Remembering Angela Lansbury: her most memorable roles from Murder, She Wrote to Beauty and the Beast
Angela Lansbury has passed away at the age of 96. The actress had a career that spanned more than 75 years in movies, TV and on the stage, during which she became a beloved figure.
From making her debut at the age of 17 in 1944’s Gaslight to one of her final appearances with a cameo role in 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns, Lansbury was always a delight to watch. That feeling was reiterated on social media following the news of the her death:
There aren't many people about whom one can say "Everybody loved her." She was one. (Also, in my world, it's "Angela Lansbury, Sweeney Todd and Manchurian Candidate star.") RIP to an all-time great. https://t.co/pmU3JkgsvvOctober 11, 2022
Angela Lansbury, who graced the stage for decades winning five Tony awards and brought the sleuthing Jessica Fletcher into our living rooms for a dozen years, has passed. A tale old as time, our beloved Mrs. Potts will sing lullabies to us now from the stars. Rest, great soul.October 11, 2022
Angela Lansbury - She, my darlings, was EVERYTHING! pic.twitter.com/MLKlRNjxhAOctober 11, 2022
Now, one of the best ways to remember Angela Lansbury is to return to the movies that defined her career. We’ve compiled some of our favorite performances from her seven decades of acting right here.
Gaslight (1944)
Angela Lansbury immediately garnered recognition in Hollywood. Making her big screen debut with Gaslight, Lansbury was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for playing the young maid Nancy that helps with the scheme to make Ingrid Bergman’s character believe she is going crazy. Gaslight director George Cukor called her meteoric rise a Cinderella story. "She became this little housemaid — even her face seemed to change," Cukor said. "Suddenly, I was watching real movie acting."
Gaslight is available to stream for free on The Roku Channel as well as available to rent via digital on-demand.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Talk about starting your career off with a bang. In addition to Gaslight in 1944, Lansbury had another supporting role in the beloved movie National Velvet. She followed that great year up with another Oscar-nominated performance in The Picture of Dorian Gray. An adaptation of the classic Oscar Wilde story, Lansbury played Sybil Vane, Dorian Gray’s love who he tragically spurns.
You can watch The Picture of Dorian Gray on Pluto TV or rent it via digital on-demand.
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Lansbury took things up a notch from her earlier Gaslight role for The Manchurian Candidate, going from being one of the cogs in a conspiracy to one of the architects of it as Mrs. Eleanor Shaw Iselin in this classic political thriller. It is the same role that Meryl Streep would play in the 2004 remake, but Lansbury’s original portrayal remains the definitive one (something definitely worth noting when Streep is involved). Lansbury would receive her third and final Oscar nomination of her career for The Manchurian Candidate.
Though she never won a competitive Oscar, in 2014 she did receive an honorary Oscar that recognized her as "an entertainment icon who has created some of cinema's most memorable characters, inspiring generations of actors."
The Manchurian Candidate is streaming on The Roku Channel and Tubi, as well as being available to rent on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
Though Lansbury is probably best remembered for another Disney movie musical (we’ll get to that shortly), she had another movie with Disney that is worth a watch, Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Based on Mary Norton’s book, Lansbury plays Miss Price, a witch in training who, along with a trio of kids and a conman must search for the missing component to a magic spell to help defend Britain during World War II. The movie, in addition to being a musical, was a mix of live action and animation like Mary Poppins a few years prior.
Bedknobs and Broomstick is streaming on Disney Plus.
Death on the Nile (1978)
Kenneth Branagh’s recent star-studded adaptations of Agatha Christie’s popular mysteries have been very popular, but Lansbury helped headline a previous adaptation of Death on the Nile. In an ensemble that included Mia Farrow, Bette Davis, David Niven, George Kennedy, Maggie Smith and Peter Ustinov’s Hercule Poirot, Lansbury played Mrs. Salome Otterbourne, who was played by Sophie Okonedo in the 2022 version of the murder mystery.
The 1978 version of Death on the Nile is available for free on Prime Video, The Roku Channel and Tubi.
Murder, She Wrote (1984)
Quite possibly Lansbury’s most iconic role is that of Jessica Fletcher on the long-running mystery show Murder, She Wrote. On for 12 seasons, the show followed Fletcher, a professional writer and amateur detective, as she uses her intellect and persistence to solve crimes. Lansbury was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series 12 times for Murder, She Wrote, a record for the TV awards body; sadly, she never won. But when any talk of the greatest TV mystery shows come up, Murder, She Wrote must be in the conversation, thanks in large part to Lansbury’s performance.
Murder, She Wrote is available to stream on Peacock and The Roku Channel.
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
If there’s a challenger to Murder, She Wrote for Lansbury’s most recognized role (at least amongst most millennials and anyone younger) it is as Mrs. Potts in the animated classic, Beauty and the Beast. She delightfully brings Mrs. Potts to life and beautifully sings the movie’s title song. In fact, there’s really no better way to end this post remembering Angela Lansbury than simply letting her sing us out with a tale as old as time.
