's underground gay scene.[22] With her mother, she attended lectures by the spiritual guruJiddu Krishnamurti – at one of these, meeting the writerAldous Huxley.[22]
At a party hosted by her mother, Lansbury metJohn van Druten, who had recently co-authored a script forGaslight (1944), a mystery-thriller based onPatrick Hamilton's 1938 play,Gas Light. The film was being directed byGeorge Cukor and starredIngrid Bergman in the lead role of Paula Alquist, a woman inVictorian London being psychologically tormented by her husband. Druten suggested that Lansbury would be perfect for the role of Nancy Oliver, acockney maid; she was accepted for the part, although, since she was only 17, a social worker had to accompany her on the set.[23] Obtaining an agent, Earl Kramer, she was signed to a seven-year contract withMGM, earning $500 a week.[24]Gaslight received critical acclaim, and Lansbury's performance was widely praised, earning her a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[25]
Her next film appearance was as Edwina Brown inNational Velvet (1944); the film became a major commercial success and Lansbury developed a lifelong friendship with co-starElizabeth Taylor.[26] Lansbury next starred inThe Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), a cinematic adaptation of Wilde's 1890novel of the same name, which was again set in Victorian London. Directed byAlbert Lewin, Lansbury was cast as Sybil Vane, a working-classmusic hall singer who falls in love with the protagonist,Dorian Gray (Hurd Hatfield). Although the film was not a financial success, Lansbury's performance once more drew praise, earning her aGolden Globe Award, and she was again nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards, losing toAnne Revere, her co-star inNational Velvet.[27]
On September 27, 1945, Lansbury marriedRichard Cromwell, an artist and decorator whose acting career had come to a standstill. Their marriage was troubled; Cromwell was gay, and had married Lansbury in the unsuccessful hope that it wouldturn him heterosexual. Lansbury filed for divorce within a year, being granted a decree on September 11, 1946, but the couple remained friends until his death.[28] In December 1946, she was introduced to fellow English expatriatePeter Pullen Shaw at a party held by former co-star Hurd Hatfield inOjai Valley. Shaw was an aspiring actor, also signed to MGM, and had recently left a relationship withJoan Crawford. He and Lansbury became a couple, living together before she proposed marriage.[29] They wanted a wedding in Britain, but theChurch of England refused to marry two divorcees. Instead, they wed atSt. Columba's Church, a place of worship under the jurisdiction of theChurch of Scotland, inKnightsbridge, London, in August 1949, followed by a honeymoon in France.[30] Returning to the US, they settled into Lansbury's home in Rustic Canyon,Malibu.[31] In 1951, the couple both becamenaturalized US citizens, albeit retaining their British citizenship viadual nationality.[32]
Lansbury in a scene from MGM'sTill the Clouds Roll By (1946), one of her earliest film appearances
Following the success ofGaslight andThe Picture of Dorian Gray, MGM cast Lansbury in 11 further films until her contract with the company ended in 1952. Keeping her among theirB-list stars, MGM used her less than their similar-aged actresses; Lansbury biographers Rob Edelman and Audrey E. Kupferberg believed that the majority of these films were "mediocre", doing little to further her career.[33] This view was echoed by Cukor, who believed Lansbury had been "consistently miscast" by MGM.[34] She was repeatedly made to portray older women, often villainous, and as a result she became increasingly dissatisfied with working for MGM, commenting that "I kept wanting to play theJean Arthur roles, andMr Mayer kept casting me as a series of venal bitches."[35] The company was suffering from the post-1948 slump in cinema sales, as a result slashing film budgets and cutting their number of staff.[35]
Lansbury with her children, Deidre and Anthony, in 1957
Unhappy with the roles she was being given by MGM, Lansbury instructed her manager, Harry Friedman ofMCA Inc., to terminate her contract in 1952.[42] That same year, she gave birth to her first child, Anthony.[43] Soon after the birth, she joined the East Coast touring productions of two former-Broadway plays:Howard Lindsay andRussel Crouse'sRemains to be Seen andLouis Verneuil'sAffairs of State.[44] BiographerMargaret Bonanno later stated that at this point, Lansbury's career had "hit an all-time low".[45] In April 1953, her daughter Deirdre Angela Shaw was born.[46] Shaw had a son by a previous marriage, David, whom he brought to California to live with the family after he gained legal custody of the boy in 1953. Now with three children to care for, Lansbury moved to a larger house inSan Vicente Boulevard inSanta Monica.[47] Lansbury did not feel entirely comfortable in the Hollywood social scene, later commenting that as a result of her British roots, "in Hollywood, I always felt like a stranger in a strange land."[48] In 1959, the family moved to Malibu, settling into a house that had been designed byAaron Green on thePacific Coast Highway; there, she and Peter escaped the Hollywood scene, and sent their children topublic school.[49]
