Angela Lansbury has Passed Away

[+ WilliamM]

A few day short of her 97th birthday.

Ms Lansbury is apparently best known for the television drama " Murder She Wrote."

 

But she scored the lead of the Broadway musical "Mame" after Roz Russell and Mary Martin turned it down. 

Lansbury was fine with playing theater roles associated with other stars, such as Gypsy  and A Little Night Music 

And she should have won a Oscar for The Manchurian Candidatendidate

Edited October 11, 2022 by WilliamM

[pubic_assistance]

Murder She Wrote is my memory as well as Bed Knobs and Broomsticks from my childhood.

*R.I.P.*

 

[jerrybythesea]

I wish they would rename The Wintergarden Theatre in her honor as this is where she starred in the monster hits of MAME and Gypsy

[Jared]

Mrs. Lovett

 

[John Vespa]

this brought me to tears...

and what's the deal of the world losing famous 96 years old British Granny these days...

 

[+ WilliamM]

3 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

Murder She Wrote is my memory as well as Bed Knobs and Broomsticks from my childhood.

*R.I.P.*

 

I saw Angela Lansbury in a revival of Somdeim's A Little Night Music.

And earlier as the narrator in  "Anyone Can Whistle" at Carnegie Hall with Bernadette Peters and the wonderful Madeline Kahn

Wonderful memories.

Also in the play by Gore Vidal a revival. She had  a relatively small role.

[+ bashful]

I liked her in the movie "Gaslight".  She was in her late teens then. Rest in Peace

Edited October 12, 2022 by bashful

[jeezifonly]

The quality, quantity, and range of Lansbury’s work as an actor is matchless. Such a long, rich life that has left a strong impression on colleagues and audiences for decades, and her passing has gay theatre Twitter sharing all kinds of obscure clips and stories as tribute. Fabulous.

RIP to a great Dame, who knew that making an exit is often as important as making an entrance🍸💜

[MscleLovr]

15 hours ago, WilliamM said:

I saw Angela Lansbury in a revival of Somdeim's A Little Night Music.

Me too.

 

12 hours ago, bashful said:

I liked her in the movie "Gaslight".  She was in her late teens then

I didn’t know that but the BBC TV News has shown a clip from Gaslight (with her speaking to Ingrid Bergman). It reported that it was AL’s first role at the age of 17 and she earned an Oscar nomination. 

BBC TV News also reported the great fundraising and support Angela Lansbury gave in the early years of the AIDS epidemic

And tonight in London’s West End, all the theatres went dark, turning off all their lights at 7pm for two minutes, in tribute to the passing of AL.

Edited October 12, 2022 by MscleLovr
Adding her work for AIDS charities

[BSR]

20 hours ago, jeezifonly said:

The quality, quantity, and range of Lansbury’s work as an actor is matchless. Such a long, rich life that has left a strong impression on colleagues and audiences for decades, and her passing has gay theatre Twitter sharing all kinds of obscure clips and stories as tribute. Fabulous.

RIP to a great Dame, who knew that making an exit is often as important as making an entrance🍸💜

IMDb lists 112 acting credits for Angela Lansbury, every role under the sun, stretching from 1944 to a movie released this year.  I didn't know she was in such great films as Gaslight, National Velvet, and Dorian Gray (1945).  I admit that Murder She Wrote was a guilty pleasure of mine , but my favorite Angela Lansbury performances were in The Manchurian Candidate and Something for Everyone.  A truly great lady, a legend, R.I.P.

[Andy2]

Interestingly, her first husband was Richard Cromwell, a closeted gay man.  She was very young (around 19) and naive.  Looking back on the marriage, which lasted only about a year, Lansbury said she had no regrets, but the break-up was a shocker to her.  

According to media accounts, he remained friends with Cromwell and her second husband after the end of their respective marriages.  Classy lady IMHO.  

[jeezifonly]

19 hours ago, BSR said:

IMDb lists 112 acting credits for Angela Lansbury, every role under the sun, stretching from 1944 to a movie released this year.  I didn't know she was in such great films as Gaslight, National Velvet, and Dorian Gray (1945).  I admit that Murder She Wrote was a guilty pleasure of mine , but my favorite Angela Lansbury performances were in The Manchurian Candidate and Something for Everyone.  A truly great lady, a legend, R.I.P.

Something For Everyone - such a quirky little black comedy that should have been directed by someone else… She is delish in it, isn’t she?? 💜

[Kippy]

She has to be one of the very last stars of the golden age of Hollywood-- star of stage, screen and television.  Almost bigger than life, they don't make them Angela anymore!

[+ WilliamM]

Actually she wasn't bigger than life. Patti Lu Pone is bigger than life and so was Ethel Merman  To be fair, Merman occasionally played the role well

[jeezifonly]

Angela was the last of the ladies at MGM’s 25th Anniversary luncheon in 1949. There are a maybe a couple of the youngest men present that day still alive, but the 23 year old Angela the only gal to stick around for another 73 years!

If you’re old enough to remember “That’s Entertainment” the 1974 retrospective of the MGM golden years of musicals, a segment on studio history had one of the motion picture cameras present for the promotional event panning down the long luncheon tables, one movie star after another. Most were smiling, very aware of the camera, many w/cigarettes, a few chewing on something discretely, some laughing at nothing…a lot engaged in casual or focused conversation with someone beside them. Buster Keaton did a bit with a celery stick, Judy Garland, turned away from the camera, was chatting with someone at the table behind her, and Angela, whose neighbors were momentarily engaged away from her, was eating her lunch!! 🥰🥰🥰

[+ Coolwave35]

I remember her in arguably her greatest role, the teapot from beauty and the beast. 

[Luv2play]

Over the years AL has given various interviews to the Canadian media and of course excerpts of these have been played in the last days. In one she revealed that one of her first gigs in entertainment, before Broadway or Hollywood came calling, was in a supper nightclub in Montreal. She was still a teenager, fresh from Britain.

Interestingly, she and her family emigrated to Canada, not the States. In those days it was easy to then cross the border as she did and go to New York City. Couldn't do that today, except illegally.

Edited October 14, 2022 by Luv2play

[Epigonos]

Which Hollywood and Broadway actors were "bigger than life" is purely subjective. Each of us has our own thoughts about who should fit in that category.

[CuriousByNature]

23 hours ago, Kippy said:

She has to be one of the very last stars of the golden age of Hollywood-- star of stage, screen and television.  Almost bigger than life, they don't make them Angela anymore!

Surprisingly there are still quite a few stars of that era, if you consider the Golden Age to be 1929-1959. But not too many from the 40s like Lansbury, or earlier.  There are a couple of child stars still alive who began acting during the silent era.  And if I recall correctly, both Ann Blyth and June Lockhart are alive and in their 90s, and both started their careers in the 1930s.  I believe Eva Marie Saint started in the 1940s, as did Janis Page, who is now a centenarian.

[+ WilliamM]

One might add Harry Belafonte  and Tippi  Hendrin

[BabyBoomer]

1 hour ago, CuriousByNature said:

if you consider the Golden Age to be 1929-1959. 

Kim Novak & Angie Dickinson.

~Boomer~

[+ WilliamM]

Ironically Mary Martin had a hit record called "Ain't It A Shame About Mame"  years before  there was hit musical that she turned down