Iconic Hollywood Star Angela Lansbury Has Died at 96

Angela Lansbury, the three-time Oscar nominee and five-time Tony Award winner who played the seminal role of Jessica Fletcher on CBS’s Murder, She Wrote, has died at the age of 96.

Per People, an initial statement issued by the late actor's surviving family members reads, "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."

"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," it concludes.

An industry veteran in every sense of the word, Angela was only 18 years old when she landed her first movie role in the 1944 thriller Gaslight—a part that not only earned her a prestigious contract with MGM Studios, but also an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. From that point on, the English-born actor wound up playing myriad iconic roles throughout her extensive career, including that of pie maker and murderous accomplice Nellie Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast. The former role in particular earned Angela a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1979. Her four other wins, three of which were in the same category, were for Mame in 1966, Dear World in 1969, and Gypsy in 1975 as well as Best Featured Actress in a Play for Blithe Spirit in 2009.

Interestingly enough, the actor had already enjoyed a long and thriving career when she took on a small-screen role that landed her big-time praise: that of amateur crime fighter Jessica Fletcher on the CBS's Murder, She Wrote. The hugely-popular series ran for 12 seasons—from 1984 to 1996—, with Angela playing a widowed mystery writer whose sharp instincts and keen observations always led her to successfully solving crimes. The pioneering character proved to be instrumental in its era, as it auspiciously ushered in the storyline of a female protagonist taking on a crucial lead role.

Even at 92, the ever-relevant actor still had no plans of retiring. In a 2018 interview on the Masterpiece Studio podcast with Jace Lacob about the experience of working with director Vanessa Caswill on PBS’s Little Women miniseries, Angela confessed, "Well, I wouldn't say it's my swan song. It's not the last thing I'll do. I'm already doing other things but it's been said this would be my swan song. But it isn't. I know at 92 I should be thinking in terms of swanning out, but I don't know. If you have the energy and the enthusiasm and the interest, I don't think you ever really stop."

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