Returning to cinema as a freelance actress, Lansbury found herself typecast as an older, maternal figure, appearing in this capacity in most of her films from this period.[50] She later stated that "Hollywood made me old before my time", noting that in her twenties she was receivingfan mail from people who thought her in her forties.[51] She obtained minor roles in such films asA Life at Stake (1954),A Lawless Street (1955) andThe Purple Mask (1955), later describing the latter as "the worst movie I ever made."[52] She played Princess Gwendolyn in the comedy filmThe Court Jester (1956), before taking on the role of a wife who kills her husband inPlease Murder Me (1956). From there she appeared as Minnie Littlejohn inThe Long Hot Summer (1958), and as Mabel Claremont inThe Reluctant Debutante (1958), for which she filmed in Paris.[53] BiographerMartin Gottfried has claimed that it was these latter two cinematic appearances which restored Lansbury's status as an "A-picture actress."[54] Throughout this period, she continued making television appearances, starring in episodes ofThe Revlon Mirror Theater,Ford Theatre andThe George Gobel Show, and became a regular on game showPantomime Quiz.[55]
Lansbury in a publicity shot from 1966
In April 1957, she debuted onBroadway at theHenry Miller Theatre inHotel Paradiso, a Frenchburlesque directed byPeter Glenville. The play only ran for 15 weeks, although she earned good reviews for her role as Marcel Cat. She later stated that had she not appeared in the play, her "whole career would have fizzled out."[56] Into the 1960s, she followed this with an appearance in a Broadway performance ofA Taste of Honey at theLyceum Theatre, directed byTony Richardson andGeorge Devine. Lansbury played Helen, the boorish, verbally abusive mother of Josephine (played byJoan Plowright, only four years Lansbury's junior), remarking that she gained "a great deal of satisfaction" from the role.[57] During the show's run, Lansbury developed a friendship with both Plowright and Plowright's loverLaurence Olivier; it was from Lansbury's rented flat on East 97th Street that Plowright and Olivier eloped to be married.[58]
After a well-reviewed appearance inSummer of the Seventeenth Doll (1959) – for which she had filmed in Australia – and a minor role inA Breath of Scandal (1960), Lansbury appeared in 1961'sBlue Hawaii as the mother of a character played byElvis Presley,[59] just ten years her junior. Although believing that the film was of poor quality, she commented that she agreed to appear in it because she "was desperate".[60] Her role as Mavis inThe Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) drew critical acclaim, as did her appearance inAll Fall Down (1962) as a manipulative, destructive mother.[61] In 1962, she appeared in theCold War thrillerThe Manchurian Candidate as Eleanor Iselin, cast for the role byJohn Frankenheimer. Although Lansbury played actorLaurence Harvey's mother in the film, she was in fact only three years older than him.[62] She had agreed to appear in the film after readingthe original novel, describing it as "one of the most exciting political books I ever read".[63] Biographers Edelman and Kupferberg considered this role "her enduring cinematic triumph,"[64] while Gottfried stated that it was "the strongest, the most memorable and the best picture she ever made... she gives her finest film performance in it."[65] Lansbury received her third Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for the film.[66]
She followed this with a performance as Sybil Logan inIn the Cool of the Day (1963) – a film she denounced as awful – before appearing as wealthy Isabel Boyd inThe World of Henry Orient (1964) and the widow Phyllis inDear Heart (1964).[67] Her first appearance in a theatrical musical was the short-livedAnyone Can Whistle, written byArthur Laurents andStephen Sondheim. An experimental work, it opened at theMajestic Theatre on Broadway in April 1964, but was critically panned and closed after nine performances. Lansbury had played the role of crooked mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper, and although she loved Sondheim's score she experienced personal differences with Laurents and was glad when the show closed.[68] She appeared inThe Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), a cinematic biopic of Jesus, but was cut almost entirely from the final edit.[69] She followed this with appearances as Mama Jean Bello inHarlow (1965), as Lady Blystone inThe Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965), and as Gloria inMister Buddwing (1966).[70] Although many of her cinematic roles had been well received, "celluloid superstardom" evaded Lansbury, and she became increasingly dissatisfied with these minor roles, feeling that none allowed her to explore her potential as an actress.[71]
I was a wife and a mother, and I was completely fulfilled. But my husband recognised the signals in me which said 'I've been doing enough gardening, I've cooked enough good dinners, I've sat around the house and mooned about what more interior decoration I can get my fingers into.' It's a curious thing with actors and actresses, but suddenly the alarm goes off. My husband is a very sensitive person to my moods and he recognised the fact that I had to get on with something.Mame came along out of the blue just at this time. Now isn't that a miracle?.
