Angela Lansbury

Background

Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury was an Irish-British actress and singer, whose profound talents on-screen have earned her a large fanbase of global supporters. Lansbury was a Libra born on October 16, 1925, and her birthplace is St. Pancras, Central London. Her mother was an actress, while her father was an English timber merchant and former mayor. Hence, Lansbury was born into a wealthy family and is of English-Irish descent. She grew up with siblings, and their family moved to Mill Hill in North London when she was four. When Lansbury turned nine, her father died from stomach cancer and the family faced financial difficulty. However, her mother got engaged to a Scottish colonel, and she attended South Hampstead High School, graduating in 1939. Lansbury visited the cinema often and started studying Acting at the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Arts in Kensington. After her grandfather’s death, Lansbury’s mother moved the family to the United States. Through scholarship, she gained admission into the Feagin School of Drama and Radio in New York and graduated in March 1942.

Lansbury’s debut film role was in “Gaslight” (1944), where she played the role of Nancy Oliver, a conniving cockney maid. She signed a seven-year contract with M.G.M., earning $500 a week the same year. Lansbury’s role in “Gaslight” earned her a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination. She starred in “National Velvet” (1944) and “The Picture of Dorian Gray” (1945), for which she received her first Golden Globe Best Supporting Actress Award. By the 1950s, Lansbury was an established actress. Her debut television role was in an episode of “Robert Montgomery Presents” (1950). In 1952, following a stint of unproductive roles, Lansbury terminated her contract with M.G.M. In the 1960s, she starred in “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs” (1960), “All Fall Down” (1962), “In the Cool of the Day” (1963), etcetera. In the 1970s, Lansbury spent more time on stage. Her role in “Death on the Nile” (1978) was critically acclaimed. She appeared in more films before voicing Mrs. Potts in the Disney animation “Beauty and the Beast” (1991). The film’s title song, which she performed, won several awards, including the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media. By the 2000s, Lansbury starred as Aunt Adelaide in “Nanny McPhee” (2005) and “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” (2011) with Jim Carrey. She also received an Academy Honorary Award for her lifetime achievement in 2013.

Lansbury appeared in several more films, including “Mary Poppins Returns” (2018). She partook in several theater productions, including the role of Gertrude in N.T.C.’s Hamlet, and gained fame on Broadway. For her television career, she starred in “Murder, She Wrote” from 1984 to 1996. Lansbury is a highly awarded actress and singer who has won several awards, including six Golden Globes, five Tonys, a S.A.G., and a BAFTA. She shared her success with her family, which features her husband, Peter Shaw, until his death 54 years later in 2003. She had two children with Shaw and a stepson from his previous marriage.