Angela Lansbury, star of “Murder, She Wrote” and “Beauty and the Beast,” died at the age of 96 on Tuesday.
“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 AM today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday,” her family said in a statement, according to NBC News.
During the course of her career, the English-born actress won a plethora of awards, including five Tony awards, and was inducted into the TV Hall of Fame in 1996 by the Television Academy.
Possibly her most iconic role was that of mystery writer and crime fighter Jessica Fletcher for CBS in “Murder, She Wrote,” which ran for 12 seasons. The show, which was one of the network’s biggest hits in the 1980s came directly after “60 Minutes.”
“We found our audience and they were loyal to the end,” Lansbury said, giving credit to viewers in an interview in 1988 about the show.
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said of the actress that many were lucky to get to have seen her long and illustrious career.
“She was an inspiration both on and off stage, and I was personally a huge fan. Thank God she lived a good, long life as we were all blessed to bask in her light,” the SAG-AFTRA president said in a statement according to NBC. “I’m grateful that her body of work lives on to inspire generations to come.”
Lansbury was remembered by many and received a number of tributes, including from former professional basketball player Rex Chapman who shared one of Lansbury’s later performances of her musical number from “Beauty And The Beast.”
Rest In Peace, Angela Lansbury… pic.twitter.com/HQruGJ2nVC
— Rex Chapman?? (@RexChapman) October 11, 2022
Slade Sohmer, Editor in Chief of The Recount, said of the actress’ passing, “If anyone deserves a two-week international mourning period, it’s this Irish-English-American queen who won five Tonys and was nominated for three Oscars and 18 Emmys. What a life, just shy of 97 years.”
Actor George Takei remembered the actress saying, “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. A tale old as time, our beloved Mrs. Potts will sing lullabies to us now from the stars. Rest, great soul.”
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. A tale old as time, our beloved Mrs. Potts will sing lullabies to us now from the stars. Rest, great soul.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 11, 2022
Even NASA noted the beloved actress and singer’s passing with a tweet including some of the lyrics to the “Beauty and the Beast” theme, which Lansbury sang as part of her role voicing Mrs. Potts.
“Tale as old as time True as it can be,” NASA’s tweet said. “In memory of Angela Lansbury, we offer this cosmic rose plucked by our Spitzer Space Telescope.”
Tale as old as time
— NASA (@NASA) October 11, 2022
True as it can be
In memory of Angela Lansbury, we offer this cosmic rose plucked by our Spitzer Space Telescope. https://t.co/V1N0QynRDJ pic.twitter.com/zPduniVBsl
UK Politician Peter Kyle, Labour MP for Hove and Portslade, tweeted his memory of meeting the actress saying, “I once met Angela Lansbury. I was a super fan and she still exceeded expectations. As I walked into her dressing room her manager mentioned I was a parliamentary candidate, to which she sternly replied ‘it had better be for Labour!’ I couldn’t have adored her more.”
The New York Times tweeted shortly after her death that they spoke to Lansbury in 2010 about her life and accomplishments, saying “she spoke with us with the understanding the interview would be published only after her death.” They also linked to a video from the conversation.
