Angela Lansbury
Latest News on Angela Lansbury
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Date of Birth:
October 16, 1925 (96)
Birth Place: London, ENGLAND
Bio:
Angela Lansbury has enjoyed a career without precedent. Her professional career spans more than 75 years, during which she has flourished, first as a star of motion pictures, then as a four-time Tony Award-winning Broadway musical star, and most recently as the star of "Murder, She Wrote," the ...
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Angela Lansbury
John Slattery, Angela Lansbury, Brian Bedford, Annette Bening, Keri Russell, Joel Grey & Zoe Caldwell during the Curtain Call for The Actors Fund One Night Only Benefit of ALL ABOUT EVE at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York City..November 10, 2008.© Walter McBride /
Peter Gallagher, Angela Lansbury, Keri Russell, Zoe Caldwell, Annette Bening & John Slattery attending the After Party at Bond 45 Restaurant for The Actors Fund One Night Only Benefit of ALL ABOUT EVE at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York City..November 10, 2008.© Walter McBride /
Angela Lansbury, Keri Russell, Zoe Caldwell, Annette Bening attending the After Party at Bond 45 Restaurant for The Actors Fund One Night Only Benefit of ALL ABOUT EVE at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York City..November 10, 2008.© Walter McBride /
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Angela Lansbury Biography
Angela Lansbury has enjoyed a career without precedent. Her professional career spans more than 75 years, during which she has flourished, first as a star of motion pictures, then as a four-time Tony Award-winning Broadway musical star, and most recently as the star of "Murder, She Wrote," the longest running detective drama series in the history of television.She is the winner of five Tony Awards, her Broadway debut was in 1957 in Hotel Paradiso, followed by A Taste of Honey (1960), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), and in Mame (1966), winning her first Tony. She also won Tonys for Dear World (1968), Gypsy (1974) and Sweeney Todd (1979). After a 23-year hiatus, she returned to Broadway in Deuce (2007) followed by Blithe Spirit (2009) winning a fifth Tony; A Little Night Music (2010), The Best Man (2012). In 2013 she toured Australia in Driving Miss Daisy, and in 2014 she reprised Blithe Spirit in London, winning the Olivier Award.
Angela Brigid Lansbury was born in London on October 16, 1925. Her father, Edgar Isaac Lansbury, was a timber merchant. Her mother, Moyna Macgill, was a popular actress. At age ten, Angela saw John Gielgud as "Hamlet" at the Old Vic and vowed that someday she would become an actress. She attended the Webber-Douglas School of Dramatic Art in London.
The great influence on Angela's young life was her grandfather, the Right Honorable George Lansbury, a prominent pacifist, and leader of the British Labor Party form 1931-35. "He was a fierce pacifist, and great friend of Gandhi's, yet all his desperate efforts to seek peace came to naught. He went to see Hitler personally. He came to America to see Eleanor Roosevelt. He died in 1940, really of a broken heart."
That same year, in order to escape the London Blitz, Moyna Macgill (who had driven an ambulance during the early days of the aerial Battle of Britain) evacuated fourteen-year-old Angela and her younger twin brothers, Edgar and Bruce, to the United States. (Their father had died when Angela was nine.) Together with 600 other young refugees, they escaped with the last boatload of children to leave the British Isles before German submarines made further Atlantic crossings impossible.
The family lived in Putnum County for a year, during which time Angela commuted to the Feagin School of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan. She received her first professional job at age sixteen when she performed a cabaret act in Montreal.
Eventually the family relocated in Los Angeles, where Moyna Macgill hoped to find work in the movies. Instead, it was seventeen-year-old Angela who landed a seven-year contract at MGM after director George Cukor cast her as Nancy, the menacing maid, in "Gaslight." Her cunning performance won her a 1944 Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The following year she received a second nomination, again as Best Supporting Actress, as the doomed Sybil Vane in "The Picture of Dorian Gray." That poignant role earned her a Golden Globe Award.
Lansbury has appeared in 44 motion pictures to date. They include such classics as "National Velvet," "The Harvey Girls," Frank Capra's "State of the Union," Cecil B. DeMille's "Samson and Delilah," "The Court Jester," "The Long Hot Summer," "The Manchurian Candidate" (for which she received a second Golden Globe Award, the National Board of Review Award and her third Academy Award nomination), "The World of Henry Orient" and "Death on the Nile" (a second National Board of Review Award). In 1991 she was the voice of Mrs. Potts in the Disney animated feature, "Beauty and the Beast," and in 1997 she was the voice of the Grand Duchess Marie in the animated movie, "Anastasia."
The actress made her Broadway debut in 1957 when she starred as Bert Lahr's wife in the French farce, "Hotel Paradiso." In 1960 she returned to Broadway as Joan Plowright's mother in the season's most acclaimed drama, "A Taste of Honey" by Shelagh Delaney.
