Angela Lansbury
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"Those were a couple of golden years for me, really they were, on Broadway. Unbelievable. Because I got to be everything I'd never had the chance to be in movies." --Angela Lansbury
Lansbury was named Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year by the Harvard Hasty Pudding Theatricals in 1968.
Biography
Film continued to yield steady work for her, though the quality of the parts often varied greatly: "The Dark at the Top of the Stars" (1960), as the alleged town floozy whose friendship with married Robert Preston threatens to destroy his reputation, and "All Fall Down" (1962) as Warren Beatty's mother for John Frankenheimer were highlights, while "Blue Hawaii" (1962), as Elvis Presley's mother, and the tabloid biopic "Harlow" (1965), as 1930s platinum blonde star Jean Harlow's mother, was engaging fluff. Lansbury's willingness to play older women, in many cases, she was less than five years older than her on-screen sons, led to her casting as the malevolent mother of brainwashed ex-G.I. Laurence Harvey, who was just three years Lansbury's junior, in Frankenheimer's gripping "The Manchurian Candidate," which earned her a third Oscar nomination.
Lansbury made her Broadway musical debut in 1964 in the short-lived "Anyone Can Whistle," but two years later, she scored her first major musical success with "Mame" (1969) as the eccentric and beloved Auntie Mame. The show ran for 1,500 performances and earned her a Tony for her memorable turn. For the next four years, Lansbury kept away from film and television to concentrate on her stage career, which by 1969, included "Dear World," a musical version of "The Madwoman of Chaillot" which, despite savage reviews from critics and an abbreviated Broadway run, won Lansbury her second Tony.
By 1970, Lansbury, now in her forties, began an audience-pleasing run of film roles that tapped her boundless energy and flair for eccentric comedy. She earned a Golden Globe nomination as a European noblewoman who runs afoul of a scheming butler in the cult comedy "Something For Everyone" and charmed children as a benevolent witch who tries to use magic to aid the Allies in World War II in Disney's "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (1971). She also began her long association with mysteries with a flamboyant turn as a besotted romance novelist who becomes involved in a murder on board an Egyptian boat cruise in "Death on the Nile" (1979), which brought her a National Board of Review award and a BAFTA nomination. Back on Broadway, she landed a third Tony for her performance as the determined Mama Rose in the revival of "Gypsy" (1974) and as Mrs. Lovett, daffy co-conspirator to a ghoulish plan of revenge in Stephen Sondheim's gory blockbuster "Sweeney Todd" (1979). Lansbury recreated the role for a 1982 PBS broadcast of the production, which brought her a Cable ACE award and an Emmy nomination.
Offscreen, however, Lansbury's personal life had taken on a darker tone. Both of her children with Shaw had become involved with hard drugs, and Deidre became briefly involved with the Manson Family. A fire in 1970 destroyed the Lansbury's home in Malibu, CA which prompted a move to Country Cork, Ireland. In interviews, Lansbury credited the disaster for helping to put her children on a healthier path.
Lansbury returned to features and television with a vengeance in the miniseries-friendly 1980s, starting with a turn as Agatha Christie's elderly sleuth Mrs. Marple in the garish, campy 1980 film version of "The Mirror Crack'd," starring aging Hollywood icons Kim Novak, Rock Hudson, and Elizabeth Taylor. She was perhaps better served as the domineering aunt of Gloria Vanderbilt in "Little Gloria Happy at Last" (1982), which brought her an Emmy nomination, and "A Talent for Murder" (1983), in which she appeared opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. Her vocal talents received a glossy showcase in the 1983 film version of "The Pirates of Penzance," which featured much of the successful Broadway cast but failed to find an audience due to its simultaneous release on cable television and in theaters. Lansbury also portrayed the quintessential Granny in Neil Jordan's "The Company of Wolves" (1984), his suggestive and grown-up take on werewolves and Little Red Riding Hood.
