Angela Lansbury

Daughter of actress Moyna MacGill , who appeared with her in The Picture of Dorian Gray and Kind Lady .

Granddaughter of George Lansbury, British Labour Party leader in 1930s.

Sister of Edgar Lansbury and Bruce Lansbury , and half-sister of Isolde Denham.

Wearing just conventional makeup (i.e., not studio made-up to look "old"), she was most chilling and unforgettable (and convincing!) as the manipulating mother of Laurence Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate , while in real life being scarcely three years Harveys senior.

She, her mother Moyna MacGill and her twin younger brothers were in the last boatload of family members evacuated from London to America during World War II.

A recent authorized biography, "Balancing Act", states that her first husband, Richard Cromwell was gay, a fact she didnt know until after their separation.

She was awarded the CBE in the 1994 Queens Birthday Honours List for her services to drama.

Her daughter was a follower of Charles Manson s gang. After the Sharon Tate murders, she thought it best to get her out of the country. She took her to Ireland to help her with drug problems.

Aunt of David Lansbury , who is married to Ally Sheedy.

2000: She was the recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center Honors in 2000 for her services to the arts.

As for 2012, Ms. Lansbury holds the record for the most Emmy nominations without a single win among performers with 18 unsuccessful nominations.

She has one half-sister, Isolde, from her mothers first marriage to Reginald Denham. Isolde was married to Peter Ustinov , with whom she had one daughter, Tamara Ustinov , Lansburys niece.

Cousin of Oliver Postgate , the producer and voice behind the classic BBC Television series "The Clangers" and such series such as "Ivor the Engine" .

She and Mildred Natwick were both in The Court Jester and were reunited in the "Murder, She Wrote" episode, "Murder, She Wrote" {Murder in the Electric Cathedral (#2.16)} , 30 years later.

She was reunited with her Death on the Nile co-star, Olivia Hussey , in the "Murder, She Wrote" episode, "Murder, She Wrote" {Sing a Song of Murder (#2.5)} , seven years after that film. Olivia played Rosalie Otterbourne in the movie and she was the daughter of Salome Otterbourne, played by Lansbury.

She was reunited with her The Court Jester co-star, Glynis Johns , in the "Murder, She Wrote" episode, "Murder, She Wrote" {Sing a Song of Murder (#2.5)} , 29 years after that film.

She was longtime friends with the late Bob Hope and gave a speech at his memorial service on August 27, 2003. She and Hope appeared on Bob Hope: The First 90 Years , and she sang with him.

July 21, 2000: She withdrew from a Broadway musical, "The Visit", due to her husbands impending heart surgery.

She was among the special guests who were invited to the Grand Opening of the first Disney Park in Europe (Disneyland Resort Paris, formerly known as EuroDisney Resort), where she impressed her hand prints.

She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England whose alumni include Terence Stamp , Elizabeth Knowelden , Hugh Bonneville , Rupert Friend , Antony Sher , Matthew Goode , Sue Johnston , Minnie Driver and Julian Fellowes.

She has been nominated 12 times for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series on "Murder, She Wrote" , plus four more before, during and after the series, but didnt win.

She was one of the last guest stars on the situation comedy "Newhart" .

On the last episode of "Murder, She Wrote" , she didnt work on the final day of production as there was too much emotion going on.

11/25/75: Her mother, Moyna MacGill , died.

1951: Became a United States citizen.

Her twin brothers are both film producers.

She had performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in their annual public Christmas concerts at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah.

She was offered the role of Nurse Ratchet in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest but turned it down because she didnt think she could handle the role.

1985: She accepted the Oscar for "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" on behalf of Peggy Ashcroft , who wasnt present at the awards ceremony.

July 14, 2005: She had knee replacement surgery.

While filming Death on the Nile , aboard ship, no one was allowed his or her own dressing room, so she shared a dressing room with Bette Davis and Maggie Smith.

She has been the co-recipient of 3 Grammy Awards for the Broadway stage shows, "Mame" and "Sweeney Todd" in which she played the female lead.

2006: To date, she has hosted (or co-hosted) more Tony Awards telecasts than any other individual: (1968, 1971, 1987, 1988 and 1989).

1997: She was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington, D.C.

Her performance as Mrs. John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate is ranked #91 on Premiere Magazines 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

She was one of the speakers at Jerry Orbach s memorial service.

Though shes not hailed for her singing voice often, she has won 4 Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical, and is best known for being in musicals.

Her singing voice was dubbed in the romantic musical The Harvey Girls .

Before becoming a professional performer she went by her middle name Brigid. MGM wanted her to take the name Angela Marlowe but she refused.

