I'm David Bianculli, in for Terry Gross, back with more of Terry's 2000 interview with Broadway, film and TV actress Angela Lansbury. ANGELA LANSBURY, MURDER, SHE WROTE STAR AND HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS, DEAD AT 96. Photo by Getty Images. But what I experienced at drama school was the fun and the excitement of being given a part. He was a great friend of Joan Crawford's and, oh, Bill Holden and Zachary Scott and all kinds of actors and actresses of that era. 1 Movie on Netflix with 82.1 Million Hours Viewed on First Weekend, 'Knives Out' Director Confirms That Daniel Craig's Character Benoit Blanc Is 'Obviously' Queer, Everything to Know About Netflix's 'Glass Onion' :'A Knives Out Mystery', Madelyn Cline Had a 'Little Freak-Out' When She Met Her Famous 'Knives Out 2' Costars, 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery': The Killer Is in Plain Sight in Sequel Trailer, Jamie Lee Curtis Jokes She's 'Jealous' of 'Knives Out 2' Stars After Not Getting Cast in Sequel, Kate Hudson Says She Avoided Alcohol Until After Filming Her 'Glass Onion' Bikini Scene, The Cast of 'Outer Banks' : Everything to Know, Lansbury's life and career in a Twitter post, won a Tony in 1979 for best actress in a musical. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE"). Angela Lansbury stars in Murder, She Wrote in 2003, Dame Angela attends a celebration of classic films alongside fellow veteran actors, Dame Angela in October 2019, at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, Angela played a crime novelist in hit US show Murder, She Wrote, Dame Angela with her Blithe Spirit co-stars, Rupert Everett and Dame Julie Andrews, backstage during the Broadway show in 2009, Angela Lansbury's marriages: Heartbreak after gay husband left to finding her true love, Michelle Visage told ex Strictly partner Giovanni his Lion King outfit was 'ridiculous', Inside Angela Lansbury's glittering career - Disney, Murder, She Wrote and endless gongs, Louis Tomlinson's late mum helped forge James Corden and Harry Styles' friendship, Kerry Katona defends Lauren Goodger after ex TOWIE star gets baby daughter's ears pierced. Angela Lansbury Obituary (1925-2022) - vulture.com In 1944, she made her film debut with "Gaslight" alongside Ingrid Bergman, followed by 1945's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" she received a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for both roles. LANSBURY: I can't honestly say, except by my on-set demeanor. Take, for instance, Mrs. Mooney and her pie shop. BOYER: (As Gregory Anton) Yes. LANSBURY: So - but in fact, I had been smoking for a couple of years. And he was an extraordinarily careful, painstaking person when it came to lighting women. GROSS: Did you learn a different style of singing from being exposed to all the singers in his collection? Armfeldt's solo to celebrate Stephen Sondheim's Special Olivier Award. She played the role of Aunt March in the 2017 BBC adaptation of Little Women, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott. And I did - I went very fast in drama school and ended up working in one of the senior plays. Writer-director Rian Johnson honored Lansbury's life and career in a Twitter post Tuesday. LANSBURY: (As Nancy Oliver) Seems to be getting worse, doesn't she, sir? I thought you was a ghost half a minute. From villainesses to sleuths and light comic roles in movies, on stage . It's been worked on here and in Russia, on and off, for over eight years. GROSS: Well, I thank you so very much for talking with us. In 1991, Lansbury starred in the Disney classic, "Beauty and the Beast" as Mrs. Potts, the former castle cook who turned into a teapot after the curse was placed on the castle. And that's what I bring to singing - is - because I'm not really a singer. And Johnny will rise gallantly to his feet and lift Ben Arthur's body in his arms, stand in front of the microphones and begin to speak. LANSBURY: (As Nancy Oliver) No, sir. Remembering Angela Lansbury, a legend of the stage and screen However, while she rarely portrayed villains, her greatest screen performance is arguably as the atypically . He said, sort of whispered in the ear of Mr. Ballerino, the man I was seeing, you know, you should suggest that this young lady meets George Cukor, who's trying to cast the role of the maid in "Gaslight." Cookies help us deliver our Services. And he had people like Merman on record from the year dot, you know? Lansbury received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her very first film role, as the young maid Nancy in the home of. 2M views 6 years ago Accompanied by composer Alan Menken, Angela Lansbury surprised guests with a special performance of "Beauty & The Beast" in the 25th Anniversary screening at the Lincoln. Thanks a lot, and out with the garbage. But, you know - and we would listen to music all the time. 14 Essential Angela Lansbury Roles You Can Watch Right Now I'm David Bianculli, and this is FRESH AIR. GROSS: Over the years that you did that show, did you ever count how many murders you