Angela Lansbury

Profession: Actress

Nationality:

Biography: Angela Lansbury had an acting career which spanned seven decades, encompassing film, stage, and television. Her most recognizable roles were playing Jessica Fletcher in 'Murder, She Wrote', the title role in the Broadway musical "Mame!", and the voice of Mrs. Potts in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast".

Angela Lansbury was born to an Irish actress mother and English timber magnate and Communist politician father.  Her father died when she was about 10. At the start of World War II, her mother took her and her brothers to live in New York City.  In New York, Angela studied acting, then moved to Hollywood taking small film roles.

After some level of success, but finding herself typecast as an older villainous character, she embraced work on the stage.  Finding success in both New York and London, she gained the ability to be more selective of her screen roles. In 1962, she won acclaim for her work in the film "The Manchurian Candidate", and in 1966 garnered her first of five competitive Tony Awards in the title role of the musical "Mame!".

She moved to a farm in Ireland in the 1970s, to concentrate on family issues, while continuing to work on the West End and Broadway. The development of the television detective series "Murder, She Wrote" led to her signature role as crime solving mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher.  The series ran from 1984-2003 and while never winning, she was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards.

She was married twice - very briefly to an older actor in 1945, and then in 1949 to Pete Shaw, an actor, producer, and fellow Brit living in America, until his death in 2003. 

Born: October 16, 1925
Birthplace: Poplar, London, England

Generation: Greatest Generation
Chinese Zodiac: Ox
Star Sign: Libra

Died: October 11, 2022 (aged 96)