Her performance as Mrs. John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate is ranked #21 in AFIs 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains for villains.

Ex-stepmother-in-law of Catherine Bach.

2nd cousin, via cousin Coral Lansbury, to Australian Prime Minister (since September 2015), Malcolm Turnbull.

Cousin to Coral Lansbury, (died 4/4/1991), Rutgers University Camden Campus Dean of the Graduate School of English and mother to Australian Liberal Party leader, Malcolm Turnbull.

Grandmother, via son Anthony Pullen Shaw , of Ian Lansbury.

She was nominated for the 2007 Tony Award (New York City) for Actress in a Drama for "Deuce".

She was considered for the role of Miss Caswell in All About Eve , but Marilyn Monroe was cast in the role instead.

With her 2009 Tony Award for Actress in a Featured Role in a Play on June 7, 2009, she and Julie Harris are the only two actresses to win five Tony Awards. In 2012, Audra McDonald became the third actress to win five Tony Awards. Additionally, Lansbury once was the only actress and the third performer ever to be nominated for all four performance awards at the Tony Awards. She won Best Actress in a Musical for "Mame" , "Dear World" , "Gypsy" and "Sweeney Todd". She was nominated for Best Actress in a Play for Deuce in 2007. She won Best Featured Actress in a Play for "Blithe Spirit" in 2009. She was nominated for Featured Actress in a Musical for "A Little Night Music" in 2010. In 2014, McDonald won her sixth Tony and is the single record holder since. Additionally, McDonald is also the only performer ever to win Tonys in all four possible acting categories: Best Leading Performance in both a play and a musical and Best Supporting Performance in both a play and a musical.

She was awarded the 2009 Tony Award for Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for her performance in "Blithe Spirit" on Broadway in New York City.

As for February 2010, she holds the record for youngest actress to get two Oscar nominations (by the age of 20). Was tied with Meryl Streep , Jack Nicholson and Alan Alda for the most Golden Globe Award wins: six, until Streeps seventh win on January 17, 2010.

Has played Elvis Presley s mother in Blue Hawaii , despite only being 10 years older than him.

Best known by the public for her starring role as Jessica Fletcher on "Murder, She Wrote" .

Angela Lansbury recreated the role of Mrs. Pollifax in the 1999 television movie who was originally in the movie was played by Rosalind Russell. She also recreated Miss Russells title role in Auntie Mame in the original Broadway cast of the musical "Mame".

Is a member of St. Davids Anglican Church in North Hollywood, California.

She created the role of Mame Dennis in Jerry Herman s "Mame". When Jack L. Warner decided to make the movie, he refused to cast Angela Lansbury (despite intense pressure from Jerry Herman to do so) because she wasnt a big enough star. He cast Lucille Ball , instead. The film was a flop and, to this day, Angela Lansbury has never forgiven Warner.

The Oscar-winning song "Beauty and the Beast" almost wasnt sung by Angela Lansbury. Because it was a slow, romantic ballad, something she wasnt used to singing, Angela suggested that another character should sing it. The filmmakers asked her to try it just once, and Angela nailed the song in that one take. It is that take that you hear in the film.

