Angela Lansbury, a legendary stage and screen actress, dead at the age of 96. Official reports surrounding her passing state that the actress passed away peacefully in her sleep at her Los Angeles home, just days short of her 97th birthday; the official cause of death is unknown at this time.
Boasting a career in Hollywood and on the stages of Broadway, Angela Lansbury ranks as one of the best-known household names in stardom, with her long and storied acting career including roles like the Dowager Empress Marie in Don Bluth’s animated film Anastasia (1997) and Jessica Fletcher/Emma MacGill in all twelve seasons of the classic drama series Murder, She Wrote (1984), for which she received nine Emmy nominations. Lansbury all made appearances in TV classics like Magnum P.I. and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
In addition, Angela Lansbury also appeared as the voice of Mrs. Potts in Disney’s original Beauty and the Beast (1991) and then reprised the role in many other Disney properties like Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas (1997), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: Magical Ballroom (2000), Beauty and the Beast DVD Read-Along (2002), Kingdom Hearts II (2005), and Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ (2007).
Regarding her career on the theatrical stage, Angela Lansbury is well-known for her role as pie maker Mrs. Lovett in the 1979 Original Broadway Cast of Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a role that would win her a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Lansbury also won awards for her performances as Auntie Mame in Mame (1966), Dear World (1969), and Gypsy (1975).
Angela Lansbury: Personal Life and Career Beginnings
Angela Lansbury was born to Irish actress Monya Macgill and English politician Edgar Lansbury on October 16th, 1925. Angela would receive her first movie role as a maid in John van Druten’s Gaslight (1944) at just 17 after being recommended for the role by van Druten himself; in 1945, Lansbury would star as Sibyl Vane in The Picture of Dorian Gray, an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic novel. Her role in Gaslight would eventually lead Lansbury to sign a seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer that same year.
Also in 1945, Angela Lansbury married artist and decorator Richard Cromwell, but their marriage was unsuccessful due to Cromwell’s homosexuality and reportedly lasted less than a year. In 1946, Lansbury was introduced to fellow British MGM actor Peter Pullen Shaw; the couple was married in London in August 1949 and had two children, Anthony Peter and Deirdre Ann; Angela also received a stepson, David, from Peter’s previous marriage. In 2014, Angela Lansbury was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
Her children released a statement announcing her death earlier today, with NBC News relaying the statement as follows:
“The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30 AM today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday.”
Deadline reports that Angela Lansbury is survived by her children Anthony, Deirdre, and David, as well as her grandchildren Peter, Katherine, and Ian, plus five great-grandchildren and her brother Edgar. A private family ceremony will be held at an unspecified date, and a cause of death has not yet been determined.
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