In 1966, Lansbury took on the title role of Mame Dennis in the musicalMame,Jerry Herman's musical adaptation of the 1955 novelAuntie Mame (written byPatrick Dennis). The director's first choice for the role had beenRosalind Russell, who played Mame inthe 1958 non-musical film adaptation, but she had declined. Lansbury actively sought the role in the hope that it would mark a change in her career. When she was chosen, it came as a surprise to theatre critics, who believed that the part would go to a better-known actress; Lansbury was 41 years old, and it was her first starring role.[73] Mame Dennis was a glamorous character, with more than 20 costume changes throughout the play, and Lansbury's role involved 10 songs and dance routines for which she trained extensively.[74] First appearing inPhiladelphia and thenBoston,Mame opened at theWinter Garden Theatre on Broadway in May 1966.[75]Auntie Mame was already popular among the gay community,[76] andMame gained Lansbury a cult gay following, something that she later attributed to the fact that Mame Dennis was "every gay person's idea of glamour... Everything about Mame coincided with every young man's idea of beauty and glory and it was lovely."[77]
Reviews of Lansbury's performance were overwhelmingly positive.[78] InThe New York Times,Stanley Kauffmann wrote: "Miss Lansbury is a singing-dancing actress, not a singer or dancer who also acts... In this marathon role she has wit, poise, warmth and a very takingcoolth."[79] The role resulted in Lansbury receiving her firstTony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.[80][81] Lansbury's later biographer Margaret Bonanno claimed thatMame made Lansbury a "superstar",[82] with the actress herself commenting on her success: "Everyone loves you, everyone loves the success, and enjoys it as much as you do. And it lasts as long as you are on that stage and as long as you keep coming out of that stage door."[83]
Off the stage, Lansbury made further television appearances, such as onPerry Como'sThanksgiving Special in November 1966.[84] She also engaged in high-profile charitable endeavours, for instance appearing as the guest of honour at the 1967March of Dimes annual benefit luncheon.[84] She was invited to star in a musical performance for the 1968 Academy Awards ceremony, and co-hosted that year's Tony Awards with former brother-in-law Peter Ustinov.[85] That year,Harvard University'sHasty Pudding Club elected her "Woman of the Year".[86] When the film adaptation ofMame was put into production, Lansbury hoped to be offered the part, but it instead went toLucille Ball, an established box-office success.[87] Lansbury considered this to be "one of my bitterest disappointments".[88] Her personal life was further complicated when she learned that both of her children had become involved with thecounterculture of the 1960s and had been usingrecreational drugs. As a result, Anthony had becomeaddicted to cocaine andheroin.[89]
Lansbury followed the success ofMame with a performance as Countess Aurelia, the 75-year-old Parisian eccentric inDear World, a musical adaptation ofJean Giraudoux'sThe Madwoman of Chaillot. The show opened at Broadway'sMark Hellinger Theatre in February 1969, but Lansbury found it a "pretty depressing" experience. Reviews of her performance were positive, and she was awarded her second Tony Award on the basis of it. Reviews of the show more generally were critical, however, and it ended after 132 performances.[90] She followed this with an appearance in the title role of the musicalPrettybelle, based upon Jean Arnold'sPrettybelle: A Lively Tale of Rape and Resurrection. Set in theDeep South, it dealt with issues of racism, with Lansbury playing a wealthy alcoholic who seeks sexual encounters with black men. The play opened in Boston, but received poor reviews and was cancelled before it reached Broadway.[91] Lansbury later described the play as "a complete and utter fiasco", admitting that in her opinion, her "performance was awful".[92]
In the early 1970s, Lansbury declined several cinematic roles, including the lead inThe Killing of Sister George and the role ofNurse Ratched inOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, because she was not satisfied with them.[93] Instead, she accepted the role of the Countess von Ornstein, an ageing German aristocrat who falls in love with a younger man, inSomething for Everyone (1970), for which she filmed on location inHohenschwangau, Bavaria.[94] That same year, she appeared as the middle-aged English witch Eglantine Price in the Disney filmBedknobs and Broomsticks; this was her first lead in a screen musical, and led to her publicizing the film on television programmes like theDavid Frost Show.[95] She later noted that as a big commercial success, this film "secured an enormous audience for me".[96]
The year 1970 was a traumatic one for the Lansbury family, as Peter underwent a hip replacement, Anthony suffered a heroin overdose and entered a coma, and the family's Malibu home was destroyed in a brush fire.[97] They then purchased Knockmourne Glebe, a farmhouse built in the 1820s which was located nearConna in ruralCounty Cork, and, after Anthony quit using cocaine and heroin, took him there to recover from his drug addiction.[98] He subsequently enrolled in the Webber-Douglas School, his mother's alma mater, and became a professional actor, before moving into television directing.[99] Lansbury and her husband did not return to California, instead dividing their time between Cork and New York City, where they lived in a flat opposite theLincoln Center.[100]
[In Ireland, our gardener] had no idea who I was. Nobody there did. I was just Mrs. Shaw, which suited me down to the ground. I had absolute anonymity in those days, which was wonderful.
