Biography

A substantial entertainer throughout six decades, Angela Lansbury hit superstardom as a senior citizen with her memorable portrayal of detective Jessica Fletcher in the long-running murder mystery drama Murder, She Wrote. The program held top viewer ratings in the U.S., the U.K., and Italy, among other countries. Lansbury was a successful and enduring force in almost every area of entertainment. From Broadway to the silver screen, the versatile English-born actress won six Tonys and was nominated for three Oscars and 18 Emmy Awards. She also hosted broadcasts of both the Tony and Emmy Awards. Her fan base spanned all ages as young audiences also recognized Lansbury for her perfect English diction and as the voice behind their favorite animated characters from feature films like The Last Unicorn, Beauty and the Beast, and Anastasia. Lansbury got her start in the 1944 American film Gaslight as a teenager (which also starred Ingrid Bergman). A foreshadowing of what was to come, it was a murder mystery. She was nominated for an Oscar for it and consequently held a seven-year contract at MGM studios. Her second picture was also nominated for an Oscar (a Hollywood record). The young starlet made her musical debut in Hotel Paradiso on Broadway in 1957 at the Henry Miller Theater. Appearing in countless movies and musicals, she is best remembered for her film work in The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Long Hot Summer, and The Manchurian Candidate in the '40s, '50s, and '60s. In 1971, she released one of her first children's movies, Bedknobs and Broomsticks (also a musical). In the 1980s, she appeared in the screen version of The Pirates of Penzance. Her stage work includes revivals of the musicals Mame, Gypsy, and Sweeney Todd. She continued to appear in made-for-TV movies starring the character Jessica Fletcher, and in other roles for television, stage, and film until 2019. Lansbury died in her sleep at her home in Los Angeles, California on October 11, 2022; she was 96 years old. ~ Sandy Lawson, Rovi