# Angela Lansbury passes away at 96 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [October 11, 2022, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086 "2022-10-11T19:53:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/21 "2022-10-11T23:24:01Z")
In 1962’s “Manchurian Candidate”, she portrayed Eleanor Iselin, Laurence Harvey’s mother. It was probably the most atypical role of hers! Whenever you see or hear people discussing any movie villain, she is always mentioned. This showed the tremendous acting range she had! Eleanor Iselin was just dripping with pure evil! It’s impossible to think of Angela Lansbury as the lovable “Jessica Fletcher” when you watch this movie! As I said she had a _tremendous_ acting range! She was quite the actress and always delivered a great performance! R.I.P. Angela ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/22 "2022-10-11T23:41:36Z")
> [@Jay\_Z](#): > > Jessica wasn’t stopping murders anyway. Rate will drop like a stone 'cuz she did 'em all herself! This. The families of her victims can now hopefully get some measure of closure, if not justice, at her passing. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/23 "2022-10-11T23:44:25Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > The families of her victims can now hopefully get some measure of closure, if not justice, at her passing. Not to mention all the murders she was an accessory to as Mrs. Lovett in _Sweeney Todd!_ In fact, she was the one who came up with the idea! ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/24 "2022-10-11T23:45:48Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I remember her from the **Pirates of Penzance** movie from 1983, the one with Kevin Kline. > > It’s great. I was actually feeling bad due to a sort of misplaced responsibility when I heard the news today - I was having horrible Monday-itis on Sunday, so I put this exact movie and sang along with all my favorite parts. She will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/25 "2022-10-12T00:53:28Z")
Angela was doing theater regularly until 2012. Starring role in Gore Vadel’s The Best Man Mar 06-Jul 22 2012. Her long list of plays is astonishing. > **[Angela Lansbury – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/angela-lansbury-48943)** > > The official database for Broadway theatre information ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/26 "2022-10-12T01:18:42Z")
I just learned Bruce Lansbury is Angela’s younger brother. He was the producer on Wild Wild West, Mission Impossible, Wonder Woman, Knight Rider, and **Murder She Wrote**. That may explain why Angela did the series for so many years. She was working with family. Bruce died in 2017. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/27 "2022-10-12T14:33:03Z")
She was 19 or 20 when she was in Gaslight and National Velvet. She always played ‘older’…My favorite is her snotty showgirl in The Harvey Girls in those lurid costumes. Sneering at America’s sweetheart, Judy Garland! … What a long, remarkable career! RIP! ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/28 "2022-10-12T14:52:33Z")
In _Murder She Wrote_ there were usually dramatic pauses, focusing on Angela’s face, as she realizes exactly how the murder happened from some inconspicuous detail. Whenever somebody has a big realization in either fiction or in my real life, I always say they’re having a Jessica Fletcher moment. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/29 "2022-10-12T14:56:32Z")
I was never what you would call a big fan of Ms. Lansbury, don’t know if I ever watched an episode of _“Murder She Wrote”_, but then one day (I think it was on PBS), they had a full movie version of the play _“Sweeney Todd”_ and I was blown away with her incredible performance as Ms. Lovett, especially as her singing held it’s own with a very good George Hearn. The last two lines they sang at the very end still echo with me: Sweeney: “To seek revenge may lead to Hell…” Miss Lovett: “But everyone does it and seldom as well.” If you’ve never seen it, do so and prepare to be mezmerized by the performance and marvel at Ms. Lansbury’s performance of a very complex role. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/30 "2022-10-12T15:02:14Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > No one’s mentioned The Manchurian Candidate yet, so I will. They had snippets of a Terry Gross interview with her on NPR yesterday, and she mentioned how she often played older than her actual age. Then, they talked a bit about _The Manchurian Candidate_ and didn’t mention she played Lawrence Harvey’s mother when she was _only four years older than he._ On edit: How could I forget _The Harvey Girls_? One of my favorite movies as a young teen. She was wonderful in everything she did. And a big ditto on Sweeney Todd. Awesome performance. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/31 "2022-10-12T16:21:41Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > I was never what you would call a big fan of Ms. Lansbury, don’t know if I ever watched an episode of _“Murder She Wrote”_, but then one day (I think it was on PBS), they had a full movie version of the play _“Sweeney Todd”_ and I was blown away with her incredible performance as Ms. Lovett, especially as her singing held it’s own with a very good George Hearn. I think the version I saw had Len Cariou as Sweeney. Lansbury was always a joy to watch in musicals, and _Sweeney Todd_ and _Pirates of Penzance_ are my favorite appearances of hers. (Conversely, _Bedknobs and Broomsticks_ seems to go on for-flipping-ever.) ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/32 "2022-10-12T20:37:01Z")
She was crazy talented. She could act, dance and sing. She also had the most underrated legs in Hollywood. Here she is at 49 years old. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/G6Y67ZpUIEI/hqdefault.jpg "MILLIE") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Y67ZpUIEI) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/33 "2022-10-12T20:53:21Z")
That was incredible!! Dancing on stairs… and splits, too! 🤩 ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/34 "2022-10-12T21:36:39Z")
In heels! Not to mention when she stepped on the coat which did not look intentional. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/35 "2022-10-13T08:18:42Z")
Peripheral factoid: her grandfather was the politician George Lansbury, considered the conscience of the British Labour Party until his stubborn pacifism was overtaken by events in the 1930s. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/36 "2022-10-14T23:36:59Z")
In the 1960’s, she moved her family out of the country to get her kids away from Charlie Manson, who her daughter had befriended. She was prescient enough to realize how dangerous he was, and was loyal enough to prioritize her children. > [@](#): > > Lansbury said, she told husband [Peter Shaw](https://people.com/movies/angela-lansburys-marriage-and-family-with-late-husband-peter-shaw-my-dear-loving-husband/) that they had “to leave” California — at which point they “upped sticks and moved the family to a house I found in County Cork.” > > “I was drawn to Ireland because it was the birthplace of my mother and it was also somewhere my children wouldn’t be exposed to any more bad influences,” said the actress, who was born in London. “I refused all work for a year and simply kept house. I bought Elizabeth David’s books and learned how to cook properly. It was a wonderful time in my life.” > > Lansbury also told the Daily Mail that after the family’s relocation overseas, “Anthony pulled right out of his bad habits quite quickly.” > > And while “it took Deidre a little longer,” her daughter “finally got married and she and her husband now live in Los Angeles, where they run their own Italian restaurant,” Lansbury said at the time. > **[Angela Lansbury Fled California to Get Daughter Away from Charles Manson: He...](https://people.com/movies/angela-lansbury-left-california-to-get-daughter-away-from-charles-manson/)** > > Angela Lansbury, who died this week at 96, said in 2014 that Charles Manson was 'charismatic in many ways, no question about it' ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086/37 "2022-10-14T23:58:15Z")
Her son is a director. Anthony Shaw directed 68 episodes of Murder She Wrote. Angela made the right choice in relocating her family and even taking a year off work to help her kids. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angela-lansbury-passes-away-at-96/973086.md?page=1)