Posted By: Ejaz Abbasi | February 24, 2019
Angela Lansbury Biography
Angela Lansbury is a famous British-American actress with Irish roots. She is well recognized and best known for her performance equally on television, stage and in movies. She moved to the United States in the year 1940 to escape the German bombarding of Britain in the Second World War. In the United States, she initially did petty jobs to support her family. After that, she got some major roles on stage and in movies. She was successful in gaining fame in the industry. Angela nominated twice for the Academy Award even before turning twenty years. She received these two nominations for her performance in the movies “Gaslight” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” She was the youngest to receive two Academy Award nominations at that time.
She also nominated for the Emmy Award for 12 consecutive years but unfortunately, did not win any. However, throughout her career, she won five “Tony Awards” and six “Golden Globe Awards.” She appeared in some successful movies such as “Death on the Nile,” “Bedknobs and Broomsticks,” and “The Manchurian Candidate” to name a few. She surprised the critics by her performance in the musical named “Mame” in which she portrayed the character of Mame Dennis.
Her works, during her career, added a lot to her name, fame, and popularity and she is best known for her performance as the lead role in the detective series namely “Murder, She Wrote.” She also performed some critically acclaimed roles on stage in several plays including “Blithe Spirit” and “Deuce.” This article will provide you with a lot of info about this beautiful multi-talented lady. If you are a fan of her then just sit back and read this article to know everything about her.
Angela Lansbury Childhood and Early Life:
Angela Lansbury was born on 16 October 1925 AD in Regent’s Park, Central London, United Kingdom. Her mother’s name was Moyna Macgill who was an actress by profession. Her father’s name was Edgar Lansbury who was a timber merchant. Edgar Lansbury turned towards politics following the footsteps of his father named George Lansbury who was the leader of the British Labor Party. George Lansbury was an anti-war activist. When she was only nine years old, her father died of stomach cancer.
As far as her education is concerned, Angela studied at South Hampstead High School from the year 1934 to 1939. She was mainly self-educated through cinema, theatre, and books. She started taking acting classes at the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art in Kensington, West London in the year 1940. In the year 1940, her grandfather also died, and after the death of her grandfather, her mother moved to the United States along with the family to escape the German bombarding of Britain in the Second World War.
When she started education in the United States, she gained a scholarship from the American Theatre Wing and began studying at the Feagin School of Drama and Radio. She took the degree of graduation from the institute in the year 1942. In Britain, her debut performance was in a school production named “Mary of Scotland” by Maxwell Anderson. In the United States, her debut performance was in “The Way of the World” by William Congreve and in “Lady Windermere’s Fan” by Oscar Wilde.
Angela Lansbury Career:
In the year 1942, Angela started her career at the age of 16 with her performance in a nightclub act at the Samovar Club, Montreal. She earned $60 a week singing Noel Coward songs. Soon after, her mother hosted a party, and in the party, she met John van Druten who was the screenplay writer of the film version of “Gaslight.” John recommended Angela to perform in the 1944 movie as a conniving Cockney maid named Nancy Oliver.
Her performance in the movie was perfect, and she also won an Academy Award nomination. In the same year, she appeared in another commercially successful movie named “National Velvet.” Her next movies include “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” “The Harvey Girl,” “The Three Musketeers” and “State of the Union.” After that, she returned to theatre productions and appeared in the play “Hotel Paradiso” in the year 1957. In the year 1960, she again appeared in a Broadway production named “A Taste of Honey.”
Then she turned her focus towards movies. And performed in some successful movies including “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs” in the year 1960, “All Fall Down” in 1962 and “The Manchurian Candidate” in 1963. She got the third nomination for Academy Award for her performance in the movie named “The Manchurian Candidate.” After that, she appeared in a musical named “Mame” and performed the role of Mame Dennis in the year 1966.
Angela won Tony Awards for her performance in the musical. She performed in “Mame” for a few years, and in the 1970s she got some of the important roles. Her next movies include “Something for Everything,” “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” in 1971 and “Death on the Nile” in the year 1978. Her next brilliant work was the detective television series named “Murder, She Wrote” that appeared on screens in 1984. She performed the role of Jessica Fletcher in the series for the next 12 years. She then appeared in another television series named “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and in a movie named “Nanny McPhee” in the year 2005.
Major Works:
Following are some best works by Angela Lansbury, and all these are worth seeing:
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Angela Lansbury Awards and Achievements:
Throughout her career, she nominated many times for the prestigious awards. She won the following awards and nominations:
- Angela won six Golden Globe Awards throughout her career.
- She won five Tony Awards throughout her career.
- Angela nominated for the Emmy Award for 12 consecutive years for her performance as Jessica Fletcher in the television series “Murder, She Wrote,” but unfortunately, did not win any.
Angela Lansbury Personal Life:
As far as Angela’s personal life is concerned, she eloped with Richard Cromwell when she was 19 years old. The couple married in the year 1945. This marriage was not successful and ended in divorce in the following year. It said that Cromwell was gay and Angela did not know this at the time of marriage. After that, she married an actor named Peter Shaw in the year 1949. They remained together for five decades until the death of Shaw in the year 2003. The couple blessed with two children named Deirdre and Anthony. Both of them remained part of the anti-establishment movement. And later Deirdre opened a restaurant, and Anthony became a television director.
Angela Lansbury Net Worth:
Angela Lansbury has an estimated net worth of almost $70 million (estimated in 2017).
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