Angela Lansbury, 'Murder, She Wrote' and 'Beauty and the Beast' star, dies at 96

[Trueblue1968]

Source: NBC

Angela Lansbury, a versatile actor who wowed generations of fans as a murderous baker, a singing teapot, a Soviet spy and a small-town sleuth among a host of other memorable roles, died Tuesday, her family announced.

She was 96.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/celebrity/angela-lansbury-murder-wrote-beauty-beast-star-dies-96-rcna42421

[Trueblue1968]

1. I AM SOOOOOOOOOO SAD. i admire her so much

[Polly Hennessey]

2. Sad news. She was a wonderful actress.

[Glorfindel]

3. Very sorry to learn it. I really loved her

From the first time I saw her in "Samson and Delilah"

[Raven123]

4. A fantastic actress. Still watch her movies when they are on

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Damn! She was the best!

Movies, TV, she could do it all. I still watch "Murder, She Wrote," she often had guest stars from her movie days - three generations of my family watched it every week...

[chowder66]

6. Damn.

[LudwigPastorius]

7. RIP to a great, versatile actor, and...

quite a cutie pie in her day.

[marble falls]

8. With respect and love and admiration (Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a wonderful film), but ...

... the butler did it!

[catrose]

9. Pure class, she was

[elleng]

10. Her show's on every late night here on HBO.

[question everything]

16. And on Hallmark Mysteries, around the clock, almost

A real class Act

[Omaha Steve]

11. Thanks to Ron Masak we have her autograph

We love her in "The Lady Vanishes" 1979 as Miss Froy. And there is "The Last Unicorn" and on and on.

https://graveyardsofomaha.com/tz2004.html

Ron Masak was at the end of Ben's table, so we went to him next. We bought a copy of his TZ photo for him to sign, and also one of his role in "Ice Station Zebra." We had a shot of him from "Tora, Tora, Tora," and he loved it when he saw it. He talked about the extra on the film, who had a career after that because Ron got him on screen. He also had a shot of himself, Angela Lansbury and William Windom from "Murder, She Wrote," signed by Angela, that we bought. We had Ron and William sign it as well.

[duhneece]

15. We'll watch those soon. Great story nt

[LisaM]

12. Sorry to hear this.

Her grandfather, George Lansbury, was leader of the Labour Party at one point. His photo often appeared in "Murder, She Wrote" episodes, on the wall of her Cabot Cove house.

She often worked environmental and labor issues into the show, though it wasn't obviously liberal unless you paid attention. She particularly went after mining companies.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. I never knew that.

Looking him up, I find another of his grandchildren (so her cousin) was Oliver Postgate, co-creator of beloved British animation series like Bagpuss and The Clangers.

[Celerity]

47. yes, and her father, Edgar Lansbury, was a leading British communist politician

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Lansbury_(politician)

[RobertDevereaux]

13. One of her earliest films.

[Karadeniz]

14. I read that when her daughter became influenced by drugs, she packed up the family and moved

to Ireland to remove temptation. She's not only talented, she had a
Fine character.

[Jade Fox]

26. Her daughter was involved with the Manson family....

which precipitated the move to Ireland.

[Karadeniz]

38. Good lord... She must've come up with drugs to hide an even worse problem. Lucky daughter!!!

[Joinfortmill]

17. RIP, talented lady.

[badhair77]

18. I loved her in everything she did, performance wise.

And she was a proud Democrat. What a loss.

[sinkingfeeling]

19. R.I.P.

[blue-wave]

20. One classy lady

Saddened by the news. RIP

I never knew she had a role, although minor, in this movie. From this threads link above:

She played the maid in the 1944 classic “Gaslight,” about a woman, played by star Ingrid Bergman, who was being manipulated to question objective truth. The term “gas lighting,” meaning to psychologically manipulate with lies and false narratives, became a popular term in the 21st century American vocabulary, particularly after Donald Trump was elected president.

