Angela Lansbury was born on October 16 1925 in Regent's Park, London. Her father was politician Edgar Lansbury and her mother was Northern Irish actress Moyna Macgill. She spent her early life in Poplar, East London and then Mill Hill, North London. Her father died of stomach cancer when she was nine and her mother later remarried. She attended Hampstead School for Girls where she took part in school plays. She studied acting at Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art in Kensington, West London, and passed with honours from the Royal Academy of Music.
It was at the start of World War II that her mother moved with both her and her younger brothers (Bruce Lansbury, who would become a well-known television producer, and his twin Edgar Lansbury, who also became a producer) to the United States. Angela Lansbury attended the Feagin School of Dramatic Art in New York City and graduated in 1942. She went to work in nightclubs as a singer, also doing imitations of comedy actress Beatrice Lillie. She received an offer from the Samovar Club in Montreal. She lied about her age and played a six week engagement there. After returning to New York City, Angela Lansbury then joined her mother in Hollywood.
Angela Lansbury, then only 18, was signed by MGM and made her film debut in Gaslight in 1944. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role of the young maid Nancy. In the late Forties Angela Lansbury played several high profile roles in major motion pictures, including National Velvet (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), The Harvey Girls (1946), The Hoodlum Saint (1946), Til the Clouds Roll By (1946), The Private Lives of Bel Ami (1947), If Winter Comes (1947), Tenth Avenue Angel (1948), State of the Union (1948), The Three Musketeers (1948), The Red Danube (1949), and Samson and Delilah (1949). She made her television debut in an episode of Robert Montgomery Presents in 1950.
In the Fifties Angela Lansbury made her debut on Broadway in 1957 in Hotel Paradiso. She also appeared on Broadway in A Taste of Honey. She appeared in the films Kind Lady (1951), Mutiny (1952), Remains to Be Seen (1953), A Life at Stake (1955), The Purple Mask (1955), A Lawless Street (1955), The Court Jester (1955), Please Murder Me! (1956), The Long, Hot Summer (1958), The Reluctant Debutante (1959), Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1959), A Breath of Scandal (1960), and The Dark the Top of the Stairs (1960). On television she guest starred on the shows Robert Montgomery Presents, The Revlon Mirror Theatre, The Ford Television Theatre, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Lux Video Theatre, General Electric Theatre, Fireside Theatre, Four Star Playhouse, Stage 7, Star Time Playhouse, Chevron Hall of Stars, The Star and Story, Celebrity Playhouse, Front Row Center, Screen Directors Playhouse, Studio 57, Undercurrent, Climax!, and Playhouse 90.
In the Sixties Angela Lansbury appeared on Broadway in A Taste of Honey, Anyone Can Whistle, Mame, and Dear World. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Mame. She appeared in the movies Blue Hawaii (1960), All Fall Down (1962), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), In the Cool of the Day (1963), The World of Henry Orient (1964), Dear Heart (1964), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965), Harlow (1965), Mister Buddwing (1966), and Something for Everyone (1970). She was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for playing Eleanor Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate. On television she guest starred on the shows The Eleventh Hour, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and The Trials of O'Brien.
In the Seventies, Miss Lansbury appeared on Broadway in Gypsy, The King and I, and Sweeney Todd,. She appeared in the movies Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Death on the Nile (1978), The Lady Vanishes (1979), and The Mirror Crack'd (1980).
It was in 1984 that Angela Lansbury began playing mystery novelist and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher on the TV series Murder, She Wrote. Murder, She Wrote proved very successful. It ranked in the top ten for eight of its twelve seasons, and in the top twenty for all but its last season. Miss Lansbury was nominated for the Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series three times for the show. In the Eighties also guest starred as Jessica Fletcher on Magnum, P.I. She played herself in an episode of Newhart. She also appeared in the mini-series Little Gloria...Happy at Last, Lace, and The First Olympics: Athens 1896. She also appeared in such TV movies as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story, A Talent for Murder, Rage of Angels: The Story Continues, and The Shell Seekers. She appeared on Broadway in A Little Family Business and Mame. In the Eighties she was the voice of Mommy Fortuna in the animated film The Last Unicorn (1982). She appeared in the movies The Pirates of Penzance (1983) and The Company of Wolves (1984).
In the Nineties Angela Lansbury continued to play Jessica Fletcher on Murder. She Wrote. During the decade she reprised the role of Jessica Fletcher in two Murder, She Wrote television movies. She appeared in the TV movies Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris, Mrs. Santa Claus, and The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax. She provided the voice of Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast (1991) and the Dowager Empress Marie in the animated film Anastasia (1997).
In the Naughts Angela Lansbury reprised the role of Jessica Fletcher in two more Murder, She Wrote movies. She guest starred on the TV shows Touched by an Angel, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She appeared in the movie Nancy McPhee (2005) and was the voice of Grandmamma in the animated movie Heidi 4 Paws (2009). She appeared on Broadway in Deuce, Blithe Spirit, and A Little Night Music.
In the Teens Angela Lansbury appeared in the movies Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Mary Poppins Returns (2018) and Buttons (2018). She appeared on Broadway in Gore Vidal's The Best Man. She appeared in the mini-series Little Women. Later this year she will appear in the movie Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
Angela Lansbury was extremely versatile, so much so that she was described a "character actress" from when she was very young. While she might be best known as Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote, she played wide variety of roles throughout her career. She was the flirtatious, young maid in Gaslight (1944). She played dance hall girl Em in The Harvey Girls tavern singer Sibyl in The Picture of Dorian Gray. In The Court Jester she was the beautiful, but scheming Princess Gwendolyn. While today when many people think of Angela Lansbury playing older roles, when she was young she could and did play attractive, young, and even flirtatious characters.
Of course, even when Angela Lansbury was young she was playing characters older than she was. In Samson and Delilah she played Semadar, the older sister of Delilah, despite the fact that Hedy Lamarr was around ten years older than she was. Angela Lansbury was only ten years older than Elvis Presley, but played his mother in Blue Hawaii. It is well known that Angela Lansbury was only three years older than Laurence Harvey, yet he played her son in The Manchurian Candidate. The Manchurian Candidate is a mark of just how great an actress Angela Lansbury was. After playing a seductive maid in Gaslight and before playing the sweet-natured Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote, she played one of the greatest villains in movie history. As played by Angela Lansbury, Eleanor Shaw was absolute evil.
Angela Lansbury wasn't simply a great actress, but she was also a gifted singer as well. This can be seen in her musical roles in movies, from The Harvey Girls to Beauty and the Beast. It is little wonder that two of her best known roles on Broadway were in musicals, Mame and Sweeney Todd.
Given the length of her career, the many high-profile films in which she appeared, and her sheer talent as an actress, Angela Lansbury was well-loved in the classic film buff community. Classic film buffs also loved her for her well-known kindness. Miss Lansbury always had time for her fans and she treated with both warmth and respect. Over the years many fans met her, and all of them said that she was among the nicest people one could meet. Angela Lansbury may have played some of the most villainous characters on screen, but in reality she was a true lady.
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