In 1972, Lansbury returned to London's West End to perform in theRoyal Shakespeare Company's theatrical production ofEdward Albee'sAll Over at theAldwych Theatre. She portrayed the mistress of a dyingNew England millionaire, and although the play's reviews were mixed, Lansbury's acting was widely praised.[102] This was followed by her reluctant involvement in a revival ofMame, which was then touring the United States,[103] after which she returned to the West End to play the character ofRose in the musicalGypsy. She had initially turned down the role, not wishing to be in the shadow ofEthel Merman, who had portrayed the character in the original Broadway production. When the show started in May 1973, Lansbury earned a standing ovation and rave reviews.[104] Settling into aBelgravia flat, she was soon in demand among London society, having dinners held in her honour.[105] Following the culmination of the London run, in 1974Gypsy toured the US; in Chicago, Lansbury was awarded theSarah Siddons Award for her performance. The show eventually reached Broadway, where it ran until January 1975. A critical success, it earned Lansbury her third Tony Award.[106] After several months' break,Gypsy toured the US again in the summer of 1975.[107]
Wanting to move on from musicals, Lansbury obtained the role ofGertrude in theNational Theatre Company's production ofWilliam Shakespeare'sHamlet, staged at theOld Vic. Directed byPeter Hall, the production ran from December 1975 to May 1976 and received mixed reviews. Lansbury disliked the role, later commenting that she found it "very trying playing restrained roles" such as Gertrude.[108] Her mood was worsened by her mother's death in November 1975.[109] Her next theatrical appearance was in two one-act plays by Albee,Counting the Ways andListening, performed side by side at the Hartford Stage Company in Connecticut. Reviews of the production were mixed, although Lansbury was again singled out for praise.[110] This was followed by another revival tour ofGypsy.[111]
In April 1978, Lansbury appeared in 24 performances of a revival of the musicalThe King and I staged at Broadway'sUris Theatre; Lansbury played the role ofMrs Anna, replacingConstance Towers, who was on a short break.[112] Her first cinematic role in seven years was as novelist Salome Otterbourne in a1978 adaptation ofAgatha Christie'sDeath on the Nile, filmed in both London and Egypt. In the film, Lansbury starred alongside Ustinov andBette Davis, who became a close friend. The role earned Lansbury theNational Board of Review award for Best Supporting Actress of 1978.[113]
Sweeney Todd and continued cinematic work: 1979–1984
In March 1979, Lansbury appeared asNellie Lovett inSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a Sondheim musical directed byHarold Prince. Opening at the Uris Theatre, she starred alongsideLen Cariou asSweeney Todd, the murderous barber in 19th-century London. After being offered the role, she jumped on the opportunity due to Sondheim's involvement,[114] commenting that she loved "the extraordinary wit and intelligence of his lyrics."[115] She remained in the role for 14 months before being replaced byDorothy Loudon; the musical received mixed critical reviews, although earned Lansbury her fourth Tony Award andAfter Dark magazine's Ruby Award for Broadway Performer of the Year.[116] She returned to the role in October 1980 for a ten-month US tour; the production was also filmed and broadcast on the Entertainment Channel.[117]
In 1982, Lansbury took on the role of an upper middle-class housewife who champions workers' rights inA Little Family Business, a farce set inBaltimore in which her son Anthony also starred. It debuted at Los Angeles'Ahmanson Theatre before moving to Broadway'sMartin Beck Theatre. It was critically panned and faced protests from California'sJapanese-American community for including anti-Japanese slurs.[118] That year, Lansbury was inducted into theAmerican Theatre Hall of Fame,[119] and the following year appeared in aMame revival at Broadway'sGershwin Theatre. Although Lansbury was praised, the revival was a commercial failure, with Lansbury noting: "I realised that it's not a show of today. It's aperiod piece."[120]
A small number of people have seen me on the stage. [Television] is a chance for me to play to a vast US public, and I think that's a chance you don't pass up... I'm interested in reaching everybody. I don't want to reach just the people who can pay forty-five or fifty dollars for a [theatre] seat.
