Dame Angela Lansbury: Murder, She Wrote actress dies aged 96

Dame Angela Lansbury has been hailed as "one of the last of the Golden Age of Hollywood stars" and a "Broadway and West End icon" following her death on Tuesday at the age of 96.

Heavyweights across the film, television and live theatre industries paid tribute online to the Murder, She Wrote star, after news of her death was announced.

The British-American actress, who enjoyed one of the longest careers in the entertainment industry, passed away at home in her sleep, according to a statement from her family.

“The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30am today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday,” the statement read.

She is survived by her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, three grandchildren and producer brother Edgar Lansbury.

Michelle Donelan, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, led the tributes to Dame Angela. She tweeted: "Saddened to learn of the passing of Dame Angela Lansbury".

"An icon of the theatre, a legend of the screen and one of the greatest actors of our time. May she Rest In Peace."

Responding to news of Dame Angela Lansbury's death, Canadian writer and two-time Booker Prize-winner Margaret Atwood tweeted: "Oh no. Very sad to hear. Wonderful + versatile actress!"

West End star Elaine Paige said Dame Angela was "always so kind and generous" when the pair had met, describing her as "one of the last of the Golden Age of Hollywood stars".

"So upset to hear the news that the legendary Dame Angela Lansbury has died," Paige tweeted, sharing a picture of the pair together.

"One of the last Golden Age of Hollywood stars & a Broadway & West End icon.

"Always so kind & generous when I met her. She will will be sadly missed. RIP dearest Angela."

US actress Mia Farrow said it had been an "honour" to work with Dame Angela.

"Gratitude for the magnificent Angela Lansbury who gave us so many great performances," she wrote.

"It was an honor to have worked with her and to know her as a friend. Thank you dearest Angie. Love forever."

Actor Jason Watkins, who has starred in The Crown and Des, shared a photo of Dame Angela Lansbury as a young woman, wearing a purple dress with her hair clipped up.

Dame Angela was born in central London, the daughter of Irish actress Moyna Macgill and English politician Edgar Lansbury. Her grandfather, George Lansbury, served as Labour Party leader in 1932-34.

To escape the Blitz, in 1940 she moved to the US, there studying acting in New York City.

She moved to Hollywood and became a versatile actor who wowed generations of fans as a murderous baker, a singing teapot, a Soviet spy and a small-town sleuth among a host of other memorable roles.

She perhaps became best-known for her starring role as Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote, which ran for 12 seasons, from 1984 to 1996, with Dame Angela playing a widowed mystery writer based loosely on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.

More recently Dame Angela starred in the 2017 BBC adaptation of Little Women, playing Aunt March in the three-part-series based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott.

She also had a cameo part in the 2018 Mary Poppins sequel Mary Poppins Returns, in which she featured as an elderly colourfully-dressed balloon seller.

Dame Angela paved the way for more actresses to take leading roles on America’s small screen.

She won five Tony Awards - an achievement matched by only two others actors - most recently in 2009 for best featured actress in a play for her work in Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit.

In 2013, she was awarded an honorary Academy Award. In total Dame Angela was nominated for an Oscar three times, all for Best Supporting Actress, for Gaslight (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962).

She was awarded a lifetime achievement award by Bafta in 2002 and also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Flowers have been placed on Dame Angela's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with the walk's producer Ana Martinez saying: "Sadly, we have lost another Walk of Famer.

"Beloved actress Angela Lansbury has passed and Hollywood is again in mourning for the loss of another one of our very talented performers.

"We send our condolences to her family."

Dame Angela was married twice, first to American actor Richard Cromwell in 1945 when she was 19 and he was 35. The couple divorced in 1946, but remained friends until Cromwell's death in 1960.

She married her second husband, actor and producer Peter Shaw, in 1949 and they remained together until Shaw's death in 2003. The couple had two children of their own, Anthony Peter and Deirdre Ann, and Dame Angela also became a step-mother to David, Shaw's son from a previous relationship.

Anthony went on to become a television director and directed 68 episodes of Murder, She Wrote.

Dame Angela was made a CBE in the Queen's 1994 birthday honours and was made a DBE in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to drama, charitable work and philanthropy.

Of the damehood she said: "It is a very proud day for me to be recognised by the country of my birth, and to meet the Queen under these circumstances is a rare and lovely occasion."

Dame Angela also supported charities for victims of domestic abuse and the fight against AIDS.

The UK HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust tweeted: "Dame Angela Lansbury was a prominent advocate of HIV activism in the 1980s and 90s - even fronting a TV information campaign.

"Going on to say: 'I've lost so many friends to AIDS that it's very, very close to me.'

"May she rest in peace."

• Obituary: Dame Angela Lansbury, musical theatre star who was best known as the crime-writing sleuth in Murder, She Wrote