“Murder, She Wrote” Legend Angela Lansbury Passed Away at Age 96

Angela Lansbury at the
Angela Lansbury at the "Beauty an the Beast" 25th Anniversary Celebration in 2016. Photo by Jim Smeal/Shutterstock (5679196g)

The Hollywood icon Angela Lansbury, whose acting career spanned 75 years, died at age 96. Murder, She Wrote stars will go down in history as one of the most versatile actresses of her generation, with decades of memorable roles on stage, film, and television.

Lansbury’s family confirmed the star’s passing in an official statement, reading, “The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30 AM today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday.”

Lansbury escaped from London to the US during World War II, and it didn’t take her long to make her mark in Hollywood. She received her first Oscar nod for her breakout role in Gaslight (1944). She later received two more for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and eventually collected the Academy Honorary Award in 2014.

In addition to finding success as a movie star, Lansbury was also a Broadway icon, with six Tony Awards under her belt, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. During the 80s and 90s, she found success on TV with Murder, She Wrote, for which she received 12 consecutive Emmy nominations.

Many Hollywood stars who worked with Lansbury or admired her work from afar honored the actress on social media. SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher released an official statement for the guild, calling her “an inspiration both on and off stage”, adding that her body of work lives on to inspire generations to come.