Angela Lansbury has died in her sleep at the age of 96. We take a look at iconic pictures of young Angela at the time of her big Hollywood break.
The legendary Irish-British-American actress passed away in her sleep on Tuesday, her family confirmed in a statement to NBC.
“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,” the statement read.
We take a look at the actress’ early life, career and the enduring legacy she leaves for generations after her.
Iconic picture of young Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury worked as a model before her big break in Hollywood. Before her movie debut in the 1944 psychological thriller Gaslight, Angela briefly worked at a department store in Los Angeles.
In Gaslight, Angela played a young maid called Nancy Oliver with a snarky attitude towards the lady of the house, Paula Alquist (played by Ingrid Bergman).
Thanks to her brilliant performance, Angela received huge praise for her role and bagged an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The movie earned seven Oscar nominations in total, including Best Screenplay and Best Motion Picture.
Angela signed up a seven-year contract with MGM and went on to appear in the 1944 movie National Velvet and 1945’s The Picture of Dorian Gray alongside actor Hurd Hatfield.
Angela’s other famous movie roles
Thanks to her success in Gaslight and The Picture of Dorian Gray, Angela went on to star in 11 more movies for MGM until her contract ended in 1952.
Speaking to the LA Times in 2014, the actress opened up about her early roles in the industry and said: “Looking back I used up a lot of valuable years in making lousy movies at MGM, and let’s face it, they were not great or suitable parts for me.”
One of Angela’s most memorable performances is certainly in the 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate where she played Eleanor Shaw, the mother of Laurence Harvey’s Raymond.
The actress also played several Disney roles, which included the 1971 musical Bedknobs and Broomsticks, the 1991 Oscar-nominated animated film Beauty and the Beast and 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns.
Angela is pictured in a scene from the 1946 movie The Harvey Girls.
Angela’s beloved role in Murder, She Wrote
Another iconic role that Angela played was Jessica Fletcher in the hit television series Murder, She Wrote, which originally aired from 1984 to 1996.
Jessica portrayed a mystery writer and amateur detective, who was involved in solving a series of murders that take place in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine.
Speaking to The New York Times in 2009, the actress spoke about the beloved character and explained: “I had a lot of say in it, and I didn’t want the character to be quirky.
“I wanted her to be real. I didn’t want to have to put on any kind of veneer for 24 hours a day, which is what a television schedule sometimes feels like.”
After the show, Angela reprised her role in several Murder, She Wrote movies.
