Iconic actress Dame Angela Lansbury, the star of “Murder, She Wrote” and “Beauty and the Beast,” has died at the age of 96, just five days before her 97th birthday.
She passed away peacefully at her home in Los Angeles early on Tuesday morning, according to her three children.
A statement from her family said: “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 AM today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday.”
Lansbury was a legend in Hollywood and on Broadway, her career covered eight decades. She had her first movie role at the age of 14 after leaving London in wartime.
“I was wrapping Christmas gifts in a department store one minute, then playing opposite Ingrid Bergman the next. It was little short of a miracle,” Lansbury once told the media of her rise to stardom.
Acting ultimately earned her a contract with MGM, as well as the first of three Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress.
To many TV lovers, Lansbury was best known for her portrayal of mystery writer and amateur detective, Jessica Fletcher in the hit American crime drama series, “Murder She Wrote.” The series ran for 12 seasons from 1984 until 1996.
Lansbury was nominated for ten Golden Globes for that role and won four of them.
She was given 12 Emmy nominations for that role, achieving the most Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, despite never winning the award.
Lansbury’s voice earned her recognition around the world after she lent it to Beauty and the Beast character Mrs. Potts in Disney’s 1991 animated movie Beauty and the Beast.
In 2013, she received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her 80-year acting career, having been nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress on three separate occasions for her roles in Gaslight (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), and The Manchurian Candidate (1962).