Lansbury's savvy portrayals in the Christie adaptations helped lay the groundwork for "Murder, She Wrote," an endearing television whodunit from producers William Levinson and Richard Link of "Colombo" fame (NBC, 1968-2003), in which she starred (and later executive produced) as Jessica Fletcher, a mystery novelist with an unerring knack for finding herself in the middle of a murder and the ability to solve it without the help of police. Lansbury appeared in all 256 episodes of the series, as well as four television movies (aired between 1997 and 2003), going on to earn a record 12 Emmy nominations for her performance ⿿ one for every season the series was on the air, as well as four Golden Globe Awards.
The series kept her exceptionally busy for the better part of the decade, but she did manage to appear in several television movies, including the Emmy-nominated adaptation of "The Shell Seekers" (1989) and the charming "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris" (1992), all of which played heavily on her inherent charm and popularity with older viewers. In 1992, her vocal abilities endeared her to a generation of children as the voice of Mrs. Potts, the enchanted teapot who narrates Disney's Oscar-nominated "Beauty and the Beast' (1991) as well as sings its enchanting title song. She also lent her voice to the Dowager Empress in 1997's "Anastasia."
After "Murder, She Wrote" left the airwaves, Lansbury busied herself with a score of television projects; she starred in "Mrs. Santa Claus" (1997), a likable TV movie musical with songs by Jerry Herman of "Mame" fame, and starred as Emily Pollifax, amateur spy in "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax" (1999). She also reaped the rewards of a lifetime of solid performances with a Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award and an American National Medal of the Arts in 1997, a Kennedy Center Honor in 2000, and was bestowed the title of Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.
Sadly, the accolades were dimmed by the passing of her husband in 2003. Lansbury handled the tragedy with typical grace, and made occasional screen appearances, most notably in "The Blackwater Lightship" (2004), a moving drama about a family caring for a son with AIDS which earned her another Emmy nomination. This was soon followed by a nod for a two-part turn as the controlling matriarch of a wealthy family on "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC, 1999- ) and "Law and Order: Trial By Jury" (NBC, 2005). She also made her first screen appearance in over two decades in Emma Thompson's sweetly funny "Nanny MacPhee" (2005), for which she gamely took a dessert to the face.
In 2007, Lansbury returned to Broadway for "Deuce," Terrence McNally's drama about bickering former doubles tennis partners. The limited run engagement yielded another Tony nomination for Lansbury, but the play broke her unbroken streak when she failed to take home the award that year. Lansbury set things right, however, with her 2009 Broadway turn as Madame Arcati in the revival of Coward's "Blithe Spirit," which won her one more Tony Award for Best Featured Actress. Never content to rest on her laurels, a 2009-2010 performance in Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" earned her yet another Tony nod. Far from ready to retire, the 85-year-old actress returned to cinema screens for an appearance opposite funnyman Jim Carrey in the family comedy "Mr. Popper's Penguins" (2011). "The Court Jester" (1956) to Westerns in "A Lawless Street" (1955) and thrillers with "Kind Lady" (1951). And unlike many major film stars, did not shy from making numerous appearances on live television dramas throughout the 1950s. Live performance was Lansbury's bread and butter, and she soon made a name for herself as a capable dramatic actress on Broadway, starting in 1957 with "Hotel Paradiso" opposite the legendary Bert Lahr. Three years later, she scored her first substantial hit on the Great White Way with "A Taste of Honey" in 1960. She would go on to host, co-host or perform on the Tony Awards 12 times between 1967 and 2007.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Music (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1942
Worked as a singer at the Samovar Club in Montreal
1943
Signed to contract at MGM after a screen test
1944
Was nominated for an Academy Award for her film debut in "Gaslight" as the slightly malevolent maid Nancy
1945
Had her first leading lady role in film, "The Picture of Dorian Gray"; earned second Academy Award nomination
1946
Portrayed a madam in "The Harvey Girls"; singing voice dubbed
1948
Played a matronly newspaper editor in "State of the Union" (was only 23 years old)
1953
Made her American TV debut in "Revlon Mirror Theater" (CBS)
1957
Made her Broadway debut in "Hotel Paradiso," co-starring Burt Lahr
1960
Had stage success with the Broadway production of "A Taste of Honey"
1960