In March 1963, Lansbury told a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, "This sounds corny as hell, but I really have an enormous amount of dancing and rhythm in me. This is going to come out one of these days--then watch out. I've never been an entertainer, and I want to be. I've done the acting; now I want to entertain."
One year later, she starred on Broadway in her first musical. "Anyone Can Whistle" closed after only nine performances. But Lansbury returned to New York in triumph in 1966 as "Mame." She played the role for two years on Broadway and later to sellout audiences in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
"Mame" earned Lansbury the first of her unprecedented four Tony Awards as Best Actress in a Musical. She received the others as the Madwoman of Chaillot in "Dear World" (1968), as Mama Rose in the 1974 revival of "Gypsy" and as Mrs. Lovett in "Sweeney Todd" (1979). In 1978 she starred as Mrs. Anna for a limited engagement of "The King and I.
Concurrent with her musical ventures, Lansbury continued to act in serious dramas. In 1971 she returned to London to appear in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Edward Albee's "All Over." In 1975, again in London, she played Gertrude to Albert Finney's Hamlet in the National Theater production. In 1976 she acted in two Albee one-act plays, "Counting the Ways" and Listening," at the Hartford Stage Company. As the actress once told an interviewer, "If you want to keep revitalizing yourself as an artist, you have to go where the work is. That's the way to continue to find new audiences."
She was to find her largest audience on television. Although Lansbury had acted in live dramas during "the golden age of television" in the 1950's in such shows as Robert Montgomery Presents and Lux Video Theatre, when she starred as Mrs. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in the 1982 mini-series "Little Gloria...Happy at Last," she had not acted on television in seventeen years. She followed that Emmy-nominated performance with roles in the mini-series "Lace" and "A Christmas Story: The Gift of Love."
From 1984-1996 she starred as Jessica Fletcher, mystery-writing amateur sleuth, on "Murder, She Wrote." In 1992, Lansbury added to her responsibilities by becoming the series' executive producer.
During the past decade she has also found time to star in the motion picture-for-television, "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris" (directed by Anthony Shaw), "Shootdown," "The Love She Sought" and the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, "The Shell Seekers." She developed a video and co-wrote a book, both titled Positive Moves, about fitness and well-being.
After "Murder She Wrote" concluded its twelve season run in May 1996, Lansbury returned to her theatrical roots by starring in "Mrs. Santa Claus," the first original musical for television in four decades.
In 1997 Lansbury appeared in "South by Southwest," the first of a series of two hour "Murder, She Wrote" movies for CBS and has recently completed "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax," also for CBS.
She has been unstinting of her time with scores of civic involvements, ranging from the American Red Cross to the Salvation Army. As a member of the AmFAR National Council, her energies in the war against AIDS have raised several millions of dollars. Most recently she has become the National spokesperson for Childreach.
In 1982 she was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame. In 1990 she received an honorary doctorate in humanities from Boston University. In 1992 she received the Silver Mask for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In 1994 she was named a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. In 1996 she was inducted into the T.V. Hall of Fame, and in 1997 she was given a Lifetime Achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild. She has been nominated for 16 Emmy Awards (twelve for "Murder, She Wrote"). She has won six Golden Globe Awards (four for "Murder, She Wrote") and has been nominated for an additional eight. In September 1997 President Clinton presented her with the National Medal of the Arts. In November of 1999, Meadows School of the Arts at Texas' Southern Methodist University presented Angela with their Lifetime Achievement Award.
Angela and her husband Peter were married in 1949. Peter enjoyed a successful career both as an agent at the William Morris Agency, and as a top production executive at M-G-M. In 1972 he resigned to form their own company, Corymore Productions. They have worked together ever since. Angela and Peter have three grown children, Deirdre, Anthony and David and three young grandchildren.
