Angela Lansbury, Star of MURDER, SHE WROTE, Has Died at 96
Angela Lansbury played the mystery author and sleuth Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote for 12 years, along with countless other iconic roles in her life. She passed away in her sleep October 11, 2022, days before her 97th birthday.
She was still acting into her 90s, including many bookish roles. She appeared in Disney’s animated Beauty and the Beast, The Picture of Dorian Gray, National Velvet, PBS’s Little Women miniseries, Mame, the 2018 Mary Poppins Returns, among other book-to-movie or -stage adaptations.
Lansbury received 18 Emmy nominations and won five Tony Awards, including a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. She was also named a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II.
While most of her early roles were what she called “bitches on wheels and people’s mothers,” her experience with Murder, She Wrote was different: “What appealed to me about Jessica Fletcher is that I could do what I do best and have little chance to play — a sincere, down-to-earth woman.”
A beloved actor, she will be missed by legions of fans collected over her long and decorated career.
Read more about her life and career at the New York Times.
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
Also In This Story Stream
- Laurent de Brunhoff, Writer of BABAR, Has Died at 98
- Here Are The 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award Winners
- The High Cost of Ebooks Has Libraries Struggling and Seeking Legal Action
- New Documentary on the Untold Story of Black Librarians
- The National Book Foundation Announces Its 5 Under 35 Honorees for 2024
- The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists
- Here are the Finalists for the 59th Nebula Awards
- The Atlantic’s List of The Great American Novels
- Recent Hit Books on Goodreads
- The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists