was born in London, England, on October 16, 1925. She was the daughter of actress Moyna MacGill (who appeared with her in The Picture of Dorian Gray and Kind Lady), and the granddaughter of George Lansbury, British Labour Party leader in the 1930's. She studied at the Webber-Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Arts in London, and the Feagin School of Drama and Radio in New York City. She came to the United States with her family in 1940, and became a U.S. citizen in 1951.

Angela Lansbury married Richard Cromwell on September 27, 1945. The couple divorced in August 1946. On August 12, 1949, she married Peter Shaw, with whom she had two children (Anthony Peter and Deirdre Angela). Peter died January 29, 2003.

Angela began her professional career while still a teenager, as a contract player with MGM. Her first feature film, Gaslight, was released in 1944, and she was nominated for her first Academy Award for that role in 1945. Since then she has appeared in some fifty films, and received a total of three Oscar nominations. She has also provided voices in several animated feature films.

Lansbury made her first stage appearance in the 1957 production of Hotel Paradiso. Her first Broadway appearance came in the 1964 production of Anyone Can Whistle. She has the distinction of being the only actress to win a Tony every time she has been nominated (four times).

But it is for her portrayal of mystery author Jessica Beatrice Fletcher in the television series Murder, She Wrote that Lansbury is probably best known. Debuting on CBS in 1984, the show enjoyed top ten ratings throughout its twelve-year run (till 1996).

Films
[linked titles available from Movies Unlimited and/or amazon.com]

Gaslight (1944)
National Velvet (1944)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
The Harvey Girls (1946)
The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947)
If Winter Comes (1947)
Tenth Avenue Angel (1948)
If Winter Comes (1948)
State of the Union (1948)
The Three Musketeers (1948)
The Red Danube (1949)
Samson and Delilah (1949)
Kind Lady (1951)
Mutiny (1952)
Remains to Be Seen (1953)
A Life at Stake (1954)
A Lawless Street (1955)
The Purple Mask (1955)
Please Murder Me (1956)
The Court Jester (1956)
The Long, Hot Summer (1958)
The Reluctant Debutante (1958)
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1959)
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960)
A Breath of Scandal (1960)
Blue Hawaii (1961)
All Fall Down (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962) voice, uncredited
In the Cool of Day (1963)
The World of Henry Orient (1964)
Dear Heart (1965)
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965)
Harlow (1965)
Mr. Buddwing (1966)
Something for Everyone (1970)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
Death on the Nile (1978)
The Lady Vanishes (1979)
The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
The Last Unicorn (1982) voice
The Pirates of Penzance (1983)
The Company of Wolves (1984)
Beauty and the Beast (1991) voice
Disney Sing-Along-Songs: Be Our Guest (1994)
Anastasia (1996) voice
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997) voice
Forever Hollywood: Fantasia 2000 (1999)
Nanny McPhee (2005)
Kingdom Hearts II (2005) voice

Plays

Hotel Paradiso (1957)
A Taste of Honey (1960)
Anyone Can Whistle (1964) first on Broadway
Mame (1966)
Dear World (1969)
Prettybelle (1971)
All Over (1972)
Gypsy (1973-1974)
Hamlet (1975)
Counting the Ways (1977)
Listening (1977)
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979)
A Little Family Business (1982)
Deuce (2007)

Television Movies and Miniseries

Pontomime Quiz (1947)
The Indiscreet Mrs. Jarvis (1955)
The Story of the First Christmas Snow (1975) voice
Little Gloria... Happy at Last (1982)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1982)
The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story (1983)
A Talent for Murder (1984)
Lace (1984)
The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (1984)
The Murder of Sherlock Holmes (1984)
Rage of Angels: The Story Continues (1986)
Shootdown (1988)
The Shell Seekers (1989)
The Love She Sought (1990)
Mrs. 'arris Goes to Paris (1992)
Mrs. Santa Claus (1996)
Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest (1997)
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (1998)
Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For (2000)
Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man (2001)
Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle (2003)
The Blackwater Lightship (2004)
America's Top Sleuths (2006) as Jessica Fletcher

Television Series -- Starring Role

Star Time Playhouse (1955)
Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996)

Television Series -- Character Role
[in alphabetical order]

