Star of Murder, She Wrote Angela Lansbury passes away at 96
Star of the American television drama series Murder, She Wrote, Dame Angela Lansbury, has gone away at the age of 96.
The three-time Oscar contender worked in theatre, film, and television for eight decades.
When she was born in 1925, she was one of the last Golden Age Hollywood movie actresses still living.
According to a statement from her family, Dame Angela passed away in her sleep only five days short of turning 97.
The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are devastated to announce that their mother passed away peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles, the family said in a statement.
After moving to New York and enrolling in the Feagin School of Dramatic Art, Dame Angela, who was born in London, eventually left her birthplace.
She was cast in her first role as a maid in the 1944 picture Gaslight, which was based on the 1938 play of the same name, after being observed by a Hollywood executive at a party in 1942. The next year, her interpretation garnered her an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
The phrase “gaslighting” was first used in a play by Patrick Hamilton about a young woman whose spouse gradually led her to believe she was losing her mind.
The British actress received two further nominations for an Oscar for her performances as Sibyl in The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1945 and Laurence Harvey’s cunning mother in The Manchurian Candidate, which she co-starred in with Frank Sinatra.1962.
She then had an appearance in the Disney smash Bedknobs and Broomsticks a year later, and she eventually voiced Mrs. Potts in the animated Beauty and the Beast and Mary Poppins Returns, among other children’s movies.
She became well-known all around the world, though, for her part as sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the television programme Murder, She Wrote.
Twelve years, or nine seasons, passed after she started in 1984.
With a fortune calculable at $100 million, the show created her one in every of the richest ladies within the North American country at the time.
In a 1985 TV interview, Lansbury claimed, “I worked considerably harder on a role in the theatre than I do playing Jessica.
“for me, Jessica is much closer to home. She is a laid-back individual.
It’s simply that I can identify with her, she continued.
In 2013, at the age of 88, she received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement.
During the occasion, her colleague actor Geoffrey Rush referred to her as the “living definition of range.”
It was given in 2002, following a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a lifetime achievement award from the Bafta.
She was awarded a Dame in 2014 for her services to play, charitable work, and philanthropy.
Tributes paid respect to a Hollywood “legend” after her death.
“It is uncommon that one person can impact many generations, generating a breadth of work that defines decade after decade,” actor Josh Gad remarked on Twitter. That artist was Angela Lansbury.
Another performer, Harvey Fierstein, remarked that Dame Angela was “everything.”
Dame Angela co-starred with actress Mia Farrow in the 1978 film Death on the Nile, which she later described as “an honour.”
Oscar-winner In a letter, Viola Davis expressed her belief that the late actor “would live forever.” What a truly lovely legacy you’ve left, she wrote in her message. You’ve inspired countless artists to strive for perfection.
The Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander tweeted that “One of the most versatile, brilliant, graceful, kind, hilarious, insightful, and classy woman I’ve ever encountered has left us,” adding that “Her immense contribution to the arts and the world lives forever.”
With the news of the fabulous Dame’s passing, “I cannot tell you how many women and gays are crushed, moved, and feeling nostalgic for something in the past. Comedian and performer Kathy Griffin authored, “Angela Lansbury.”
Many tributes referred to Dame Angela’s work in the 1980s and 1990s to raise awareness and funds for Aids, including fronting a TV information campaign and headlining fundraising events.
Dame Angela married twice, first to actor Richard Cromwell when she was 19, and then to British actor and producer Peter Jackson.