Dame Angela Lansbury has died aged 96.
The Murder, She Wrote and Beauty and the Beast star died “peacefully in her sleep” on Tuesday (11 October), her family have announced.
“The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1.30am today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday,” her family said in a statement.
“In addition to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, she is survived by three grandchildren, Peter, Katherine and Ian, plus five great grandchildren and her brother, producer Edgar Lansbury. She was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw.”
The statement continued to say that a private family ceremony will be held at a later date.
Across her storied career, the London-born actor won five Tony Awards. Most recently, she was feted with the prize in 2009 for her performance in Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit .
She previously won a Tony for best musical actress in 1979 for her roles as Nellie Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and for Mame (1966), Dear World (1969), and Gypsy (1975).
On screen, Lansbury famously lent her voice to the heartwarming character of Mrs Pott in the 1991 musical Beauty and the Beast.
As Mrs Pott, the actor sang one of the film’s most memorable songs, “Tale As Old as Time”.
In 2016, she performed the song at Lincoln Centre in New York City in celebration of Beauty and the Beast’s 25th anniversary.
More to follow...