[BigmanPigman]

28. That is one of my favorite films.

Angela's Cockney, flirty maid made you want to smack her.

[efhmc]

42. I was wondering if someone would bring that one up. She was was a icky person in that movie.

See some one referenced Bedknobs and Broomsticks. That was a good one. What a history. What a lady.

[rurallib]

21. Sunday nights with 2 girls under 10, one bowl of popcorn, the dog, and a pleasant murder

on the TV from a small town in Maine - Now that was heaven!

She was sure a great actress - one of kind.

[cstanleytech]

22. Well that sucks. nt

[FM123]

24. So sad to hear of her passing.

I have enjoyed so much of her wonderful work!

[SleeplessinSoCal]

25. A friend was in the chorus of Sweeney Todd...

And I got to see Lansbury do the "gypsy runthrough". That meant some stops and no blood. I got to see her working on scenes with director Hal Prince. The difficulty of that music, LIVE, every night and the business she had going was astonishing. I first saw her as Mame, then Rose, and at last Mrs. Lovett. I am a lucky gal.

[BigmanPigman]

27. I loved her in Gaslight, she was 17

and already was nominated for an Oscar.

[Talitha]

30. TCM always introduces their movies with a bit of trivia.

Supposedly her parents made the studio wait till she was 18 before filming a scene where she smoked a cigarette.

[BigmanPigman]

32. I learned from TCM

Last edited Tue Oct 11, 2022, 11:57 PM - Edit history (1)

that she was only about three years older than the actor, Lawrence Harvey, playing her son in The Manchurian Candidate.

[Talitha]

45. Oh my, I didn't know that. She certainly played the role well.

[BigmanPigman]

46. Same goes for The Graduate...

Dustin Hoffman was only 6 years younger than Anne Bancroft, who played a woman his mother's age/generation. Incredible acting by all!

[burrowowl]

29. RIP! Great actress!

[Talitha]

31. Truly one of the greats... RIP.

[Wicked Blue]

33. She was an amazing, hard-working actress

May she rest in peace.

[Frances]

34. She was Elizabeth Taylor's teenaged sister in

the 1944 film National Velvet. I loved that movie!

[fierywoman]

35. If you haven't seen Emma Thompson on Angela Lansbury ...

[pansypoo53219]

40. i love nanny mcfee. landsbury fun in that.

[twodogsbarking]

37. A great talent. A terrific life.

[electric_blue68]

39. Loved her in Murder She Wrote RIP :(

[Bristlecone]

41. Great in every role she ever was cast in IMO.

Minnie in The Long Hot Summer

One of my favorite movies.

[efhmc]

43. Just watched her Larry King Live interview from a few years ago. interesting what she says about

our country at 93. Anyway I cried.

[BumRushDaShow]

44. I saw this breaking on my phone while at my sister's house

for my nephew's birthday party. This was a real gut punch because she was such a prolific and era-spanning actress. Her passing is a great loss to the film, theater, and television industries thanks to her powerful acting in what would become iconic roles.

R.I.P. and thank you for bringing these productions to life.

[Rocknation]

48. I am forever indebted to Lansbury for teaching me how to "run a Jessica Fletcher"

Last edited Tue Feb 25, 2025, 11:16 PM - Edit history (10)

(the character she played on Murder She Wrote). She would never embarrass the professionally-trained and allegedly smarter detectives she'd work with by saying, "You didn't notice that the position of the body makes it obvious that the murderer is left-handed?" She would always say, "You noticed, OF COURSE, that the position of the body CLEARLY indicates that the murderer has to be left-handed..."

Example: Last month, I told my new landlord, "I figured that your not telling us that you'd be disconnecting the wifi was a security measure since you were installing surveillance cameras. Lucky for me I have a mobile hotspot account, which I can simply deduct from next month's rent!" Our wifi re-materialized within 48 hours...


Rocknation