Celebrities React to Angela Lansbury's Death: 'She, My Darlings, Was Everything'

Celebrities across the entertainment world are mourning actress Angela Lansbury, who died at age 96 on Tuesday.

"One of the most memorable moments in my life was being so very fortunate to be in the recording studio when Ms. Lansbury sang the title song 'Beauty and the Beast,'" actor Robby Benson, who voiced the Beast in the 1991 Disney classic Beauty and the Beast, told PEOPLE on Tuesday. "For me, the 2 minutes and 46 seconds was a lifetime of inspiration." 

"The great Angela Lansbury - one of the most versatile, talented, graceful, kind, witty, wise, classy ladies I've ever met has left us," Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander wrote on Twitter Tuesday amid news of Lansbury's death. "Her huge contribution to the arts and the world remains always."

Harvey Fierstein shared a black-and-white photo of himself with Lansbury and film composer Jerry Herman on Twitter in remembrance of Lansbury.

"Angela Lansbury - She, my darlings, was EVERYTHING!" he wrote.

RELATED: Angela Lansbury, Screen and Broadway Icon, Dead at 96

"Angela Lansbury, who graced the stage for decades winning five Tony awards and brought the sleuthing Jessica Fletcher into our living rooms for a dozen years, has passed," actor George Takei wrote on Twitter. "A tale old as time, our beloved Mrs. Potts will sing lullabies to us now from the stars. Rest, great soul."

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"She was a glorious one," comedian and actor Mario Cantone wrote of Lansbury on Twitter alongside a photo of them posing together.

English actor Stuart Antony called Lansbury "a fine actress" in a statement he posted to Twitter.

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"Saddened to hear Dame Angela Lansbury has passed away," Antony wrote. "A fine actress and was always very kind to me on the number of occasions we met. Another legend lost."

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Modern Family actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson shared an anecdote on Twitter about sitting next to Lansbury "at an opening night."

"I'll never forget sitting next to Angela Lansbury at an opening night. Even though I had to pee I refused to leave my seat during intermission. I spent the 15 minutes chatting with her instead," he wrote. "She was incredibly lovely and I'm so glad I had that brief time with her. RIP Angela."

Sex and the City actress Kim Cattrall wrote "what an incredible life" in a comment on Variety's Instagram post announcing the news of Lansbury's death.

"RIP x What an incredible life. I had the great pleasure of meeting her once & was able to thank her for all those memorable characters and performances she gave," she wrote.

Author and playwright Paul Rudnick wrote on Twitter that Lansbury will be "missed, celebrated and adored" after her death.

"This is what stardom means, especially in the theater: she provided the most fabulous, irreplaceable joy," Rudnick wrote. "She was beloved as a person and an actress, and managed to be approachable, glamorous and heartbreaking."

Broadway actress Kerry Butler, who appeared with Lansbury in Gore Vidal's The Best Man in 2012 (Lansbury's last stint on the Great White Way), tells PEOPLE that working with her was "an honor and privilege."

"She has an unmatched career — what I didn't know was how kind she was. No one on that show could be a diva," Butler said, adding that Lansbury and star James Earl Jones "were so kind, down to earth and such hard workers." She recalls, "Before one scene I got to sit on a couch with Candice Bergen and Angela, and Angela would tell us stories about growing up in the business. I think she said her mother (also a performer) would travel with her when she was a baby, and she would sleep in a dresser drawer! Working with her was a highlight of my career."

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ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Angela Lansbury

On Tuesday, the actress' children announced in a statement that Lansbury died at her home in Los Angeles overnight. She died five days short of her 97th birthday.

"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," the statement added. "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."

RELATED: Angela Lansbury Receives Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre Award at 2022 Tonys

The actress, who was born Angela Brigid Lansbury in London, rose to prominence in her Oscar-nominated film debut as Nancy in 1944's Gaslight. By the end of her seven-decades-long career in Hollywood, Lansbury had accumulated over 100 screen acting credits, according to IMDB.

Lansbury was nominated at the Academy Awards three times for Best Supporting Actress (Gaslight, The Picture of Dorian Grey (1945) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962) according to the Oscars' website.

The actress received 17 lifetime nominations for Emmy awards, but never won, though she was named to the Television Academy's Hall of Fame in 1996. In June, Lansbury was awarded her sixth Tony award for a lifetime of achievement in the theater at the 75th Tony Awards ceremony.