Lansbury, Angela (1925–)
Lansbury, Angela (1925–)
English-born stage, tv, and screen actress. Born Oct 16, 1925, in London, England; dau. of Edgar Lansbury (lumber merchant) and Moyna MacGill (actress); granddau. of George Lansbury (British Labour Party leader); sister of twin brothers, Edgar and Bruce Lansbury (both producers); m. Richard Cromwell (actor), 1945 (div. 1946); m. Peter Shaw, 1949 (died 2003); children: Anthony Pullen Shaw.
Began stage career in childhood; evacuated to America during London blitz (1940); moved to Hollywood with mother where both were put under contract with MGM; made film debut in Gaslight (1944), followed by National Velvet, Till the Clouds Roll By, The Harvey Girls, Stage of the Union, The Three Musketeers, Samson and Delilah, The Long Hot Summer, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Blue Hawaii, The World of Henry Orient, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and The Mirror Crack'd, among others, and was voice of Mrs. Potts in Disney's Beauty and the Beast; made NY stage debut in Hotel Paradiso (1957) and London debut in All Over (1972); on tv, starred as Jessica Fletcher on "Murder, She Wrote" (1984–96). Nominated for Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Gaslight (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), and The Manchurian Candidate (1962); won Tony awards for Mame (1966), Dear World (1969), Gypsy (1975), and Sweeney Todd (1979); named Commander of British Empire (CBE); recipient of Kennedy Center Honors (2000).