Celebrity Playhouse ("Deborah" 1956)
Climax Mystery Theater ("Bury Me Later" 1956; "The Devil's Brood" 1957
The Eleventh Hour ("Something Crazy's Going on in the Back Room" 1963)
Fireside Theatre ("The Indiscreet Mrs. Jarvis" 1955)
The Ford Television Theatre ("The Ming Lama" 1953)
Four Star Playhouse ("A String of Beads" 1954; "Madeira! Madeira! 1955)
Front Row Center ("Instant of Truth" 1956)
General Electric Theater ("The Crime of Daphne Rutledge" 1954)
Henry Fonda Presents The Star and the Story ("The Treasure" 1955; "The Force of Circumstance" 1956)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit ("Night" 2005)
Law & Order: Trial by Jury ("Day" 2005)
Lux Video Theatre ("That Wonderful Night" 1950; "Operation Weekend" 1952; "Stone's Throw" 1952; "A Chair for a Lady" 1954; as herself, "Here Comes the Groom" 1956)
Magnum P.I. (as Jessica Fletcher, "Novel Connection" 1986)
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. ("The Deadly Toys Affairs" 1965)
Newhart (as herself, "Lights! Camera! Contractions!" 1989)
Playhouse 90 ("Verdict of Three" 1958; "The Grey Nurse Said Nothing" 1959)
The Revlon Mirror Theater ("Dreams Never Lie" 1953)
Robert Montgomery Presents ("The Citadel" 1950; "Cakes and Ale" 1953)
Scene of the Crime (as herself, "The Babysitter" 1984)
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars ("Storm Swept" 1953)
Screen Directors Playhouse ("Claire" 1956)
Stage 7 ("Billy and the Bride" 1955)
Studio 57 ("The Brown Leather Case" 1956; "The Rarest Stamp" 1956)
Touched by an Angel ("For All the Tea in China" 2002)
The Trials of O'Brien ("Leave It to Me" 1965)
Undercurrent ("Deborah" 1957)
Wogan (1991)

Television Series Appearances -- as Herself

The Danny Kaye Show (October 2, 1964)
The George Gobel Show (October 9, 1954)
Good Day Live (January 30, 2004)
The Julie Andrews Hour (February 10, 1973)
Larry King Live (February 2, 2004)
The Rosie O'Donnell Show (November 26, 1996; October 29, 1997; May 17, 1999)
Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows (1954)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (October 19, 1990)
The View (January 27, 2006 and February 26, 2007)
What's My Line? (December 4, 1966)

Special Programs

The 100 Greatest Family Films (2005)
About Schmidt (2002) voice, uncredited
Academy Awards (1959, 1968, 1992) performer
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes & Villains (2003)
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs (2004)
The American Film Institute Salute to Elizabeth Taylor (1993)
American Masters: Helen Hayes: First Lady of the American Theatre (1991)
American Masters: On Cukor (2000)
America's All-Star Tribute to Elizabeth Taylor (1989)
Backstory: The Long, Hot Summer (2001)
The Best of Disney Music: A Legacy in Song -- Part I (1993)
Biography: Angela Lansbury: A Balancing Act (1998)
Biography: Bea Arthur (2006)
Biography: Paul Newman: Hollywood's Charming Rebel (1995)
Bob Hope: The First 90 Years (1993)
Bob Hope & Friends: Making Memories (1991)
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age (scheduled for 2008)
Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There (2003)
CBS at 75 (2003)
CBS: The First 50 Years (1998)
Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic (2004)
Character Studies: Rose (2005)
Circus of the Stars #5 (1980) ringmaster
The Directors: The Films of John Frankenheimer (????)
Disney Through the Decades (2001) host
Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs": Still the Fairest of Them All (2002) narrator
Elizabeth Taylor: England's Other Elizabeth (2000)
Fantasia/2000 (1999) hostess
Forever Hollywood (1999)
Frank Capra's American Dream (1997)
Glorious Technicolor (1998) narrator
Grammy Living Legends (1989)
The Grand Opening of Euro Disney (1992)
Great Performances: The Best of Broadway (1985)
Great Performances: Broadway's Lost Treasures (2003)
Great Performances: Broadway's Lost Treasures II (2004)
Intimate Portrait: Bea Arthur (2003)
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1987)
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1993)
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (2001) honoree
Liberty Weekend (1986)
The Magical Journey of "Anastasia" (1997)
The Making of "Anastasia" (2006)
The Making of "Beauty and the Beast" (1991)
The Making of "The Wizard of Oz" (1979) host
The Masters Behind the Musicals (2004)
Mormon Tabernacle Choir Presents the Joy of Christmas with Angela Lansbury (2002)
Music Magic: The Sherman Brothers--Bedknobs and Broomsticks (2001)
Reflections on "Gaslight" (2003)
Sinatra: 80 Years My Way (1995)
The Story Behind the Story (2002)
Tale as Old as Time: The Making of "Beauty and the Beast" (2002)
Tony Awards (1975, 1979, 1981, 1987, 1989) performer
TV Land's Top Ten: Greatest TV Romances (2005)
Walt Disney World's 20th Anniversary Celebration (1991)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic (1990) hostess
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook (2005) narrator
Your Studio and You (1995)