Working in cinema, in 1979 Lansbury appeared as Miss Froy inThe Lady Vanishes, a remake ofAlfred Hitchcock's1938 film.[122] The following year she appeared inThe Mirror Crack'd, another film based onan Agatha Christie novel, this time asMiss Marple, a sleuth in 1950sKent. Lansbury hoped to get away from the depiction of the role made famous byMargaret Rutherford, instead returning to Christie's description of the character. She was signed to appear in two sequels as Miss Marple, but these were never made.[123] Lansbury's next film was the animatedThe Last Unicorn (1982), for which she provided the voice of the witch Mommy Fortuna.[124]
Returning to musical cinema, she starred as Ruth inThe Pirates of Penzance (1983), a film based onGilbert and Sullivan'scomic opera of the same name, and while filming it in London sang on a recording ofThe Beggar's Opera.[125] This was followed by an appearance as the grandmother in Gothic fantasy filmThe Company of Wolves (1984).[126] Lansbury had also begun work for television, appearing in a 1982 television film with Bette Davis titledLittle Gloria... Happy at Last.[127] She followed this with an appearance inCBS'sThe Gift of Love: A Christmas Story (1983), later describing it as "the most unsophisticated thing you can imagine."[128] ABBC television film followed,A Talent for Murder (1984), in which she played a wheelchair-user mystery writer; although describing it as "a rush job", she agreed to do it in order to work with co-star Laurence Olivier.[129] Two further miniseries featuring Lansbury appeared in 1984:Lace andThe First Olympics: Athens 1896.[130]
In 1983, Lansbury was offered two main television roles, one in a sitcom and the other in adetective drama series,Murder, She Wrote. As she was unable to do both, her agents advised her to accept the former, but Lansbury chose the latter.[131] Her decision was based on the appeal of the series' central character,Jessica Fletcher, a retired school teacher from the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine. As portrayed by Lansbury, Fletcher was a successful detective novelist who also solved murders encountered during her travels.[132] Lansbury described the character as "an American Miss Marple".[133]
Murder, She Wrote had been created byPeter S. Fischer,Richard Levinson, andWilliam Link, who had earlier had success withColumbo, and the role of Fletcher had been first offered toJean Stapleton, who had declined it.[134] The pilot episode, "The Murder of Sherlock Holmes", premiered on CBS on September 30, 1984, with the rest of the first season airing on Sundays from 8 to 9 pm. Although critical reviews were mixed, it proved highly popular, with the pilot having aNielsen rating of 18.9 and the first season being rated top in its time slot.[135] Designed as inoffensive family viewing, as despite its topic the show eschewed depicting violence or gore, it followed the "whodunit" format rather than those of most US crime shows of the time.[136] Lansbury herself commented that "best of all, there's no violence. I hate violence."[137]
Lansbury exerted creative input over Fletcher's costumes, makeup and hair, and rejected pressure from network executives to put the character in a relationship, believing that the character should remain a strong single woman.[138] When she believed that a scriptwriter had made Fletcher do or say things that did not fit with the character's personality, Lansbury ensured that the script was changed.[139] She saw Fletcher as a role model for older female viewers, praising her "enormous, universal appeal – that was an accomplishment I never expected in my entire life."[140] Edelman and Kupferberg described the series as "a television landmark" in the US for having an older female character as the protagonist, paving the way for later series likeThe Golden Girls.[141] Lansbury commented that "I think it's the first time a show has really been aimed at the middle aged audience",[142] and although it was most popular amongsenior citizens, it gradually gained a younger audience; by 1991, a third of viewers were under fifty.[143] It gained continually high ratings throughout most of its run, outdoing rivals in its time slot such asSteven Spielberg'sAmazing Stories onNBC.[144] In 1987, a spin-off was produced,The Law & Harry McGraw, although it proved short-lived.[145]
