Angela Lansbury

Lore & Background

Angela Lansbury was born into an upper-middle-class family in Central London, the daughter of Irish actress Moyna Macgill and English politician Edgar Lansbury. To escape the Blitz, she moved to the United States in 1940, studying acting in New York City. She signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1942 and established herself as a character actress, earning three Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nominations for Gaslight (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), and The Manchurian Candidate (1962).

She transitioned her career to Broadway, earning stardom and four Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for playing the title roles in Mame (1966), Countess Aurelia in Dear World (1969), Mama Rose in Gypsy (1975), and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (1978). She returned to Broadway playing Madame Arcati in the revival of Blithe Spirit (2009), winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She won the Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2022.

Lansbury achieved worldwide fame for portraying sleuth Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996), a role that earned her four Golden Globe Awards and nominations for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards. In 1989, she co-created with her husband Peter Shaw, Corymore Productions, where she co-produced the series and served as an executive producer. She voiced roles in Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Anastasia (1997) and acted in the family films Nanny McPhee (2005) and Mary Poppins Returns (2018).

Reader's Guide

Angela Lansbury's significance lies in her extraordinary versatility and longevity across stage and screen. She earned three Academy Award nominations early in her film career, then became a Broadway legend with four Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical, later adding a fifth Tony for featured actress and a Lifetime Achievement Tony. Her role as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote made her a global television icon, earning four Golden Globe Awards. She received two honorary BAFTA Awards, the National Medal of the Arts, the Kennedy Center Honor, and the Academy Honorary Award. In 2014, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. Her career, spanning 80 years, demonstrated a rare ability to move between film, television, and theater, influencing generations of performers.

Did You Know?

• Lansbury was born in Regent's Park, Central London, not Poplar as often stated, and she rejected the Poplar claim.
• She was only 17 when she signed a seven-year contract with MGM for Gaslight, and a social worker had to accompany her on set.
• Her first marriage to Richard Cromwell ended in divorce within a year; Cromwell was gay and had married her hoping to become heterosexual.
• She co-created Corymore Productions with her husband Peter Shaw in 1989, co-producing Murder, She Wrote and serving as executive producer.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"I was never going to get to play the girl next door. And I was never going to be groomed to be a glamorous movie star. And I sort of realized that. So I had to make my — make peace with myself on that score." — Angela Lansbury "Interview with Christiane Amanpour "40 years later, Angela Lansbury returns to the London stage – at 88" — Angela Lansbury