solved? Angela Lansbury looks back on her great performances on stage and - NPR Well, someone tell me, when is it my turn? "Open a New Window" from Mame At the 1971 Tony Awards, Lansbury got the chance to re-create one of the Jerry Herman classics from her Tony-winning performance in the 1966 musical. This was before the LPs and even the 45s came out. Yet, even with so many vocal performances on her resume, her take on the Dowager Empress Marie in Don Bluth's "Anastasia" is. "In addition to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, she is survived by three grandchildren, Peter, Katherine and Ian, plus five great grandchildren and her brother, producer Edgar Lansbury," the statement added. But do you feel beloved? Will and Grace actor Eric McCormack, who starred with Dame Angela in a play, and described her as an "incredible woman", adding there was "no one like her," on Twitter. Copyright 2022 NPR. Watch just a few of the highlights from the over 70-year career of the six-time Tony recipient. She was 96. But they only let me puff it. 11 Videos of Angela Lansbury's Greatest Performances, Watch Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford in New, Eerie Trailer for Broadway's, Stephanie Hsu, Angela Bassett, Austin Butler, More Net Oscar Nominations, Seven Times Barbara Walters Interviewed Broadway Stars, In Memoriam: A Look at the Theatre Artists We Lost in 2022, From Belle to Beetlejuice: Celebrating the Stage Work of Kerry Butler, Look Back at Rebecca Luker on the Stage For Her Birthday, Maude Apatow Extends Run as Audrey in Off-Broadway's, Alysha Umphress, Abby Mueller, Gizel Jimenez, More to Perform at 3rd Annual Maestra Music. Stephanie Giang-Paunon is an Entertainment Writer for Fox News Digital. Good, you got it. ", In a captivating video featured on the Disney+ original documentary "Howard," the talented singer and actress is seen stepping into a recording booth to work on the classic song "Be Our Guest.". Lansbury won her second Tony Award for this role. And I sort of realized that. Legal Statement. And he encouraged me to be this snotty, cocky little person who was able to dominate Charles Boyer with inference. Originally broadcast in 1980 and. Angela Lansbury, star of stage and screen, dead at 96 It's a technique. If you are a fan of mystery crime solvers, chances are Angela Lansbury is a personal favorite. GROSS: Were there things that you were very naive and in the dark about in that film that you tried to cover up for so that people wouldn't know how green you were? . It is a technique. Angela Lansbury | Biography, Movies, Gaslight, & Facts Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. I dreamed it for you, June. How Did Angela Lansbury Die? Cause of Death, How She Passed, Last Words BOYER: (As Gregory Anton) Oh, we must see about that. In addition to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, she is survived by three grandchildren, Peter, Katherine and Ian, plus five great-grandchildren and her brother, producer Edgar Lansbury. Sondheim, meanwhile, died in November 2021 at age 91. I think my on-set demeanor was a very, very careful, covered, rather shy attitude about what I was doing. Even just in my first year, I was assigned a role of a lady in waiting in "Mary Of Scotland." LANSBURY: Oh, it was required that there was a social worker with me until my 18th birthday, which I celebrated on the set of "Gaslight," actually. To me, when it's over, it's over, you know? I assume you probably saw her on Broadway in "Gypsy." Audiences were immediately reeled in for the pairs delightful duet, as Orbach began recording the iconic song, and Lansburys enchanting voice followed. And she was very, very good at it. Sit you down. We came in 1940, which was a terrible year because it was the - during the year was the onset of the really big bombing of Britain. And it turns out you're actually part of a conspiracy to assassinate the political opponent and take over the country. On The Julie Andrews Hour, Lansbury performed the musical's best-known song, "I Don't Want to Know." I mean, it seems like it would be so emotionally depleting. What I inferred was a great deal more than what I was saying. LANSBURY: (As Mrs. Iselin) You are to shoot the presidential nominee through the head. The film was a huge success, grossing $331 million at the box office worldwide. LANSBURY: Well, I - eventually, of course, when we moved out to Los Angeles, and I got my first big interview, and I got the part. I said no. The Harvey Girls. And Gypsy Rose Lee has become - your daughter has become a famous stripper. This is not true always. What convinced you then that you liked acting after being so ambivalent about your mother's career? Starting now, I bat 1,000. This is FRESH AIR. Angela Lansbury Dead: Beloved Actress Of Film, Stage & Television Was Lansbury also appeared on The Great White Way in Gore Vidal's The Best Man, A Little Night Music, Deuce, Hotel Paradiso, A Taste of Honey, Anyone Can Whistle, The King and I, and A Little Family Business, and her numerous film credits include