AsMurder, She Wrote went on, Lansbury assumed a larger role behind the scenes.[146] In 1989, her own company,Corymore Productions, began co-producing the show with Universal.[147] Lansbury began to tire of the series, and in particular the long working hours, stating that the 1990–1991 season would be its last.[148] She changed her mind after being appointed executive producer for the 1992–1993 season, something that she felt "made it far more interesting to me."[149] For the seventh season, the show's primary setting moved to New York City, where Fletcher had taken a job teaching criminology at Manhattan University; the move, encouraged by Lansbury, was an attempt to attract younger viewers.[150] Having become a "Sunday-night institution" in the US, the show's ratings improved during the early 1990s, becoming a Top Five programme.[151]
Lansbury photographed in 2000 at theKennedy Center in Washington DC
For the show's 12th season, CBS executives movedMurder, She Wrote to Thursdays at 8 pm, opposite NBC's new sitcom,Friends. Lansbury was upset by the move, believing that it ignored the show's core audience.[152] This would prove to be the series' final season. The final episode aired on May 19, 1996, and ended with Lansbury voicing a "Goodbye from Jessica" message.[153] InThe Washington Post,Tom Shales suggested that the series had become "partly a victim of commercial television's mad youth mania".[154] There were "vocal protests" at its cancellation from the show's fanbase.[155] At the time, it tied the originalHawaii Five-O as the longest-running detective drama series in history.[151]
Lansbury initially had plans for aMurder, She Wrote television film that would be a musical with a score composed by Jerry Herman;[156] that project did not materialize but resulted in the 1996 television filmMrs. Santa Claus, with Lansbury playingthe eponymous character, which proved to be a ratings success.[157]Murder, She Wrote continued through several made-for-television films:South By Southwest in 1997,A Story To Die For in 2000,The Last Free Man in 2001, andThe Celtic Riddle in 2003.[155][158] The role of Fletcher would prove the most successful and prominent of Lansbury's career,[159] and she would later speak critically of attempts to reboot the series with a different actress in the lead.[160]
Throughout the run ofMurder, She Wrote, Lansbury had continued appearing in other television films, miniseries and cinema.[161] In 1986, she co-hosted theNew York Philharmonic's televisedLiberty Weekend tribute to the centenary of theStatue of Liberty withKirk Douglas.[162] That same year, she appeared as the protagonist's mother inRage of Angels: The Story Continues,[161] and in 1988 portrayed Nan Moore – the mother of a victim of the real-lifeKorean Air Lines Flight 007 plane crash – inShootdown.[163] 1989 saw her featured inThe Shell Seekers as an Englishwoman recuperating from a heart attack,[164] and in 1990 she starred inThe Love She Sought as an American school teacher who falls in love with a Catholic priest while visiting Ireland; Lansbury thought it "a marvelous woman's story."[165] She next starred as the eponymous cockney in a television film adaptation of the novelMrs 'Arris Goes to Paris, directed by her son and executive produced by her stepson.[166] Lansbury's highest profile cinematic role sinceThe Manchurian Candidate was as the voice of the singing teapotMrs. Potts in the 1991Disney animationBeauty and the Beast, as part of which she performed thefilm's title song. She considered the appearance to be a gift for her three grandchildren.[167] Lansbury again lent her voice to an animated character, this time that ofthe Empress Dowager, for the 1997 filmAnastasia.[168][169]
Lansbury'sMurder, She Wrote fame resulted in her being employed to appear in advertisements and infomercials forBufferin,MasterCard and theBeatrix Potter Company.[170] In 1988, she released aVHS video titledAngela Lansbury's Positive Moves: My Personal Plan for Fitness and Well-Being, in which she outlined her personal exercise routine, and in 1990 published a book with the same title co-written with Mimi Avins, which she dedicated to her mother.[171] As a result of her work, she was awarded aCBE by the British government, given to her in a ceremony byCharles, Prince of Wales, at the British consulate in Los Angeles.[172] While living for most of the year in California, Lansbury spent the Christmas period and the summer at Corymore House, a farmhouse overlooking theCeltic Sea at Ballywilliam , south ofCloyne in County Cork, which she had had built as a family home in 1991.[173][174]