Received critical attention for her performance in the film "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs"
1962
Received third Academy Award nomination for her role in "The Manchurian Candidate"; played the mother of Laurence Harvey who was only three years her junior
1964
Appeared in her first Broadway musical, "Anyone Can Whistle"; first collaboration with composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim
1966
Cast in the title role of Mame Dennis in the Jerry Herman Broadway musical "Mame"
1968
Re-teamed with Jerry Herman for the musical "Dear World"
1970
Co-starred in the Harold Prince directed "Something for Everyone"
1971
Appeared in the Disney animated-live action feature "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"; her last film for seven years
1972
Made London stage debut in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of "All Over"
1974
Cast in the role of Mama Rose in the Broadway revival of the musical "Gypsy"; lyrics provided by Stephen Sondheim
1978
Played Anna for two weeks in the Broadway revival of "The King and I" opposite Yul Brynner
1978
Returned to features as a dotty novelist in the Agatha Christie adaptation "Death on the Nile"
1979
Triumphed as the Cockney baker Mrs. Lovett in Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street: A Musical Thriller"
1980
Portrayed the Agatha Christie sleuth Miss Marple in "The Mirror Crack'd"
1982
Portrayed Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in the NBC miniseries "Little Gloria...Happy at Last"
1982
Had featured role of Ruth in the film version of the New York Shakespeare Production of "The Pirates of Penzance"
1982
Reprised role as Mrs. Lovett in the Showtime adaptation of "Sweeney Todd"
1984
Starred as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher on hit TV series "Murder, She Wrote" (CBS)
1985
Played Granny in Neil Jordan's "The Company of Wolves"
1989
Starred in the ABC "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation of "The Shell Seekers"
1991
Voiced the character of Mrs Potts in Disney's animated "Beauty and the Beast"; sang Oscar-winning title song
1992
Starred in the CBS TV-movie "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris," directed by son Anthony Shaw
1992
Became executive producer of "Murder, She Wrote"
1994
Was named a Commander of the British Empire
1996
Her production company Corymore signed a development deal with Universal
1996
Had title role in the CBS original musical "Mrs. Santa Claus"
1997
Voiced the character of the Dowager Empress in the animated film "Anastasia"
1997
Reprised signature role of Jessica Fletcher in the CBS TV-movie "Murder, She Wrote: South By Southwest"
2000
Again played sleuth Jessica Fletcher in "Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For" (CBS)
2004
Starred in the CBS drama "The Blackwater Lightship"; earned an Emmy nomination for Supporting Actress in a Miniseries
2005
Earned an Emmy nomination for her guest starring role on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC)
2006
Co-starred with Emma Thompson and Colin Firth in "Nanny McPhee"; also scripted by Thompson
2007
Returned to Broadway to star opposite Marian Seldes as retired women tennis players in "Deuce"; earned a Tony nomination
2009
Was cast as Madame Arkati in the Broadway revival of Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit"
2009
Co-starred with Catherine Zeta-Jones in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's "A Little Night Music"; earned a Tony Award nomination for Featured Actress in a Musical
2011
Co-starred opposite Jim Carrey in "Mr. Popper's Penguins"
2012
Starred in Gore Vidal's "The Best Man" on Broadway
2014
Played Daisy, opposite James Earl Jones' Hoke, in a remake of "Driving Miss Daisy"
2017
Played Aunt March on a mini-series adaptation of "Little Women"
2018
Played the balloon lady in Disney's revival sequel "Mary Poppins Returns"
2018
Voiced the Mayor of Whoville in "The Grinch"
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Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"Those were a couple of golden years for me, really they were, on Broadway. Unbelievable. Because I got to be everything I'd never had the chance to be in movies." --Angela Lansbury
Lansbury was named Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year by the Harvard Hasty Pudding Theatricals in 1968.
She was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1982.
Lansbury has been nominated for 16 Emmy Awards without a win.
She was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame in 1996.
In 1997, Lansbury was presented with the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton.
She underwent hip replacement surgery in 1998.
Lansbury was announced as the star of a new musical, "The Visit", set to premiere on Broadway in 2001. Because of family considerations, however, she was forced to withdraw. The producers reportedly were seeking a replacement for Lansbury (for whom the project was written by Terrence McNally and John Kander & Fred Ebb).
