Angela Lansbury Dies: ‘Murder, She Wrote’ Star Was 96

Angela Lansbury, best known for playing Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, has passed away. She was 96.

“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. 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. She was proceeded in death by her husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw. A private family ceremony will be held at a date to be determined,” Lansbury’s family said in a statement to Broadway World.

CBS via Getty Images

In addition to her work on TV, especially in Murder, She Wrote, Lansbury starred in numerous films and in theater. Her first role was in Gaslight, followed by National Velvet with Mickey Rooney and Elizabeth Taylor in 1944. Her other film roles include The Manchurian Candidate, Anastasia, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Beauty and the Beast. She received an Honorary Award at the 2014 Oscars and was nominated for three Academy Awards in 1945 (for Gaslight), 1946 (for The Picture of Dorian Gray) and 1963 (for The Manchurian Candidate). Lansbury won six Golden Globes (for The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Manchurian Candidate, and Murder, She Wrote) and was nominated for another nine.

Lansbury was also nominated for 18 Emmys, for her work on Little Gloria… Happy at Last, Murder, She Wrote, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The 41st Annual Tony Awards, The 43rd Annual Tony Awards, The Blackwater Lightship, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Trial by Jury. Her other TV credits include the 2017 miniseries Little Women, Touched by an Angel, Magnum, P.I., Lace, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E..

In theater, Lansbury won five Tony Awards, and she was honored with the 2022 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. She has the record for most wins for Best Actress in a Musical, with four. She also hosted the Tonys the most times (five) in history.