Angela Lansbury death: Murder, She Wrote and Beauty and the Beast star dies aged 96

Oscar nominee and five-time Tony winner died ‘peacefully in her sleep’ days before 97th birthday

Dame Angela Lansbury has died aged 96.

The Murder, She Wrote and Beauty and the Beast star died “peacefully in her sleep” on Tuesday (11 October), her family have announced.

“The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1.30am today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday,” her family said in a statement.

“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 preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw.”

A private family ceremony will be held at a later date.

Across her career, the London-born actor won five Tony Awards. Most recently, she was feted with the accolade in 2009 for her performance as Madame Arcati in Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit.

She previously won the Best Musical Actress Tony in 1979 for her roles as Nellie Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, as well as for Mame (1966), Dear World (1969), and Gypsy (1975).

On screen, Lansbury famously lent her voice to the heartwarming character of Mrs Pott in the 1991 musical film Beauty and the Beast.

Angela Lansbury with her Lifetime Achievement Award given to her by the Screen Actors Guild in 1997 (AFP via Getty Images)

As Mrs Pott, the actor sang one of the film’s most memorable songs, “Tale As Old as Time”.

In 2016, she performed the song at Lincoln Centre in New York City in celebration of Beauty and the Beast’s 25th anniversary.

Lansbury will also be remembered by many for her role as mystery writer Jessica Fletcher on the CBS hit series Murder, She Wrote.

The series ran for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996, becoming one of the network’s biggest hits of the Eighties.

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Lansbury also executive produced Murder, She Wrote through Corymore Productions, a company that she founded with her late husband Shaw, who died in 2003.

(Universal TV/Kobal/Shutterstock)

In addition to her presence on the television, Lansbury also made an impression on the big screen.

The actor received three Oscar nominations in her lifetime. The first was for her supporting role in the 1944 classic Gaslight, which co-starred Ingrid Bergman.

She received her second Academy Award nod for her part in 1945’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, and a third for her role as Mrs Eleanor Iselin in 1962’s All Fall Down.

Over the course of her career, Lansbury also received an Olivier Award, an Honorary Oscar, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from BAFTA.

In a 2014 ceremony at Windsor Castle, the late Queen Elizabeth II bestowed the DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) honour on Lansbury.

Angela Lansbury attends the 25th Anniversary screening of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (Getty Images)

Speaking about the moment, the actor said: “It is a very proud day for me to be recognised by the country of my birth, and to meet the queen under these circumstances is a rare and lovely occasion.”

In a 2019 interview, Lansbury said that she was not prepared to retire.

“Yes, I do [think about it] on some days. I think, ‘Oh, no, goodness gracious. I can’t pull myself together to do this today.’ But I keep doing it,” she told the US magazine Parade.

“There’s going to come a point, where I’ll think, I’m folding up now. I’m putting that person away in the closet and I’m going to just live out my remaining years with the family.”

Lansbury was born in London on 16 October 1925.

She is survived by her children Anthony, Deidre, and stepson David, as well as three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and her brother, Edgar.

Seinfeld star Jason Alexander is among the many celebrities to pay tribute to Lansbury.