Born: October 16, 1925 – Died: October 11, 2022
Hailing from the genteel surroundings of Regent's Park in London, Angela Lansbury's life read like a script from a classic film. Born into an influential family, her father, Edgar Lansbury, was a noted socialist politician and mayor, while her mother, Moyna Macgill, graced the silver screen as an actress. Angela's early flair for drama hinted at the stellar career that would make her a household name across the globe.
Early Life and Career
Angela's formative years were marked by a blend of privilege and challenge, studying at prestigious schools like South Hampstead High School and later, honing her dramatic skills at the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art. The wartime upheaval saw her transplanted from England to the United States, where she continued her studies and made her mark on the stage.
Her screen debut as Nancy Oliver in "Gaslight" (1944) at just 17 set the stage for an illustrious career. This role would not only introduce her to the limelight but also garner her an Academy Award nomination, an auspicious start for the young starlet. Her ascent to stardom was unstoppable, with her performance in "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) further cementing her status as a leading lady in Hollywood.
Lansbury's trophy case brimmed with accolades, including multiple Tony Awards and an honorary Oscar, celebrating her myriad of memorable performances. Off-screen, Angela's life was equally as rich, balancing family life with her husband Peter Shaw and their children, indulging in music, and sometimes stirring the pot with a touch of controversy. Her charitable work, particularly in support of arts education, reflected her commitment to giving back to the community that embraced her.
Angela Lansbury's legacy in entertainment is indelible, marked by her versatility and the distinctive grace she brought to every role. Her ability to capture audiences' hearts, whether on screen or stage, is why she is revered as an icon in Hollywood's storied history.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Glass Onion | Angela Lansbury |
| 2018 | Buttons, A New Musical Film | Rose |
| 2018 | Mary Poppins Returns | Balloon Lady |
| 2018 | The Grinch | Mayor McGerkle (voice) |
| 2017 | Little Women (TV Mini Series) | Aunt March |
| 2014 | Great Performances (TV Series) | Miss Daisy Werthan |
| 2011 | Mr. Popper's Penguins | Mrs. Van Gundy |
| 2009 | Heidi 4 Paws | Grandmamma (voice) |
| 2007 | Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ (Video Game) | Mrs. Potts (English version, voice) |
| 2005 | We Haven't Really Met Properly...: Terry as Toto (Video) | Narrator (voice) |
| 2005 | We Haven't Really Met Properly...: Clara Blandick as Auntie Em (Video) | Narrator (voice) |
| 2005 | We Haven't Really Met Properly...: Charley Grapewin as Uncle Henry (Video) | Narrator (voice) |
| 2005 | We Haven't Really Met Properly...: Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West/Miss Gulch (Video) | Narrator (voice) |
| 2005 | We Haven't Really Met Properly...: Billie Burke as Glinda, Good Witch of the North (Video) | Narrator (voice) |
| 2005 | We Haven't Really Met Properly...: Jack Haley as the Tin Man/Hickory (Video) | Narrator |
| 2005 | We Haven't Really Met Properly...: Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion/Zeke (Video) | Narrator (voice) |
| 2005 | We Haven't Really Met Properly...: Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow/Hunk (Video) | Narrator (voice) |
| 2005 | We Haven't Really Met Properly...: Frank Morgan as the Wizard of Oz/Professor Marvel (Video) | Narrator (voice) |
| 2005 | Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game) | Mrs. Potts (English version, voice) |
| 2005 | Nanny McPhee | Aunt Adelaide |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Trial by Jury (TV Series) | Eleanor Duvall |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) | Eleanor Duvall |
| 2004 | Sing Along Songs: Disney Princess - Once Upon a Dream (Video) | Mrs. Potts (voice) |
| 2004 | The Blackwater Lightship (TV Movie) | Dora |
| 2003 | Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle (TV Movie) | Jessica Fletcher |
| 2002 | Beauty and the Beast DVD Read-Along (Video) | Mrs. Potts (voice) |
| 2002 | About Schmidt | Angela Lansbury (voice, uncredited) |
| 2002 | Touched by an Angel (TV Series) | Lady Penelope Berrington |
| 2001 | Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man (TV Movie) | Jessica Fletcher | Sarah McCullough |
| 2000 | Disney's Beauty and the Beast: Magical Ballroom (Video Game) | Mrs. Potts (voice) |
| 2000 | Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For (TV Movie) | Jessica Fletcher |
| 1999 | The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (TV Movie) | Mrs. Emily Pollifax |
| 1997 | Anastasia | The Dowager Empress Marie (voice) |
| 1997 | Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (Video) | Mrs. Potts (voice) |
| 1997 | Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest (TV Movie) | Jessica Fletcher |
