SHE’S GONE TO THE THEATRE IN THE SKY
With a heart even bigger than her legendary talent, Angela will be remembered as one of the last Golden Age of Hollywood stars
Angela Lansbury credited wine and “a lot of vitamins” for helping her live a long life into her 90s. But just five days shy of her 97th birthday, the Hollywood icon died peacefully in her sleep at her Los Angeles home on October 11.
The Tony winner was beloved on both stage and screen over her 75-year-career in the spotlight, starring in such film classics as Bedknobs And Broomsticks and Beauty And The Beast.
But she’ll be remembered best as TV super sleuth Jessica Fletcher on Murder She Wrote.
EVERYTHING & MORE
“I’m very grateful for it,” the actress once remarked of the hit series, which aired from 1984 to 1996 and made her a household name.
When she wasn’t solving crimes in cosy Cabot Cove, off-screen Angela was a devoted mother to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David Shaw, who she shared with her late second husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw.
After Peter’s death in 2003, Angela never remarried. “We had the perfect relationship,” she once revealed of the talent agent, who co-produced Murder She Wrote. “Not many people can say that.
He was everything to me – we were partners at work as well as husband and wife and lovers. I don’t know how we had such a long marriage, but the simple fact was that we were devoted to one another.” And to their kids.
“She always put family first,” says her stepson David of the star, who is also survived by three grandchildren, Peter, Katherine and Ian, plus five great-grandchildren.
THE JOY OF FAMILY
Angela – who became a dame in 2014 when she received an Order of the British Empire – gushed about the happiness her brood brought her.
“One of the biggest joys for me right now is my family. I’ve just become a great-grandma for the first time. It’s my grandson Peter’s first child – now that feels pretty wonderful,” she said in 2017.
“And of course, I’m doing all the spoiling. If there’s one thing I want more time for at this stage of my life, it’s them.”
TRIBUTES FLOW
Surprisingly, her extended family also includes former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who shared his memories of his cousin on Twitter. “Thank you Angela for the joy and love you have shared with the world all your life. You first dazzled me when I was four and you were Aunty Angela making a movie in Australia,” he wrote upon news of her passing. “In later years we always had politics and showbiz to talk and laugh about. Rest In Peace dear Angie.”
‘It’s rare that one person can touch multiple generations’
Tributes came in from her fellow actors, with Catherine Zeta-jones revealing their time together on Broadway will “forever be one of the joys of my life”, while Angela’s fellow Disney star Josh Gad was one of the first to pay tribute to the British-born star, noting how “rare” it is one for “one person” to “touch multiple generations”.
“RIP legend,” he added, while David Suchet, who famously played Poirot said she “has fallen asleep and gone to the theatre in the sky”, calling her “one of the world’s greatest actors”.
Star Trek actor George Takei also mourned the loss. “A tale old as time, our beloved Mrs Potts will sing lullabies to us now from the stars,” he wrote. “Rest, great soul.”