Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury was an Irish-British and American actress starring on stage, on television, and in film. With an eight-decade career, she’s well-known to many people from various roles.
A statement from her family announced, “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 internet celebrated her character, performances, and stories about the legend. Here are ten of her most incredible performances of all time.
1. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a live-action animated musical fantasy starring Angela Lansbury as Miss Eglantine Price. She’s a witch-in-training who reluctantly cares for three children evacuated from the London Blitz. Together they set out to defeat the Nazis with supernatural powers.
One user confessed, “The Age of Not Believing genuinely got me through a lot, and so I’m glad Bedknobs and Broomsticks has been referenced.” Another stated, “Wow, I was not expecting a Bedknobs and Broomsticks reference at the top! Traguna, macoities, dracorum satis dee!”
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2. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Remembervideostores noted, “She also played an all-time great villain in The Manchurian Candidate. The Manchurian Candidate is a neo-noir psychological political thriller starring Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Eleanor Iselin.
It follows a Korean War veteran from a distinguished political family brainwashed after being captured by communists. Lansbury won a Golden Globe award for her performance.
3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979-80)
Angela Lansbury played Mrs. Lovett in the original Broadway cast (1979) and the first national tour cast (1980). Her beautiful voice and remarkable performance earned her a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
One user shared, “As a kid, I knew her from The Court Jester with Danny Kaye. Unfortunately, I was too young to see her Broadway debut, but I was lucky enough to see her in the original Sweeney Todd on stage, in which she was brilliant.”
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4. Gaslight (1944)
Gaslight is a psychological thriller following a young woman and her husband, who slowly begins manipulating her into believing she is descending into insanity. Angela Lansbury starred as Nancy Oliver, their maid.
One person commented, “How is Gaslight not in the title?!? Her film debut won her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress — she was 18!” Another user informed, “The movie that created the term Gaslighting.”
5. Beauty and The Beast (1991)
In Disney’s Beauty and The Beast, Angela Lansbury lent her voice to the teapot, Mrs. Potts. One person commented, “It is perhaps the most touching Disney song ever recorded. Her voice is so good you can feel the warmth and emotion. What a lovely singer and actress – she will be missed!”
“You should watch the documentary about Howard Ashman on Disney+. He wrote that lovely song for Angela Lansbury while secretly dying of AIDS. Such beauty hasn’t been matched by Disney since. Not even close,” shared another.
6. Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996)
Murder, She Wrote is a crime drama TV series starring Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher. For 12 seasons, Jessica Fletcher, mystery writer and amateur detective, solved various murders in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine, across the States and abroad.
Several users shared touching memories, “My heart dropped. I used to watch Murder She Wrote with my grandma.” “Same for me. I got so many memories of spending a Saturday afternoon with my gran while the show played in the background,” another commenter shared.
7. The Portrait of Dorian Gray (1945)
The Portrait of Dorian Gray is a horror-drama starring Angela Lansbury as Sibyl Vane, a tavern singer engaged to the main antagonist. It follows an attractive but corrupt Englishman with a unique painting that keeps him from aging but reveals his ugliness in the end.
One commenter expressed, “Such a long and illustrious career. Lansbury had such a presence from her 40s flicks like Gaslight and The Portrait of Dorian Gray to her iconic turn in The Manchurian Candidate and further success across all entertainment mediums. May the legend rest in peace now.”
8. The Court Jester (1955)
The Court Jester is a musical-comedy, medieval romance, and costume drama starring Angela Lansbury as Gwendolyn, Princess of England. It follows a carnival entertainer working with a band of rebels to guard the true infant King of Medieval England from a tyrant. MisterBidDude expressed, “Don’t forget her turn as a princess in the comedy classic The Court Jester!”
9. A Company of Wolves (1984)
The Company of Wolves is a British gothic fantasy horror starring Angela Lansbury as Granny. It follows a young girl who dreams she’s living in a fairytale forest where a wolf kills her sister. So she stays with Granny while her parents mourn, and Granny warns her and then tells her wild tales.
10. Blue Hawaii (1961)
One person wrote, “I will never forget that she was the princess in The Court Jester (1955) and then Elvis’ mom in Blue Hawaii (1961).” Blue Hawaii Blue Hawaii is a romantic musical comedy-drama starring Angela Lansbury as Sarah Lee Gates
It follows a cool Army guy returning home to Hawaii. He wants to surf all day, but his family pressures him to work in the family’s pineapple business.
Angela Lansbury has a posthumous appearance in the film Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. It is scheduled for a one-week limited theatrical release on November 23, 2022. And its streaming release on December 23 by Netflix.
Thank you for celebrating Angela Lansbury’s extraordinary career with us, Redditors. Check out these classic TV shows from the 60s and 70s;
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