In the years followingMurder, She Wrote, Lansbury was increasingly preoccupied by her husband's deteriorating health; it was for this reason that she dropped out of being the lead role in the 2001Kander and Ebb musicalThe Visit before it opened.[175] Peter died in January 2003 of congestive heart failure at the couple's Brentwood home.[176] Lansbury felt that after this she would not take on any more major acting roles, perhaps only makingcameo appearances.[177] Wanting to spend more time in New York City, in 2006 she purchased a $2 millioncondominium inManhattan.[177][178]
Lansbury defined herself as being "Irish-British".[206] She became a US citizen in 1951, while retaining her British citizenship.[32] According to a 2014 article in theIrish Independent, she also held Irish citizenship.[207]Although adopting an Americanized accent for roles like that of herJessica Fletcher character inMurder, She Wrote, Lansbury retained her English accent throughout her life.[208][209]
Lansbury was a profoundly private person,[210] and disliked attempts at flattery.[211] Gottfried characterized her as being "Meticulous. Cautious. Self-editing. Deliberate. It is what the British call reserved".[212] InThe Daily Telegraph, the theatre critic Dominic Cavendish stated that Lansbury's hallmarks were "self-composure, commitment and, yes, gentility", approaches he thought had become "in too short supply" in modern times.[213] Gottfried also commented that she was "as concerned, as sensitive, and as sympathetic as anyone might want in a friend".[214]
Lansbury was married twice. Her first marriage was in 1945 to actor Richard Cromwell, who was 16 years older than she. They divorced in 1946 after Cromwellcame out asgay.[215][216] In 1949, Lansbury married actor and producer Peter Shaw, and they remained married until he died in 2003.[176] They had two children together, Anthony Peter (b. 1952) and Deirdre Angela (b. 1953), and Lansbury became the stepmother of Shaw's son David from his first marriage. While Lansbury repeatedly stated that she wanted to put her children before her career, she admitted that she frequently had to leave them in California for long periods when she was working elsewhere.[217] In the 1970s, Lansbury moved the family to Ireland. In contemporary newspaper interviews, Lansbury stated the move was due to her children's use of drugs and Deirdre's involvement withCharles Manson, and a desire to remove them from that environment.[218][219][220]
Anthony became a television director and directed 68 episodes ofMurder, She Wrote.[221] Deirdre married a chef, and together they opened a restaurant inWest Los Angeles.[222] Lansbury had three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren at the time of her death in 2022.[223]Lansbury was a cousin of thePostgate family, including the animator and activistOliver Postgate.[224] She was also a cousin of the actor Kate (Geraghty) Lansbury,[225] and of the novelistCoral Lansbury, whose sonMalcolm Turnbull wasPrime Minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018.[226]
Lansbury photographed in 2013
As a young actress, Lansbury was a self-professedhomebody,[227] who commented that she loved housekeeping.[228] She preferred to spend quiet evenings with her friends inside her house because she did not like to engage in Hollywood nightlife.[229] Her hobbies at the time included reading, riding, playing tennis, cooking, and playing the piano; she also had a keen interest in gardening.[230] She citedF. Scott Fitzgerald as her favourite author,[231] andRoseanne andSeinfeld among her favourite television shows.[232] Lansbury was an avid letter writer who wrote letters by hand and made copies of all of them.[233] At Howard Gotlieb's request, Lansbury's papers are housed at theHoward Gotlieb Archival Research Center atBoston University.[234]
Lansbury brought up her children asEpiscopalians, but they were not members of a congregation.[235] She stated, "I believe that God is within all of us, that we are perfect, precious beings, and that we have to put our faith and trust in that."[235] She supportedBritain's Labour Party, to which she had family ties,[195] and the USDemocratic Party; she described herself as a "Democrat from the ground up" to quash online rumours that she endorsed theRepublican Party.[236] She also supported various charities, particularly those combatingdomestic abuse and rehabilitating drug users.[237] In the 1980s, she also supported charities combatingHIV/AIDS.[238]
In a career stretching from ingénue to dowager, from elegant heroine to depraved villainess, [Lansbury] has displayed durability and flexibility, as well as a highly admired work ethic.
