In Memory of Angela Lansbury (1925-2022)

Angela Lansbury (1925-2022)

The acclaimed actress of stage, film and television, Dame Angela Lansbury, has died two weeks short of her 97th birthday. She has starred in films such as "Beauty and the Beast" and the television series "Murder, She Wrote".

She was born Angela Brigid Lansbury in London on 25th October 1925, the daughter of an Irish stage actress and a career politician. Her father died when she was 9, and not long after, she fled to New York City with her family during the beginning of World War II to avoid the bombings by Germany during the London Blitz. During her time in New York City, Lansbury studied to become an actress, and at her mother's urging, she soon moved to Los Angeles to be in the movies. She debuted opposite Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer in the paranoiac classic "Gaslight", playing a role as a maid. This part earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The following year, she was nominated again for Best Supporting Actress for 1945's "The Picture of Dorian".

She was under contract to MGM but was sometimes loaned by the company to other studios, as she told the Los Angeles Times in 1985. Lansbury appeared in several films, including "National Velvet" (as Elizabeth Taylor's sister), "The Harvey Girls", "State of the Union", "The Three Musketeers", the Danny Kaye comedy "The Court Jester" and "The Long, Hot Summer". She often portrays characters much older than she was, including in movies like "Blue Hawaii" as Elvis Presley's mom when she was 35 to the 26-year-old Elvis. One role she was too young for, however, was playing Laurence Harvey's controlling mother in "The Manchurian Candidate". Lansbury was five years older than her 34-year-old co-star. Though the film was initially unsuccessful, it did earn Lansbury her third Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Lansbury also had an illustrious career on Broadway, appearing in several productions like "Mame", "Gypsy", and "Sweeney Todd", which earned her five Tony Awards. After becoming a musical theatre star in the mid-1960s, Lansbury returned to films occasionally in the 1970s, with the lead role in the 1971 Disney hit musical "Bedknobs and Broomsticks". In 1991, her association with Disney continued several years later when she voiced the teapot, Mrs. Potts, in the Oscar-nominated animated movie "Beauty and the Beast". She also starred recently in "Mary Poppins Returns".

In her 60s, she achieved what was to be the greatest fame in her starring role as mystery writer turned detective Jessica Fletcher in the TV series "Murder, She Wrote". The show aired on the American television network CBS. It lasted for 12 seasons and was in the top 10 most-watched shows on television.

In 2013, Lansbury received her Honorary Oscar and accepted it. The following year, she received her damehood from Queen Elizabeth II. Here are the clips of the movies that highlighted her performances.

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