Angela Brigid Lansbury (1925–2022) was an Irish-British American actress, producer, and comedian whose career spanned 80 years across film, stage, and television.
Born in London, she fled to the United States during the Blitz in 1940 and became a U.S. citizen in 1951. She studied acting in New York City before signing with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM,) launching her film career.
She débuted in Gaslight (1944,) earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She later starred in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945,) The Manchurian Candidate (1962,) Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971,) and voiced Mrs. Potts in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991.) On Broadway, she won Tony Awards for Mame (1966,) Dear World (1969,) Gypsy (1975,) Sweeney Todd (1979,) and Blithe Spirit (2009.)
Her most iconic television role was Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote (1984–96,) one of the longest-running detective series. She also starred in Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris (1992) and Mrs. Santa Claus (1996.) Rob Edelman and Audrey Kupferberg documented her legacy in Angela Lansbury: A Life on Stage and Screen (1996.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Angela Brigid Lansbury
I just stopped playing bitches on wheels and peoples’ mothers. I have only a few more years to kick up my heels!
—Angela Brigid Lansbury
Topics: Actors, Acting
I’m in a very enviable position, being able to work like this forty-five years later. It’s always beginning! I never have a sense of finishing up, just new things beginning. When I die, they’re going to carry me off a stage.
—Angela Brigid Lansbury
Topics: Beginnings
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