Gaslight, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Manchurian Candidate, all of which brought the Kennedy Center Honoree Academy Award nominations. And in this movie, a terrific movie, you're a manipulative, domineering mother and wife who's trying to promote the political career of your husband. Angela Lansbury, star of TV, film and theatre, dies aged 96 And in "Sweeney Todd," Mrs. Lovett was running an unsuccessful bakery in London in the Victorian era, when she was inspired to team up with a local barber named Sweeney Todd. Angela Lansbury and Her London Ghosts | TDF Stages | TDF - Theatre But in that case, I was doing it eight performances a week, you have to understand. It enabled me to help my family. The evening benefits Broadway Cares and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. Irish-British and American actress (19252022), (Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock), (John Nacion/startraksphoto.com/Cover Images). GROSS: So you started drama school during the war, staying home in London. What's your rush? You never know. And I'll review "Keeping Company With Sondheim," a new "Great Performances" documentary on PBS that looks at the history and making of the current Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical "Company." James Frawley, Angela Lansbury and Arnold Soboloff in, Friedman-Abeles / The New York Public Library, Angela Lansbury, Jane Connell, Sab Shimono and Frankie Michaels in, Bonnie Langford, Lisa Peluso, and Angela Lansbury, Charles Rule, Rex Robbins, and Angela Lansbury, Zan Charisse, Angela Lansbury, and Maureen Moore, Martha Swope/NYPL for the Performing Arts, Zan Charisse, Angela Lansbury, and Rex Robbins, Mary Louise Wilson, Zan Charisse and Angela Lansbury in, Zan Charisse, Angela Lansbury and Rex Robbins in, Len Cariou, Merle Louise, and Angela Lansbury, Len Cariou, Victor Garber, and Angela Lansbury, Angela Lansbury, Rupert Everett and Susan Louise O'Connor, Deborah Rush, Rupert Everett, Angela Lansbury, Jayne Atkinson and Simon Jones, A Little Night Music Playbill - Opening Night, Angela Lansbury, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Keaton Whittaker, Kerry Butler, Eric McCormack and Angela Lansbury in, John Larroquette, Angela Lansbury and Candice Bergen in, By Armfeldt in the 2009 Broadway revival of A Little Night Music, but at the 1993 Kennedy Center Honors she had the chance to perform Desiree's solo to honor Stephen Sondheim. Some of her other most notable parts include playing Mrs. Lovett in the original 1979 Broadway production of "Sweeney Todd" (which earned her a Tony win), voicing Mrs. Potts in "Beauty in the Beast" and starring in all 12 seasons of the popular crime drama "Murder, She Wrote" (which earned her six Emmy nominations). Angela Lansbury, 'Murder, She Wrote' Star, Dies at 96 It felt like a very special privilege to get to do that," Johnson added. Well, it was one of those films of the 1940s with Deborah Kerr. Lansbury's cameo in "Glass Onion" is especially fitting, seeing as "Knives Out" contains a short clip from an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" which fans of the classic series loved seeing. And I stopped smoking 30 years ago. In fact, she received Tony Awards for her performances in both Mame and Sweeney Todd as well as for her work in Gypsy, Dear World, and Blithe Spirit(plus a sixth Lifetime Achievement Tony). (PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures . Business never better using only pussycats and toast. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Lansbury was cast in the starring role of 75-year-old Countess Aurelia, despite her actual age of 44. In 1970, Lansbury's Malibu home was destroyed in a brush fire. A lthough the late Angela Lansbury played a huge variety of roles over the course of her long career, she was perhaps most associated with benign characters, thanks to the enduring Eglantine Price in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and detective Jessica Fletcher in TV series Murder, She Wrote. Angela Lansbury's Life Today: The Iconic Actress Is Still Active & Recently Celebrated Her 96th Birthday By Laura Beatham Jan 13, 2022 05:40 A.M. Angela Lansbury has had a long and successful career in Hollywood for almost 80 years. When I heard Angela Lansbury had died, I immediately thought . Lansbury also was first to play Cora Hoover Hooper in Anyone Can Whistle, portrayed Rose in the first Broadway revival of Gyspy as well as Madame Armfeldt in a Broadway revival of A Little Night Music all of which are Sondheim musicals. I relish the - having had that opportunity to play that role because I don't think there are many written like that. His wife is played by Ingrid Bergman. Fans remember legendary Hollywood icon Angela Lansbury in her magical role as Mrs. Potts in "Beauty and the Beast.". I would go to the studio heads and say, look; don't make me play this part. Angela Lansbury, in full Dame Angela Lansbury, (born October 16, 1925, London, Englanddied October 11, 2022, Los Angeles, California, U.S.), British-born American character actress who achieved success and acclaim for her stage, film, and television work. Next month, Lansbury will be honored at the Tonys with a special Lifetime Achievement Award. LANSBURY: Well, he had an extraordinary group of friends, wonderful people in the business who I never would have met. LANSBURY: Thank you. