Angela Lansbury

If you know more information about Angela Lansbury help us to improve this page

Birthday:

16 October 1925, Regent's Park, London, England, UK

Birth Name:

Angela Brigid Lansbury

Height:

173 cm

British character actress, long in the United States. The daughter of an actress and the granddaughter of a high-ranking politician, Lansbury studied acting from her youth, departing for the United States as the Second World War began. She was contracted by MGM while still a teenager and nominated for an Academy Award for her first film, Gaslight (1944). Two pictures later, she was again nominated for Best Supporting Actress, this time for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). Now established as a supporting player of quality, she began a long career, often as "the other woman" in major productions and as the leading lady in lesser films. Her features, while not at all old-appearing, gave her an air of maturity that allowed her to pass as much older than she actually was, and she began playing mother roles, often to players of her own age, while yet in her thirties. She concentrated more and more on stage work, achieving notable success in a number of Broadway plays and musicals, winning four Tony Awards in sixteen years. Although active in television since the early 1950s, she obtained her greatest fame in the 1980s by starring in the light mystery program Murder, She Wrote (1984). As Jessica Fletcher, she became known and loved by millions for well over a decade. She also became known for the odd fact of almost annual Emmy Award nominations for the role without ever winning for it. An institution in American theatre and television, she is also an inspiration for the graciousness of her personality, which is often exploited and always admired. Show less «

Actors are not made, they are born.

I've had an incredible relationship with my husband, with my family. I know they've had problems of their own, but we have never wavered in ...Show more »

I've had an incredible relationship with my husband, with my family. I know they've had problems of their own, but we have never wavered in our closeness as a family. I've had a hell of a life. Show less «

I just stopped playing bitches on wheels and peoples' mothers. I have only a few more years to kick up my heels!

[on working with the choir, the first time] I felt extremely nervous. I felt I was working with a group of people who are so wonderfully int...Show more »

[on working with the choir, the first time] I felt extremely nervous. I felt I was working with a group of people who are so wonderfully integrated among themselves to produce wonderful sound, music, singing their voices are so pure, so clear. I've listened so much to them inthe past to be singing down with them, I was very nervous. Show less «

I'm never left behind. I'm the bionic woman.

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

It has been erroneously reported that I am a Republican! I am not a Republican. It's all over the Internet and It's bizarre. I'm a huge Obam...Show more »

It has been erroneously reported that I am a Republican! I am not a Republican. It's all over the Internet and It's bizarre. I'm a huge Obama fan. I've already voted for him by absentee ballot. I am Democrat from the ground up. Show less «

[on handling the early success and Oscar nominations while still being in her teens] I was a very serious teenager at that time and I consid...Show more »

[on handling the early success and Oscar nominations while still being in her teens] I was a very serious teenager at that time and I considered the work to be the most important thing and I concentrated on that. I was a bit goody goody. I didn't fool around at all, which is a bit of a shame, I think. I've missed on a lot of fun, but I've made up for it later [laughs]. Show less «

[Advice to aspiring actors] I really can't honestly give any tips beyond hang on to your dream. Hang on to what you want, what you feel you ...Show more »

[Advice to aspiring actors] I really can't honestly give any tips beyond hang on to your dream. Hang on to what you want, what you feel you want to achieve and go for it. We are all the victims of our own talent and our own shortcomings sometimes, and we have to be aware of those things because they will trip us up and stop us from achieving what our aims are. Show less «

Work in the theatre just keeps revitalizing me, it keeps giving me the excitement and the fun of something new coming up and that's a great ...Show more »

Work in the theatre just keeps revitalizing me, it keeps giving me the excitement and the fun of something new coming up and that's a great gift. Show less «

[2013] I absolutely do not have a retirement age... I'm only 87 - which today is nothing. It's just like 60 a few years back. I believe age ...Show more »

[2013] I absolutely do not have a retirement age... I'm only 87 - which today is nothing. It's just like 60 a few years back. I believe age should not stop you from keeping on. Show less «

[on the desire to perform until the very end] My son said to me "Mom, honestly, the best thing for you would be to keep working and just go ...Show more »

[on the desire to perform until the very end] My son said to me "Mom, honestly, the best thing for you would be to keep working and just go out on stage." and I think that's a good thing to aim for. Show less «

[on what make her going at the age of 87] I rest, I take a nap, I don't eat stupidly, I take care of the bod and that's very, very important...Show more »

[on what make her going at the age of 87] I rest, I take a nap, I don't eat stupidly, I take care of the bod and that's very, very important when you get to a certain age. I'm the bionic woman; I've got knees, hips, everything is new and that has made a tremendous difference to me; replacements are high on my list of goodies. Show less «

[on the Murder, She Wrote (1984) remake] I think it's a mistake to call it Murder, She Wrote (1984), because Murder, She Wrote (1984) will a...Show more »

[on the Murder, She Wrote (1984) remake] I think it's a mistake to call it Murder, She Wrote (1984), because Murder, She Wrote (1984) will always be about a Cabot Cove and this wonderful little group of people who told those lovely stories and enjoyed a piece of that place, and also enjoyed Jessica Fletcher, who is a rare and very individual kind of person. So I'm sorry that they have to use the title Murder, She Wrote (1984), even though they have access to it and it's their right. Show less «

[on being awarded British Damehood] I'm joining a marvelous group of women I greatly admire like Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. It's a lovely ...Show more »

[on being awarded British Damehood] I'm joining a marvelous group of women I greatly admire like Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. It's a lovely thing to be given that nod of approval by your own country and I really cherish it. Show less «

Children in our business suffer from exposure. Mine did because I was Broadway star. And my children's generation was the first to be confus...Show more »

Children in our business suffer from exposure. Mine did because I was Broadway star. And my children's generation was the first to be confused by reality, The Sixties was a bad time to find yourself. Show less «

[on Bette Davis] She is an original. There has never been anyone, before or since, who could touch her.

[speaking in 2015 about reprising her Murder, She Wrote (1984) character Jessica Fletcher] I think it would be a downer. In some way, we'd h...Show more »

[speaking in 2015 about reprising her Murder, She Wrote (1984) character Jessica Fletcher] I think it would be a downer. In some way, we'd have to show her as a much older woman, and I think it's better to maintain that picture we have in our mind's eye of her as a vigorous person. I'm still pretty vigorous, especially in the garden ... but if I wanted to transform myself back into the woman I looked like then, it would be ridiculous. And I can't do that. Show less «