Dame Angela Lansbury, the star of the American television drama series Murder, She Wrote, has passed away at the age of 96.
The three-time Oscar contender worked in theater, film, and television for eight decades.
She was one of the final Golden Age Hollywood movie stars still alive when she was born in 1925.
Just five days shy of becoming 97 years old, Dame Angela passed away in her sleep, according to a statement from her family.
The family released a statement saying, “The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are devastated to announce that their mother passed away quietly in her sleep at home in Los Angeles.”
Obituary: Angela Lansbury
Born in London, Dame Angela later moved to New York and attended the Feagin School of Dramatic Art.
At a 1942 party, she caught the attention of a Hollywood producer, who cast her in her debut role as a maid in the movie Gaslight.
Her ensuing career saw success on both the large and small screens, taking her from Broadway to Hollywood.
However, her role as sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the television series Murder, She Wrote is what made her famous worldwide.
She began in 1984 and performed in the part for 12 years, or nine seasons.
With a fortune estimated at $100 million, the show made her one of the richest women in the US at the time.
For her roles as the maid in Gaslight, Sibyl in The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1945, and Laurence Harvey’s cunning mother in The Manchurian Candidate in 1962, she received Oscar nods.
In 2013, she was 88 years old and received an honorary Oscar for her career of achievements.
Her fellow actor Geoffrey Rush described her as the “living definition of range” during the event.
Following a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a lifetime achievement award from the Bafta in 2002, it was given.
She received three Tony Awards after making the transition to Broadway in the 1960s, including one in 1970 for her performance as Nellie Lovett in Sweeney Todd.
For her contributions to play, charity work, and philanthropy, she was named a Dame in 2014.
Following her passing, tributes praised a Hollywood “legend.”
On Twitter, actor Josh Gad posted: “It is uncommon for one artist to have an impact on several generations, producing a range of work that defines one decade after another. That artist’s name was Angela Lansbury.”
Harvey Fierstein, a fellow performer, adding that Dame Angela was “everything.”
Dame Angela was a co-star in the 1978 movie Death on the Nile with actress Mia Farrow, who later described the experience as “an honor.”
Many tributes referred to Dame Angela’s efforts in the 1980s and 1990s to promote awareness of the disease and generate funds by starring in fundraising events and fronting a TV information campaign.
When she was 19 years old, Dame Angela had a brief marriage to actor Richard Cromwell. Later, she wed British actor and producer Peter Shaw.
Up to his passing in 2003, they spent more than 50 years together.
Her three children, brother Edgar Lansbury, a producer, as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren, remain.
