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01
Lansbury almost did not sing the Oscar-winning song Beauty and the Beast, but the filmmakers asked her to try it once; she nailed it in that one take which is heard in the film.
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02
In an interview, Lansbury stated her nicest co-star was Hedy Lamarr, calling her sweet, loving, kind, and considerate to everybody on set.
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03
While filming Death on the Nile 1978, she shared a dressing room with Bette Davis and Maggie Smith because no private dressing rooms were available aboard ship.
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04
She has two Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for Motion Pictures at 6623 Hollywood Boulevard and one for Television at 6259 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
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05
Lansbury, her mother Moyna MacGill, and her twin younger brothers were in the last boatload of family members evacuated from London to the United States during the Blitz.
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06
On the final day of production for Murder, She Wrote, she did not work because there was too much emotion.
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07
She was one of the speakers at Jerry Orbach’s memorial service.
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08
She originated the role of Mame Dennis in Mame, but Jack L. Warner refused to cast her in the film version, casting Lucille Ball instead; the film was a flop, and Lansbury never forgave Warner.
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09
She turned down the role of Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1975 because she did not think she could handle the role.
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10
In 1951, Angela Lansbury became a naturalized United States citizen while retaining British citizenship.
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11
She was among the special guests invited to the grand opening of Disneyland Resort Paris, where she impressed her handprints.
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12
She was longtime friends with Bob Hope, giving a speech at his memorial service on August 27, 2003; she appeared with him in Bob Hope: The First 90 Years 1993.
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13
1997: She was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington, D.C.
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14
She has appeared in five films selected for the National Film Registry: Gaslight 1944, National Velvet 1944, The Court Jester 1955, The Manchurian Candidate 1962, and Beauty and the Beast 1991.
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15
After a 40-year absence, she triumphantly returned to London’s West End stage in her Tony-winning role as Madam Arcati in Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit, winning her only Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2015 at age 89.
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16
As of February 2010, she held the record for youngest actress to get two Oscar nominations by age 20, and was tied with Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, and Alan Alda for most Golden Globe wins six until Streep’s seventh in 2010.
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17
She has been the co-recipient of three Grammy Awards for the Broadway stage shows Mame 1966 and Sweeney Todd 1979.
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18
She played Elvis Presley’s mother in Blue Hawaii 1961 despite being only 10 years his senior.
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19
Before becoming a professional performer, she went by her middle name Brigid; MGM wanted her to use Angela Marlowe, but she refused.
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20
2006: She has hosted or co-hosted more Tony Awards telecasts than any other individual: 1968, 1971, 1987, 1988, and 1989.
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21
On July 21, 2000, she withdrew from a proposed Broadway musical The Visit due to her husband’s precarious health and impending heart surgery.
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22
Her performance as Mrs. Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate 1962 is ranked #91 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time and #21 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains for villains.
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23
She won four Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical, although her singing voice was dubbed in the romantic musical The Harvey Girls 1946.
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24
She held British, United States, and Irish citizenship, acquired in that chronological order.
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25
She was best friends with Bea Arthur since appearing together in the Broadway version of Mame.
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26
She performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in their annual public Christmas concerts at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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27
Angela Lansbury died on October 11, 2022, at age 96. Four months before, in June 2022, she received a special Lifetime Achievement Award at the 75th Tony Awards but could not accept in person.
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28
An authorized biography, Balancing Act, states that her first husband Richard Cromwell was gay, a fact she did not know until after their separation.
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29
Wearing conventional makeup not aged makeup, she was chilling as the manipulating mother in The Manchurian Candidate 1962, while in real life being scarcely three years older than co-star Laurence Harvey.
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30
In November 2013, NBC announced a reboot of Murder, She Wrote with Octavia Spencer; Lansbury was unhappy and relieved when the network dropped the project in January 2014.
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31
2000: She received the John F. Kennedy Center Honors for her services to the arts.
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32
She is aunt of David Lansbury, who was married to Ally Sheedy from 1992 to 2008.
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33
Alongside Norman Lloyd, William Daniels, and others, Lansbury is one of the few actors who lived into their 80s and 90s without retiring.
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34
She was awarded the CBE in 1994 and elevated to DBE in 2014, invested by Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle on April 15, 2014.
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35
She is the only actor to appear in every single episode of Murder, She Wrote 264 episodes.
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36
She never retired from acting.
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37
She was protective of her character on Murder, She Wrote.
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38
She was one of the last guest stars on the sitcom Newhart 1982.
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39
She holds the record for the most Emmy nominations without a win: 18 unsuccessful nominations.
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40
Her hobbies included housekeeping, spending time with family, reading, dancing, riding, playing tennis, cooking, playing the piano, gardening, and letter writing.
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41
She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, whose alumni include Terence Stamp, Hugh Bonneville, and Minnie Driver.
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42
Although her marriage to Richard Cromwell was short, she remained close friends with him until his death in 1960.
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43
She gave birth to her second child, daughter Deirdre Angela Shaw, on April 26, 1953; her first child, son Anthony Pullen Shaw, was born on January 7, 1952.
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44
She was a member of St. David’s Anglican Church in North Hollywood, California.
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45
She and Mildred Natwick appeared together in The Court Jester 1955 and were reunited in a Murder, She Wrote episode in 1986.
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46
She was reunited with Death on the Nile co-star Olivia Hussey in a Murder, She Wrote episode in 1985.
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47
At 96 years, 11 months, and 25 days, she is the longest-lived actress to have portrayed Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple in any media.
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48
She is the granddaughter of George Lansbury, British Labour Party leader; her father was merchant and politician Edgar Isaac Lansbury; her mother was actress Moyna MacGill.
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49
One of three performers to receive six Tony Awards; Angela and Julie Harris won five in competition and a sixth as Lifetime Achievement Award recipients Angela received hers in absentia at the 75th Tony Awards in 2022.