Angela Lansbury Awards and Nominations
Olivier Awards - 2015 - Best Actress in a Supporting Role  |
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| Angela LansburyBlithe Spirit | ||
| Drama Desk Awards - 2012 - Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | ||
| Angela Lansbury, Gore Vidal's The Best Man | ||
| Drama League Awards - 2012 - Distinguished Performance Award | ||
| Angela Lansbury, Gore Vidal's The Best Man | ||
| Outer Critics Circle Awards - 2012 - Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | ||
| Angela Lansbury, The Best Man | ||
| Outer Critics Circle Awards - 2010 - Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | ||
| Angela Lansbury, A Little Night Music | ||
| Tony Awards - 2010 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | ||
| Angela Lansbury, A Little Night Music | ||
| BroadwayWorld Awards - 2009 - Best Featured Actress in a Play |
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| Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit | ||
| Drama Desk Awards - 2009 - Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | ||
| Angela Lansbury, A Little Night Music | ||
| Drama Desk Awards - 2009 - Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play |
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| Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit | ||
| Drama League Awards - 2009 - Unique Contribution to the Theatre |
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| Angela Lansbury | ||
| New York Drama Critics Circle Awards - 2009 - Special Citations |
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| Angela Lansbury | ||
| Outer Critics Circle Awards - 2009 - Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play |
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| Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit | ||
| Tony Awards - 2009 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play |
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| Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit | ||
| BroadwayWorld Awards - 2007 - Best Leading Actress in a Play |
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| Angela Lansbury, Deuce | ||
| Tony Awards - 2007 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | ||
| Angela Lansbury, Deuce | ||
| Helen Hayes Awards - 1990 - The American Express Tribute |
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| Angela Lansbury | ||
| Drama Desk Awards - 1979 - Outstanding Actress - Musical |
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| Angela Lansbury, Sweeney Todd | ||
| Tony Awards - 1979 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical |
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| Angela Lansbury, Sweeney Todd | ||
| Drama Desk Awards - 1978 - Outstanding Actress - Musical | ||
| Angela Lansbury, The King and I | ||
| Drama Desk Awards - 1975 - Outstanding Actress - Musical |
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| Angela Lansbury, Gypsy | ||
| Tony Awards - 1975 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | ||
| Angela Lansbury, Gypsy | ||
| Tony Awards - 1969 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical |
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| Angela Lansbury, Dear World | ||
| Outer Critics Circle Awards - 1966 - Best Performance |
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| Angela Lansbury, Mame | ||
| Tony Awards - 1966 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical |
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| Angela Lansbury, Mame | ||
Angela Lansbury News
Full Cast Announced For UK Tour Of Agatha Christie's THE MIRROR CRACK'Dby Stephi Wild - Jul 25, 2022
Original Theatre have announced the full cast of their brand new production of Rachel Wagstaff's acclaimed adaptation of Agatha Christie's THE MIRROR CRACK'D. The production, directed by Philip Franks, will begin its UK Tour at Devonshire Park, Eastbourne on 8 September 2022.
NYC Gay Men's Chorus Announces New Artistic and Executive Directorsby Stephi Wild - Jun 28, 2022
Big Apple Performing Arts, home of the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus (NYCGMC) and the Youth Pride Chorus, has announced the transition out of interim leadership with the full appointment of both Artistic and Executive Directors.
Ken Fallin Draws the Stage - CHAINSby Ken Fallin - Jun 24, 2022
Check out Ken Fallin's latest caricature of Jeremy Beck, Laakan McHardy, Claire Saunders, Anthony Cochrane, and Peter Townsend in Mint Theater Company's production of Chains.
Review: GASLIGHT at Shaw Festivalby Michael Rabice - Jun 20, 2022
A Victorian thriller melded with a dash of 21st century female fortitude makes up the fabric of the Shaw Festival's gripping new production of GASLIGHT. Over the years the Festival has mastered presenting these chilling stories in it's quaint jewel box Royal George Theatre. Memories of REBECCA and AND THEN THERE WERE NONE always pervade my memories in that theatre. Even at first glance, the dimly lit set primes the audience for an afternoon of intrigue and escapism to another era.
2019 Angela Lansbury Interview Will Stream Online Next Monthby Stephi Wild - Jun 15, 2022
Theatre on Film and Tape Archive's 2019 interview with Angela Lansbury will stream next month! The Creative Process: Interview with Angela Lansbury will be streamed free of charge July 11 at 5:30 PM ET.
Ken Fallin Draws the Stage - JANE ANGERby Ken Fallin - Jun 14, 2022
Check out Ken Fallin's latest caricature of Michael Urie, Ryan Spahn, Amelia Workman, and Talene Monahon in Jane Anger.
Tony Awards Ratings Increase By 39%by Michael Major - Jun 13, 2022
The 75th Annual Tony Awards made their return to Radio City Music Hall on June 12, with the CBS broadcast pulling in more viewers then last year and we've got them scoop!
Review Roundup: The 75th Annual Tony Awards; What Are the Critics Saying?by Review Roundups - Jun 13, 2022
See what the critics thought of the 2022 Tony Awards now and read all the reviews for what they thought about the broadcast & more, hosted by Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose.
VIDEO: The New York City Gay Men's Chorus Tributes Angela Lansbury on the Tony Awardsby Stephi Wild - Jun 12, 2022
Watch the New York City Gay Men's Chorus take the stage for a tribute to Angela Lansbury, the winner of the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Recap the 2022 Tony Awards Acceptance Speechesby Team BWW - Jun 12, 2022
Miss a speech from the 75th Annual Tony Awards? As winners take the stage this evening, stay tuned to BroadwayWorld as we bring you full text of all of the acceptance speeches; from the emotional to the humorous, and everything in between.