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. In 2019, Janis spoke to Home Theater Forum about what it was like to work with such legendary stars Lansbury included which was a major career moment for him. In 1989 she opened the awards show with the first act finale from Gypsy. And during that scene, I suddenly got this - the feel and the smell of being able to make an effect by the way I played the role, the way I comported myself. LANSBURY: Yes. Angela Lansbury, famous for role as crime novelist Jessica Fletcher in the long-running TV series 'Murder, She Wrote,' has died at age 96. And congratulations again on the Kennedy Center Honor. Dame Angela smiled in solo shots, but was also pictured linking arms with actress Eva Marie Saint, and next to Carole Cook, Diane Baker and Robert J. Wagner, on the red carpet. Angela Lansbury - Age, Movies & Facts - Biography And this - my ability to do that worked, thank goodness, because I understood exactly what Cukor was asking me to do. So to be able to play that gave me tremendous sort of pleasure, and I'm so glad I've done it. Let's get back to Terry's 2000 interview with Broadway movie and TV actress Angela Lansbury. But she - but mainly, No. Sign up for reopening news, announcements, and exclusive discounts on tickets to your favorite shows! Shortly after news broke on Tuesday that the celebrated actress died in her sleep at her Los Angeles home, tributes . It's hair-raising, and it's because Angie's an actress. Fast Facts About Angela Lansbury - NickiSwift They take bows, and you're batting zero. And if it wasn't for me then where would you be, Miss Gypsy Rose Lee? He's piling up bodies, and she offers a uniquely advantageous means of disposal. You gave me such a fright. You docket it all away, and you remember and you use stuff later. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images). She's not the only one in the house, is she? In honor of the acclaimed actress Angela Lansbury, who died Tuesday at the age of 96, fans are sharing a 2016 live performance of the titular song from Disney 's animated Beauty and the. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. GROSS: Angela Lansbury, doing that number must have been exhausting. That's absolutely the most thrilling thing in the world. Sit. | Angela Lansbury, 'Murder, She Wrote' and 'Beauty and the Beast' Star She was only in her 40s. Angela Lansbury, one of the most beloved and acclaimed actors of stage, film and television, who had a nearly 75-year career, died October 11in her sleep at her Los Angeles home, just five days. LANSBURY: From playing Jessica Fletcher, yes, I do. She won her first Tony Award for that performance . The last time out, two-time Tony award winner Angela starred in the out-of-town tryouts of a musical called Prettybelle. Dame Angela was known for playing crime novelist Jessica Fletcher in the long running TV series Murder, She Wrote, Broadway musicals Mame and Gypsy, and for voicing Mrs Potts in the Disney animation Beauty and the Beast. LANSBURY: She was the sort of woman I like, and therefore, I enjoyed playing her. She also had a cameo part in the 2018 Mary Poppins sequel Mary Poppins Returns, in which she featured as an elderly colourfully-dressed balloon seller. Perhaps best known for her work as TV sleuth Jessica Fletcher on the long-running Murder, She Wrote, Broadway fans will always think of the beloved Angela Lansbury, who passed away October 11 at the age of 96, as the woman who sensationally created the roles of Mame and Mrs. Lovett in two classic, hit musicals. The production of the classic musical will play Leicester's Curve and London's Sadlers Wells before embarking on a U.K. tour. "Substitutionary Locomotion" from Bedknobs and BroomsticksLong before she sang a tale as old as time, Lansbury starred in another Disney musical, the 1971 hit Bedknobs and Broomsticks, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. Angela Lansbury, 'Murder, She Wrote' and 'Beauty and the Beast' star Her first role in a movie came at age 17, playing the maid in the 1944 film "Gaslight." She was nominated. Angela Lansbury is set to grace movie screens one last time. BIANCULLI: Angela Lansbury grew up in England and came to the U.S. during World War II. Terry Gross spoke to Angela Lansbury in 2000. When's it your turn to be onstage and to be before the lights? "I Don't Want to Know" from Dear World Although the Jerry Herman musical Dear World played only 132 performances, Lansbury's performance as Countess Aurelia brought her a second Tony Award in 1969. In a career spanning eight decades, she played various roles across film, stage, and television. Yeah. Angela Lansbury, a celebrated actress whose career spanned eight decades, has died at the age of 96.