Actress Angela Lansbury, three-time Oscar nominee and star of the series “Murder in Writing”, died in her sleep this Tuesday (10/11) in Los Angeles at the age of 96.
Lansbury received multiple Emmy nominations for her role as Jessica Fletcher in the detective series, as well as building a solid career in film, which even earned her an honorary Oscar in 2013 for her contribution to the film industry.
Angela Brigid Lansbury was born on October 16, 1925 in London. She was the daughter of actress Moyna MacGill (from “The Picture of Dorian Gray”), she was encouraged to participate in school plays as a child and studied drama for a year, graduating with honors from the Royal Academy of Music.
With the outbreak of World War II he moved with his mother and two brothers to the United States (his father died when Angela was 9), where he continued to study acting in New York, graduating in 1942 at the age of 17. At that time, she began performing in nightclubs, lying about her age to participate in the city’s nightlife art scene.
Determined to invest in her career, she moved to Los Angeles and signed a deal with MGM, making her film debut in the psychological thriller “A Half Light” (1944), starring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman.
Very famous, this adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s play gave rise to the expression “gaslighting” (derived from its original title, “Gaslight”) to define toxic relationships in which a man tries to convince a woman that she is insane. The film also earned Lansbury her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
The following year, he received his second nomination, this time for “The Picture of Dorian Gray” (1945), an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s book directed by Albert Lewin, in which he starred alongside his mother for the first time. and only time.
Other films he starred in during the period were “That’s the Way of Life” (1944) with teenager Elizabeth Taylor, “Harvey’s Waitresses” (1946) with Judy Garland and “Gold in Clay” (1946) with Esther Williams . Recalling the time in the studio, Lansbury once said that “I ended up playing some of her most ridiculous roles at MGM”.
In the following years, the actress moved from teen movies to adventures, starring in “The Three Musketeers” (1948), “Samson and Delilah” (1949) and “Bloody Riot” (1952), which marked her debut as a protagonist. feminine.
After playing a princess in the comedy “The Jester” (1955), she took a dramatic turn, experiencing the noir femme fatale “Kill Me Please” (1956) and integrating the dramas “The Merchant of Souls” (1958) and ” The shadows at the end of the stairs “(1960). But she also made the musical comedy “Hawaiian Spell” (1961), starring Elvis Presley, among many other productions.
Her third Oscar nomination came for the role of Laurence Harvey’s manipulative mother in John Frankenheimer’s Conspiracy Thriller (1962).
Alongside film, Lansbury has also built a solid theatrical career, starring in shows such as “Hotel Paradiso” (1957), which marked his theatrical debut, the musical “Anyone Can Whistle” (1964), produced by Stephen Sondheim, and “Mame” (1966), which earned him his first Tony Award nomination.
Subsequently, she was awarded for her performance in the plays “Dear World” (1969), “Gypsy” (1974), “Sweeney Todd” (1979) and “Blithe Spirit” (2009). Last June, she even received an honorary Tony for her contribution to the theater.
As if preparing for her big television role, Lansbury starred in two adaptations of Agatha Christie’s work: the first “Death on the Nile” (1978) and “The Mirror’s Curse” (1980). In the latter, she played detective Miss Marple, a prototype of Jessica Fletcher from “Murder in Writing”.
Most interestingly, with an established career in film and theater, Lansbury had no interest in acting in a TV series.
“I couldn’t imagine I’d ever want to do television,” Lansbury said in a 1985 interview with the New York Times. “But it came in 1983 and I had no Broadway roles, so I was in a miniseries, like Gertrude Whitney in ‘Glory Made of Hate’. [havia] a series of roles in miniseries, and I started to feel that the TV audience was very receptive, and I decided that I should stop flirting or close the door on TV, telling my agents, ‘I’m ready to think about the series.’ “
And that’s how Lansbury accepted the invitation to star in “Murder in Writing”, playing Jessica Fletcher, a retired literature professor, mystery writer and amateur detective who solves real cases and still finds time to write her books. .
“What attracted me to Jessica Fletcher is that I could do what I do best and [interpretar alguém que tive] little chance to play – a sincere, down-to-earth woman, “he said.” For the most part, I’ve played very spectacular females. Jessica has extreme sincerity, compassion, extraordinary intuition. I’m not like her. My imagination runs wild. I’m not pragmatic. Jessica is. “
The series was a huge success, which ran for 12 seasons between 1984 and 1996, and continued in four telefilms until 2003. During that time, the fictional character Fletcher solved some 300 murders and wrote over 30. books.
Other noteworthy works of Lansbury were his children’s works, such as “If My Bed Would Fly” (1971) and the animations “Beauty and the Beast” (1991) and “Anastasia” (1997). In recent years, she has also appeared in “Daddy’s Penguins” (2011), “Mary Poppins Returns” (2018) and “The Magic of Believing” (2018), her last acting role.
Angela Lansbury was first married in 1944 to actor Richard Cromwell (“Stolen Glories”), but their marriage lasted less than a year and she later found out he was gay. In 1949, Lansbury remarried, this time to producer Peter Shaw. The two remained together until her death in 2003 and had two children, Anthony and Deirdre.
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Source: Terra
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