Angela Lansbury Videos
The 5th Avenue Theatre Announces 2022/23 Seasonby Chloe Rabinowitz - Apr 11, 2022
The 5th Avenue Theatre announced its 2022/23 Season. The 2022/23 Season features a dynamic lineup of musical theater magic that includes a world premiere, a co-production with ACT – A Contemporary Theatre, and more. Check out the fill season
VIDEO: Inside Rehearsal For ANYONE CAN WHISTLE at Southwark Playhouseby Stephi Wild - Mar 25, 2022
An all new video has been released from inside rehearsal for the upcoming production Anyone Can Whistle! A political satire about conformity and the ostracisation of those considered ‘other’ in society, ‘Anyone Can Whistle’, directed by Georgie Rankcom, will play Southwark Playhouse, 1 April - 7 May, 2022.
VIDEO: Broadway Salutes Stephen Sondheim at the 1993 Kennedy Center Honorsby Nicole Rosky - Nov 29, 2021
Today we are flashing back to an epic moment in Sondheim's career- when he received his Kennedy Center Honor in 1993. Watch the full tribute, which included performances from Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander, Angela Lansbury, and Scott Bakula.
VIDEO: Bob Mackie Talks His Legendary Career and New Book on Backstage Live with Richard Ridgeby Backstage With Richard Ridge - Nov 17, 2021
The Art of Bob Mackie is the first-ever comprehensive and fully authorized book showcasing Mackie's work, from his early days as a sketch artist for the legendary Edith Head at Paramount to his current, cutting-edge costumes for pop stars and line of accessible, wearable clothing for QVC. In addition to hundreds of glorious photos and dozens of dishy recollections from Mackie and his many muses, this gorgeous volume features never-before-seen sketches from throughout his prolific career. Watch as Mackie reminisces about his extensive career and reflects on the new book!
VIDEO: The Broadway League Launches THIS IS BROADWAY Initiative With Short Film Narrated by Oprah Winfreyby BroadwayWorld TV - Aug 30, 2021
The Broadway League has launched THIS IS BROADWAY, a new initiative to welcome theater lovers back to Times Square following the industry’s 18-month shutdown.
Video Flashback: Angela Lansbury Explores Her 70+ Year Career in Conversation With Her Niece, Felicia Lansbury Meyerby Stage Tube - Oct 25, 2020
In September 2019, Fort Lewis College was able to capture a rare conversation with the legendary actress Angela Lansbury.
VIDEO: On This Day, May 24- MAME Opens On Broadway!by Stage Tube - May 24, 2020
On this day in 1966 the classic musical comedy, Mame, opened on Broadway!
Broadway Rewind: Watch Scenes from A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC with Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones!by BroadwayWorld TV - May 23, 2020
Today we rewind to 2009, when A Little Night Music returned to Broadway for the first Time. The revival, which played at the Walter Kerr Theatre for 425 performances, starred Angela Lansbury, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Erin Davie, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, and Aaron Lazar. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, the musical is inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples.
Broadway Rewind: EXIT THE KING Makes an Entrance on Broadway in 2009by BroadwayWorld TV - Apr 12, 2020
BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge says, 'That this episode of Broadway Rewind features something Toxic, something Royal and something Academic.' We drop by New World Stages for a look at the David Bryan and Joe DePietro musical, The Toxic Avenger. We also visit with two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick and the cast of Roundabout's production of The Philanthropist, but we kick it off at the opening night of director Neil Armfield's production of Eugene Ionesco's Exit The King, which starred Academy Award winners Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon, Tony Award winner Andrea Martin and Lauren Ambrose. Geoffrey Rush told Ridge, 'I just phoned my wife and said, 'Darling I just made my Broadway debut and it's a marker. It's not what I aimed for. I had never really, seriously ever thought about it... I used to listen to a lot of Broadway musical theatre back in the mid 60's when I was in high school. Next to the Beatles, I was listening to Angela Lansbury in Mame or Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence or Zero Mostel in Fiddler. I'm pretty well seasoned in that kind of energy, and to be able to bring a weird and wonderful play like Exit the King into that arena, has been just so special.'
Broadway Rewind: WEST SIDE STORY Rumbles Back to Broadway in 2009!by BroadwayWorld TV - Mar 18, 2020
Just last month, Broadway celebrated the return of West Side Story- a daring new interpretation from director Ivo van Hove. In 2009, Broadway was celebrating the opening of a different West Side Story. This version, which opened March 19 at the Palace Theatre, starred Matt Cavenaugh, Josefina Scaglione, and Tony winner Karen Olivo, and new Spanish lyrics from Lin-Manuel Miranda. The revival would go on to play 748 performances, running just under two years.
