The talented actress, singer, and all-around fantastic performer Angela Lansbury died on October 11th, leaving behind two children as well as an impressive and well-cataloged career. The London-born actress spent most of her career in America as well as Ireland, the international actress was a household name for almost all of her 80-year career. Starring in the iconic children’s movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks where she plays Miss Price a young cunning witch who tries to put her witchy powers to the test in order to defeat the Nazis. However, her powers are used for slightly more kid-friendly purposes when she transports herself and two children to a mystical fairytale world. While watching this film every child wanted to not only travel to this mystical land, but we all also wanted to hold onto Angela Lansbury’s hand and feel the pure magic that she always emanated. The magic of Miss Lansbury was also seen in her small role in the 2005 film Nanny Mcphee, where she played the dominating Great Aunt Adelaide. While this character certainly strays far from her role in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, she still manages to leave a distinct mark in the audience’s mind.
The iconic actress had a career that touched all corners of entertainment from stage, television, and film, however, most of her more notable work was done on the stage. Lansbury starred in the greatest shows theater has to offer, including Sweeny Todd, The King and I, and her breakout Broadway role in the musical Mame in 1966. Her role in Mame won her one of her five Tonys but also established her as a gay icon, with her iconic line as Mame Dennis “Life is a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death,” truly spoke to the gay community. While the gay community tied themselves with this character and this distinct line, Lansbury spoke of her immense happiness at the connection the gay community felt towards Mame, “I am very proud of the fact that I am a gay icon,”.
While she has dabbled in many roles one of her most successful was her role as an amateur detective and author Jessica Fletcher in the mystery Tv show, Murder She Wrote. Murder She Wrote was one of the longest-running mystery Tv shows in television history, it ran for 12 seasons from 1984-1996 and gave Lansbury the widest-reaching audience she ever had. This series is your classic comfort mystery show, probably the type of thing you would watch with your mom late at night hoping she wouldn’t notice it was past your bedtime. This seems to be the theme in Lansbury productions, we hold them extremely close to our hearts and find some way to identify them with an easier time in our lives. While all of her roles have been legendary, there is only one tale as old as time in the Lansbury book of acting, and that is her role as Miss Potts in Beauty and The Beast. The iconic movie and loveable character have stood the test of time with remakes and rewatches happening all over the world. Certainly one of Lansbury’s most beloved roles and a true showcase of her range of abilities as well as her lovable demeanor we will all miss.