Friends with: Shirley Jones , Bea Arthur , Jane Powell , Debbie Reynolds , Doris Roberts , Charlotte Rae , Florence Henderson , Karen Grassle , Carroll OConnor , Martin Milner , Yvonne De Carlo , Harry Morgan , Karl Malden , Norman Lloyd , Dick Van Dyke ,Mary Tyler Moore , James Garner , Laraine Day , Lauren Bacall , William Windom , June Allyson , Ernest Borgnine , Tom Bosley , Steve Forrest , Jerry Orbach , Bob Hope , Frank Sinatra , Dean Martin , Van Johnson , Delbert Mann , Peter Lawford , Elizabeth Taylor , John Astin , John Frankenheimer , Linda Christian , Hurd Hatfield , James Earl Jones , Jerry Stiller , Anne Meara , Robert Conrad , Larry Manetti , Peter Falk , Anne Jeffreys , Marsha Hunt , Julie Adams , Piper Laurie , Tyrone Power , Anne Francis , Mickey Rooney , Jo Anne Worley , Tony Bennett , Julie Andrews , Julie Harris , Janet Leigh , Jean Simmons , Jerry Herman , Stephen Sondheim , Bernadette Peters , Carol Channing , Bette Davis , Geraldine Page , Katharine Hepburn , Roddy McDowall , Carol Burnett , Zachary Scott , Ingrid Bergman , Maggie Smith , Gertrude Lawrence , Lee Remick , Warren Beatty , Annette Bening , Neil Patrick Harris , Catherine Zeta-Jones , Barbara Walters , Tyne Daly , Len Cariou , George Hearn , Jack Klugman , Rod Taylor , Laurence Olivier , Joan Plowright , Ida Lupino , Geoffrey Rush , Emma Thompson , Paul Newman , Raymond Burr , Dean Jones , Carroll Baker , Kevin McCarthy , Ann Blyth , Ron Masak , Bradford Dillman , Herb Edelman , Theodore Bikel , Claude Akins , Chad Everett , Peggy Ashcroft , Fionnula Flanagan , Victor Garber , Marian Seldes , Gloria Stuart , Harry Guardino , Robert Wagner , Ruth Roman , Patricia Neal , Stuart Whitman , Jessica Walter , Diane Baker , Bryan Cranston , Mike Connors , Roy Dotrice , Kathryn Grayson , Lee Meriwether , John Saxon , Robert Vaughn , Efrem Zimbalist Jr. , Gloria DeHaven , Evelyn Keyes , Elizabeth Ashley , Rock Hudson , Jackie Cooper , Eileen Brennan , Macdonald Carey , Mel Ferrer , Cyd Charisse , Ricardo Montalban , Betty Garrett , Howard Keel , June Lockhart , Jayne Meadows , Eleanor Parker , Margaret OBrien , Phyllis Thaxter , Barry Nelson , Robert Sterling , Steve Allen , Virginia Mayo , Martin Landau , Eric McCormack , Susan Strasberg , Turhan Bey , Gene Barry , Robert Morse , Eva Marie Saint , Robert Osborne , Joel Grey , Esther Williams , Terry Moore , Max Baer Jr. , Janet Blair , Marie Windsor , Jane Withers , Barbara Babcock , Dean Stockwell , David Ogden Stiers , Wayne Rogers , Charles Napier , Henry Gibson , Peter Ustinov , George Cukor , James Noble , Frank Capra , Hal Holbrook , Dixie Carter , Jon Polito , Judi Dench and Audrey Totter.

Alongside Norman Lloyd , William Daniels , Christopher Lee , Dick Van Dyke , Ernest Borgnine , Mickey Rooney , Betty White , Edward Asner , Adam West , Marla Gibbs , William Shatner , Larry Hagman , Florence Henderson , Shirley Jones and Alan Alda , Lansbury is one of the few actors in Hollywood who lived into their 80s and/or 90s without ever either retiring from acting or having stopped getting work.

Is the only actress to appear in all 264 episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" .

In the late 1940s, MGM planned to cast her as the female lead in a film entitled "Angels Flight" with Clark Gable but the project never came to reality for Gable disliked the storyline, so the studio liquidated the entire project.

Is a staunch Democrat and a solid supporter of Barack Obama.

She was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6623 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 6259 Holywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

In November 2013, it was announced that NBC would reboot "Murder, She Wrote" with Octavia Spencer in the role of Jessica Fletcher. Lansbury was unhappy about the idea, but was relieved when, in January 2014, the network decided not to go forward with the project.

She was awarded the DBE (Dame Commander of Order of the British Empire) in the 2014 Queens New Year Honours List for services to drama and for charitable and philanthropic services.

Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 27, a daughter Deirdre Angela Shaw on April 26, 1953. Childs father was her 2nd husband, Peter Shaw.

Gave birth to her 1st child at age 26, a son Anthony Pullen Shaw on January 7, 1952. Childs father was her 2nd husband, Peter Shaw.

She is known to be a very private person.

After being created a CBE, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama and to charitable work and philanthropy under her married name Angela Brigid, Mrs Lansbury Shaw, CBE.

She created the role of Mame Dennis in Jerry Herman s Mame. When Jack L. Warner decided to make the movie Mame he refused to cast Lansbury (despite intense pressure from Herman to do so) because she wasnt then a big enough star. He cast Lucille Ball instead. The film was a flop and Lansbury never forgave Warner.

After a forty year absence triumphantly returned to Londons West End stage in her Tony winning role as Madam Arcati in Sir Noel Cowards Blithe Spirit. She won her only Laurence Olivier award for best supporting actress in 2015.

As of 2016 she is the 2nd earliest surviving recipient of a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination, behind only Olivia de Havilland. She was nominated in 1944 for Gaslight .

Mentioned in The Men Who Stare at Goats.

In an interview, Angela said the best person she worked with was Hedy Lamarr, saying Hedy was sweet, loving, kind and considerate to everybody on the set, actor or crewman.

Actors are not made, they are born.

Providing I can put one foot in front of the other, I will continue to,act.