— The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance, 2010[246]
In the 1960s,The New York Times referred to Lansbury as the "First Lady of Musical Theatre".[247] She described herself as an actress who also could sing,[247] although in her early film appearances her singing was repeatedly dubbed;[248] Sondheim stated that she had a strong voice, albeit with a limited range.[249] InThe Oxford Companion to the American Musical, Thomas Hischak related that Lansbury was "more a character actress than a leading lady" for much of her career, one who brought "a sparkling stage presence to her work".[248] Gottfried described her as "an American icon",[210] while the BBC characterized her as "one of Britain's favourite exports,"[208] andThe Independent suggested that she could be considered Britain's most successful actress.[250] InThe Guardian, journalistMark Lawson described her as a member of the "acting aristocracy in three countries" – Britain, Ireland, and the United States.[199]
Gottfried noted that Lansbury's public image was "practically saintly".[251] A 2007 interviewer forThe New York Times described her as "one of the few actors it makes sense to call beloved", noting that a 1994 article inPeople magazine awarded her a perfect score on its "lovability index".[177] TheNew Statesman commented that she "has the kind of pulling power many younger and more ubiquitous actors can only dream of."[194] Lansbury was a gay icon.[77][252] She described herself as being "very proud of the fact", attributing her popularity among gay people to her performance inMame;[77] an article inThe Philadelphia Inquirer suggested thatMurder, She Wrote had further broadened her appeal with that demographic.[253]
Following the announcement of Lansbury's death, many figures in the entertainment industry praised her on social media.[254] The actorJason Alexander called her "one of the most versatile, talented, graceful, kind, witty, wise, classy ladies" he had ever met.[255] ActorUzo Aduba called her an "icon of the stage", while actorJosh Gad noted that it was rare that "one person can touch multiple generations, creating a breadth of work that defines decade after decade. Angela Lansbury was that artist".[254] Screenwriter and actorMark Gatiss praised Lansbury as "the very definition of a pro," while Douglas C. Baker, the producing director forCenter Theatre Group, stated that "Angela was a titan of show business, but at the same time she was one of the most kind and approachable people you would ever meet [...] Impeccably professional, genuine and deeply hilarious."[256] FormerWalt Disney Studios CEORobert Iger described her "a consummate professional, a talented actress, and a lovely person."[257] Others who posted in remembrance of Lansbury includedKristin Chenoweth,Viola Davis,Jesse Tyler Ferguson,Harvey Fierstein,Kathy Griffin,Jeremy O. Harris,Brent Spiner,George Takei, andRachel Zegler.[257][258][256] On October 12theatres across the West End of London, dimmed their lights for two minutes to mark Lansbury's passing.[259][260]
Lansbury won six Golden Globe Awards and aPeople's Choice Award for her television and film work.[263][264] She never won an Emmy Award despite 18 nominations. As of 2009, she held the record for the most unsuccessful Emmy nominations by a performer.[265] She was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, but never won. Reflecting on this in 2007, she stated that she was at first "terribly disappointed, but subsequently very glad that [she] did not win" because she believed that she would have otherwise had a less successful career.[266]
In 2013, theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors voted to bestow upon Lansbury anHonorary Academy Award for her lifetime achievements in the industry. The actorsEmma Thompson andGeoffrey Rush offered tributes at the Governors Awards where the ceremony was held, andRobert Osborne ofTurner Classic Movies presented her with the Oscar, stating that "Angela has been adding class, talent, beauty, and intelligence to the movies" since 1944.[267] The Oscar statue is inscribed: "To Angela Lansbury, an icon who has created some of cinema's most memorable characters inspiring generations of actors".[268]
Lansbury, Angela; Avins, Mimi (1990).Angela Lansbury's Positive Moves: My Personal Plan for Fitness and Well-Being. New York:Delacorte Press.ISBN978-0-385-30223-4.
^In a 2014 interview forBBC Radio 4, she stated: "I want to make one thing clear: I was not born in Poplar, that's not true, I was born in Regent's Park, so I wasn't born in the East End, I wish I could say I had been. Certainly my antecedents were: my grandfather, my father." (mins 3–4)[3]
Clark, Lynn Schofield (2004). "Lansbury, Angela (1925-)". In Horace Newcomb (ed.).Encyclopedia of Television (second ed.). Abingdon and New York: Routledge. pp. 1318–1319.ISBN978-1-57958-394-1.Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. RetrievedJanuary 5, 2023.
Crampton, Caroline (April 2014). "Angela Lansbury's Life on the Stage".New Statesman. Vol. 143, no. 5205. p. 16.
Degen, John (2010). "Lansbury, Angela".The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance. Dennis Kennedy (editor). Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-172791-7.
Gilvey, John Anthony (2005).Before the Parade Passes By: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical. New York City: Macmillan.ISBN978-0-312-33776-6.
Harvey Fierstein / Marco Paguia, David Oquendo, Renesito Avich, Gustavo Schartz, Javier Días, Román Diaz, Mauricio Herrera, Jesus Ricardo, Eddie Venegas, Hery Paz, and Leonardo Reyna / Jamie Harrison, Chris Fisher, Gary Beestone, and Edward Pierce (2025)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
