Angela Lansbury Dead at 96

Angela Lansbury, an actress known for Murder, She Wrote and Beauty and the Beast, has died. She was 96.

Her death was confirmed in a statement from her family shared with People, which read, “The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30 a.m. today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday.”

The statement continued, “In addition to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, she is survived by three grandchildren, Peter, Katherine and Ian, plus five great grandchildren and her brother, producer Edgar Lansbury. She was proceeded in death by her husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw. A private family ceremony will be held at a date to be determined.”

Lansbury was born Angela Brigid Lansbury on Oct. 16, 1925, in London. She began her career as an entertainer when she was just 16, lying about her age to perform at a club in Montreal, according to NBC.

She went on to sign a deal with MGM at 17, and soon appeared in National Velvet in 1944 and The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1945, which earned her an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win.

Lansbury’s career continued as she booked roles in 1961’s Blue Hawaii, 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate, and in the 1966 stage musical Mame, which earned her a Tony award. In the ’70s, Lansbury appeared in multiple stage productions, including Gypsy, Sweeney Todd and The King and I.

The actress began playing one of her most iconic roles in 1984, when Murder, She Wrote premiered, and continued to play Jessica Fletcher / Emma MacGill through 1996. While still acting in the mystery series, Lansbury also voiced Mrs. Potts in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and appeared in Anastasia, Nanny McPhee and Mr. Popper’s Penguins.

One of her final roles came in 2018, when she appeared in Mary Poppins Returns as Balloon Lady.