| 1996 | Mrs. Santa Claus (TV Movie) | Mrs. Santa Claus |
| 1984–1996 | Murder, She Wrote (TV Series) | Jessica Fletcher | Emma MacGill |
| 1995 | Your Studio and You (Short) | Angela Lansbury (uncredited) |
| 1992 | Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris (TV Movie) | Mrs. Ada Harris |
| 1992 | Mickey's Audition (Short) | Angela Lansbury |
| 1991 | Beauty and the Beast | Mrs. Potts (voice) |
| 1990 | The Love She Sought (TV Movie) | Agatha McGee |
| 1990 | Newhart (TV Series) | Angela Lansbury (uncredited) |
| 1989 | The Shell Seekers (TV Movie) | Penelope Keeling |
| 1988 | Shootdown (TV Movie) | Nan Moore |
| 1986 | Magnum, P.I. (TV Series) | Jessica Fletcher |
| 1986 | Rage of Angels: The Story Continues (TV Movie) | Marchesa Allabrandi |
| 1984 | The Company of Wolves | Granny |
| 1984 | The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (TV Mini Series) | Alice Garrett |
| 1984 | Lace (TV Mini Series) | Aunt Hortense Boutin |
| 1984 | A Talent for Murder (TV Movie) | Anne Royce McClain |
| 1983 | The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story (TV Movie) | Amanda Fenwick |
| 1983 | The Pirates of Penzance | Ruth |
| 1982 | Little Gloria... Happy at Last (TV Mini Series) | Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney |
| 1982 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (TV Movie) | Mrs. Lovett |
| 1982 | The Last Unicorn | Mommy Fortuna (voice) |
| 1980 | The Mirror Crack'd | Miss Marple |
| 1979 | The Lady Vanishes | Miss Froy |
| 1978 | *Death on the Nile* | Mrs. Salome Otterbourne |
| 1975 | The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow (TV Movie) | Sister Theresa | Narrator (voice) |
| 1971 | Bedknobs and Broomsticks | Miss Price |
| 1970 | Something for Everyone | Countess Herthe von Ornstein |
| 1966 | Mister Buddwing | Gloria |
| 1965 | The Trials of O'Brien (TV Series) | Celeste Thurlow |
| 1965 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (TV Series) | Elfie van Donck |
| 1965 | Harlow | Mama Jean Bello |
| 1965 | The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders | Lady Blystone |
| 1965 | The Greatest Story Ever Told | Claudia |
| 1964 | Dear Heart | Phyllis |
| 1964 | The World od Henry Orient | Isabel Boyd |
| 1963 | In the Cool of the Day | Sybil Logan |
| 1963 | The Eleventh Hour (TV Series) | Alvera Dunlear |
| 1962 | The Manchurian Candidate | Mrs. Eleanor Shaw Iselin |
| 1962 | All Fall Down | Annabell Willart |
| 1962 | The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | Marguerite Laurier (voice, uncredited) |
| 1961 | Blue Hawaii | Sarah Lee Gates |
| 1960 | The Dark at the Top of the Stairs | Mavis Pruitt |
| 1960 | A Breath of Scandal | Countess Lina |
| 1959 | Season of Passion | Pearl |
| 1958–1959 | Playhouse 90 (TV Series) | Hazel Wills | Victoria Atkins |
| 1958 | The Reluctant Debutante | Mabel Claremont |
| 1958 | The Long, Hot Summer | Minnie Littlejohn |
| 1956–1957 | Climax! (TV Series) | Judith Beresford | Justina Marshall |
| 1957 | Undercurrent (TV Series) | Deborah |
| 1956 | Chevron Hall of Stars (TV Series) | Laura Ellsworth |
| 1956 | Studio 57 (TV Series) | Flossie Norris | Katy |
| 1956 | Screen Directors Playhouse (TV Series) | Vera Wayne |
| 1956 | Front Row Center (TV Series) | Joyce |
| 1955–1956 | Celebrity Playhouse (TV Series) | Deborah |
| 1955–1956 | The Star and the Story (TV Series) | Mrs. Jane Pritchard |
| 1956 | Please Murder Me! | Myra Leeds |
| 1955 | The Court Jester | Princess Gwendolyn |
| 1955 | A Lawless Street | Tally Dickenson |
| 1955 | Star Time Playhouse (TV Series) | Regular |
| 1955 | The Purple Mask | Madame Valentine |
| 1955 | Stage 7 (TV Series) | Vanessa Peters |
| 1954–1955 | Four Star Playhouse (TV Series) | Mrs. Hallerton | Joan Robinson |
| 1955 | A Life at Stake | Doris Hillman |
| 1955 | Fireside Theatre (TV Series) | Brenda Jarvis |
| 1955 | The Indiscreet Mrs. Jarvis (TV Short) | Brenda Jarvis |
| 1954 | General Electric Theater (TV Series) | Daphne Rutledge |
| 1950–1954 | Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) | Elsa | Tina Rafferty | Lucy Landor ... |
| 1953 | Schlitz Playhouse (TV Series) | Florie Vandrop |
| 1953 | The Ford Television Theatre (TV Series) | Lola Walker |
| 1953 | The Revlon Mirror Theater (TV Series) | Joan Dexter |
| 1950–1953 | Robert Montgomery Presents (TV Series) | Rosie | Christine Manson |
| 1953 | Remains to Be Seen | Valeska Chauvel |
| 1952 | Mutiny | Leslie |
| 1951 | Kind Lady | Mrs. Edwards |
| 1949 | Samson and Delilah | Semadar |
| 1949 | The Red Danube | Audrey Quail |
| 1948 | The Three Musketeers | Queen Anne |
| 1948 | State of the Union | Kay Thorndyke |
| 1948 | Tenth Avenue Angel | Susan Bratten |
| 1947 | If Winter Comes | Mabel Sabre |
| 1947 | The Private Affairs of Bel Ami | Clotilde de Marelle |
| 1946 | Till the Clouds Roll By | London Specialty |
| 1946 | The Hoodlum Saint | Dusty Millard |
| 1946 | The Harvey Girls | Em |
| 1945 | The Picture of Dorian Gray | Sibyl Vane |
| 1944 | National Velvet | Edwina Brown |
| 1944 | Gaslight | Nancy |
General:
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