Soundtracks
[in alphabetical order]

Anastasia (1997)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
The Harvey Girls (1946) uncredited
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) uncredited
Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) uncredited

Awards

Academy Awards (Oscars)
1945 -- nominated -- Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Gaslight
1946 -- nominated -- Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- The Picture of Dorian Gray
1963 -- nominated -- Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- The Manchurian Candidate

American National Medal of the Arts (National Endowment of the Arts)
1997

Annie Awards
1998 -- nominated -- Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production -- Anastasia

BAFTA Awards
1979 -- nominated -- Best Supporting Actress -- Death on the Nile

BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards
2003 -- Lifetime Achievement in Television and Film

CableACE Awards
1983 -- winner -- Actress in a Theatrical or Musical Program -- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Emmy Awards
1983 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special -- Little Gloria... Happy at Last
1985 -- nominated -- Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program -- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
1985 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1986 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1987 -- nominated -- Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program -- The 41st Annual Tony Awards
1987 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1988 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1989 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1990 -- nominated -- Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program -- The 43rd Annual Tony Awards
1990 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1991 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1992 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1993 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1994 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1995 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1996 -- nominated -- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1999 -- nominated -- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series -- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
2004 -- nominated -- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries of Movie -- The Blackwater Lightship
2005 -- nominated -- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series -- Law & Order: Trial by Jury
[holds the record for most nominations without a win]

Golden Globes
1946 -- winner -- Best Supporting Actress -- The Picture of Dorian Gray
1963 -- winner -- Best Supporting Actress -- The Manchurian Candidate
1971 -- nominated -- Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical/Comedy -- Something for Everyone
1972 -- nominated -- Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical/Comedy -- Bedknobs and Broomsticks
1984 -- nominated -- Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV -- The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story
1985 -- winner -- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Drama -- Murder, She Wrote
1986 -- nominated -- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Drama -- Murder, She Wrote
1987 -- winner -- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Drama -- Murder, She Wrote
1988 -- nominated -- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Drama -- Murder, She Wrote
1989 -- nominated -- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Drama -- Murder, She Wrote
1990 -- winner -- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Drama -- Murder, She Wrote
1991 -- nominated -- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Drama -- Murder, She Wrote
1992 -- winner -- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Drama -- Murder, She Wrote
1993 -- nominated -- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Drama -- Murder, She Wrote
1995 -- nominated -- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Drama -- Murder, She Wrote

Golden Satellite Awards
2005 -- nominated -- Best Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television -- The Blackwater Lightship

Grammy Awards
1966 -- co-winner -- Mame
1979 -- co-winner -- Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Hasty Pudding Theatricals, USA (Harvard University)
1968 -- Woman of the Year

Hollywood Walk of Fame
Motion Picture at 6623 Hollywood Boulevard
Television at 1510 Vine Street

John F. Kennedy Center Honors
2000

Laurel Awards
1963 -- nominated -- Top Female Supporting Performance -- The Manchurian Candidate

Lucy Awards (Women in Film)
1996

National Board of Review, USA
1962 -- winner -- Best Supporting Actress -- The Manchurian Candidate and All Fall Down
1978 -- winner -- Best Supporting Actress -- Death on the Nile

Raven Awards (Edgar Allan Poe Awards)
1988 -- winner

Sarah Siddons Woman of the Year Award
two-time winner

Saturn Awards (Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA)
1982 -- nominated -- Best Actress -- The Mirror Crack'd

Screen Actors Guild Awards
1995 -- nominated -- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series -- Murder, She Wrote
1997 -- winner -- Life Achievement Award

Television Critics Association Awards
1996 -- winner -- Career Achievement Award

Theatre Hall of Fame
1982

Tony Awards
1966 -- winner -- Best Actress in a Musical -- Mame
1969 -- winner -- Best Actress in a Musical -- Dear World
1975 -- winner -- Best Actress in a Musical -- Gypsy
1979 -- winner -- Best Actress in a Musical -- Sweeney Todd
[only actress to go undefeated, winning all 4 for which nominated]
[hosted or co-hosted 1968, 1971, 1987, 1988, 1989 -- more than any other individual]

TV Land Awards
2007 -- winner -- Favorite Lady Gumshoe -- Murder, She Wrote

Questions or comments about this page?

Andy World--Angela Lansbury.net www.angelalansbury.net
Internet Movie Database. www.imdb.com/name/nm0001450/
The Museum of Broadcast Communications. www.museum.tv/archives/etv/L/htmlL/lansburyang/lansburyang.htm

This page was last updated on 10/13/2009.