Remembering Dame Angela Lansbury

Taking a look back at Dame Angela Lansbury's life.

Martha Lilli Probert
3rd November 2022
Image credit: IMDB

Dame Angela Lansbury passed away on 11th October 2022, at the age of 96. We look back on her inspiring. life and career. Her illustrious career on screen and stage spanned eighty years, with roles in films including Gaslight (1944), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), and on Broadway, as Rose in Gypsy and as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Lansbury was the recipient of six Tony Awards, six Golden Globes, and a lifetime achievement Academy Award in 2013. It is, however, her starring role as detective Jessica Fletcher in the crime drama, Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996) for which she is best known.

“Jessica Fletcher is about as close to the sort of woman I might have been, had I not been an actress.” - Lansbury


One of the longest running detective programmes on television, Murder, She Wrote drew in millions of viewers each week in the US, and found fans in countries worldwide. Lansbury’s creative input in her character’s narrative was a crucial part of the show’s success, with Fletcher becoming a rare – and now, iconic - televisual instance of a single, middle-aged leading lady. In her final recorded interview, Lansbury said, “Jessica Fletcher is about as close to the sort of woman I might have been, had I not been an actress.”


Lansbury was also a gay icon, following her eponymous role in the musical Mame, for which she won her first of four Tony Awards. She was “very proud” of her popularity in the gay community, and in the 1980s, dedicated support to charities who worked to support the community during the HIV/AIDS epidemic.


Lansbury was married to the actor Peter Shaw for over 50 years, until his death in 2003. They moved from America to Ireland in 1970 for the safety of their daughter Deidre, who had become involved with Charles Manson, and son Anthony, who had developed a drug addiction. The move proved fruitful, with Deirdre eventually opening a restaurant with her husband, and Anthony becoming a television director, whose credits include 68 episodes of Murder, She Wrote.

At the time of her death, she had three grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. She will be sorely missed, by her family, and by her fans across the world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ReLated Articles
magnifiercross
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap