Vital stats: Angela Brigid Lansbury,
born October 16, 1925 in
Regents Park.
Her mom was Moyna MacGill, a West End actress,
and her dad, Edgar Lansbury, a timber merchant/politician,
who died when Angela turned 9.
The family left England for Canada and America in 1940.
From Montreal to NYC to Hollywood,
while Moyna looked for work in "pictures!"
Angela's break (at the age of 17) came as a result of
a party that Moyna threw.
John Van Druten came to this shindig, met Angela, and thought her perfect
for the part of the maid in Gaslight.
(Due to her young age, they had to have a social worker on set.)
This part led to an MGM contract ($500 a week!)
and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Early films: The Picture Of Dorian Gray with Hurd Hatfield
and National Velvet with Elizabeth Taylor and Juanita Quigley.
Lunching with Basil Rathbone,
Angela as Princess Guinevere in The Court Jester, 1955.
Based on the hair and costume, I believe this is The Harvey Girls, 1946.
Above, a pic from Til The Clouds Roll By, also released in 1946.
The above shot is of course from State Of The Union, released in 1948. Above, Angela with Adolphe Menjou. It also starred Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey and I've only watched it about 79 times!
Below, The Manchurian Candidate, which had Angela playing Laurence Harvey's mother, when she was in fact only 3 years older than he. She received a Golden Globe for her work in this picture. Oh, and BTW, Frank Sinatra wanted to Lucille Ball to play this part. Whew! We dodged that bullet!
Two Broadway achievements: Above, Anyone Can Whistle, a Sondheim flop, and below, Angela's turn at playing Mama Rose in Gypsy.
At the age of 41, Angela landed a plum role as MAME in that Jerry Herman musical of 1966. A Tony Award for Angie! And another star turn in Sweeney Todd as Mrs. Lovett (below with Len Cariou).
Television-wise, Murder She Wrote lasted for 12 years!
The show was called "a television landmark" for having an older female character as the protagonist.
Not sure what the above pic is from, but it reminds me her role in Jerry
Herman's Dear World, which was based on The Mad Woman Of Chaillot.
Below, Angela as Madame Acarti in Blithe Spirit (on Broadway in 2009), which she starred in along with Rupert Everett and Christine Ebersole.
WOW! Angela has had her career dips,
but age seemed to bring her a second wind!
Let's count down those awards: An Honorary Oscar,
A BAFTA for Lifetime Achievement, 5 Tonys, 6 Golden Globes, and an Olivier. Nomination-wise, 3 Oscar noms, 18 Emmy noms, and a Grammy.
Oh, and she's a Dame (a real one).
95 years young, come Friday, the 16th!
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