Angela Lansbury : Remembering a true legend.

While many may remeber Angela Lansbury because of her portrayal of a small town mistery writer with an itch for solving murders, “Murder she wrote” was certainly not her only iconic role. Dont’t get me wrong I can binge on the entire series and I have been doing so since my early junior high school summer break days when I would catch it daily before lunch with my mom.

I own the series on DVD and it has become the tv equivalent of comfort food for me….a few episodes on a rainy day wrapped in a throw, there’s nothing quite like it.

However, her acting carreer literally spanned over the course of 8 decades. Yes 80 active years during which she delivered a moltitude of breathtaking and unforgettable performances. Her talents graced the theathre, television and the silver screen. Even as a voice actress she managed to be remarkable. Her character in Beauty And The Beast is till one of my two favorites in the movie.

She had the carreer most only dream about , she was not only able to bring amazing scripts to life, she made those characters immortal, able to truly withstand the test of times.

Think about it, the average Hollywoiod career for a woman is…3 movies long? 80 years.

That alone is a testament of her greatness.

But along the many many roles here are a few of my favorites.

12 - Murder She Wrote ( 1984- 1996)

Well I had to start from this…to this day this is the most binge worthy series for me, just toss me a pair of fuzzy socks and a hot cup of tea and pop a random season in the dvd player.

Jessica Fletcher, professional writer from the most murder plagued small town in maine was truly one of those characters that you just can’t help falling in love with, she was the most adorable busy body ever created. 12 years just were not enough.

11 - Beauty And The Beast ( 1991)

Angela Lansbury masterfully voiced Mrs Potts , and funny enough she was not the first choice to play the part. The role was originally offered to Julie Andrews who tuned down the part allowing Angela Lansbury to step in….and to be honest I don’t think I could see anyone else playing the role better than she did. Mrs Potts is still my favorite charachter of the movie…alongside Lumiere voiced my another amazing actor, Jerry Orbach.

10 - Death On The Nile (1978)

Death on the nile follows the investigation of Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) of a murder in Egypt. Lansbury plays Salome Otterbourne, one of the many suspects,a flamboyant alcoholic romance novelist being sued for by the victim for creating a character that veers a little too closely to her real life. For her performance, Lansbury won the National Board of Review Award as Best Supporting Actress and was nominated in the same category for the BAFTA.

9 - National Velvet ( 1944)

This was only her second film, but its popularity only cemented her promise as one of the industry’s rising stars.

“National Velvet” featured Lansbury playing Edwina, a slightly shallow and boy-crazed older sister to Taylor’s horse-obsessed Velvet.

Lansbury—still a teen herself—delivers a masterfully spot-on take on the disapproving, self-absorbed older sister who inspite of lack of understanding holds quite a soft spot for her younger sister.

8 - The Reluctant Debutant (1958)

Directed by Vicente Minelli thi was Angela Lansbury’s first comedic role portraying a high-society matron who was realy anxious to marry off her daughter to an upper-class man. This movie I think opened a lot of doors for her changing te course of her career , allowing her to steer ckear of her villain type casting .

7 - Blue Hawaii ( 1961)

Well if you have read my posts before this should not come as any surprise. I mean you put Elvis in the equation and I am in, you add Angela Lansbury…and you ‘ve got my full attention.

I Absolutely love this film to begin with and her character is portrayed to perfection.

She plays Sarah Lee, the adoring but status-obsessed mother to a just out of the army overluy relaxed and surf obsessed Elvis.

Although Elvis was actually only ten years her junior—Lansbury has a field day with her Southern accent as she constantly tries to convince her son not to enter the family business and follow his own path. It’s a comic high point in i think in both their carreers, too bad no one thought of having them sing a duet ….. that would have been a golden moment for sure.

5- Mame - Broadway (1966)

I have actually only got to see this in pieces over on youtube, I was only familiar with the 1974 movie adaptation starring Lucille as mame and again Bea Arthur as Vera…..Despite the movie being considered a commercial and critical falure I thought it was pretty awesome, until I saw Angela Lansbury playing the part of Mame.

Seeing her alongside Bea Arthur was pure magic and I never was able to watch the movie version the same way.

See below a video of them singing Bosom Boddies at the Tonys in 1987

5 - Bedknobs And Broomsticks (1971)

Following the success of mary Poppins Disney once again mixed live action with animation in this now musical cult classic which boasted the unusual premise of a witch (Lansbury) using her powers to tight off Nazis during WWII. The film enlisted several cast members and crew members from “ Mary Poppins,” it proved to be a great success for Lansbury, whose performance earned her a fourth Golden Globe film nomination.

4 - The Long Hots Summer (1958)

“The Long Hot Summer” is an American film directed by Martin Ritt. The screenplay was written by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr., based in part on three works by William Faulkner: the 1931 novella "Spotted Horses", the 1939 short story "Barn Burning" and the 1940 novel The Hamlet. The title is taken from The Hamlet, as Book Three is called "The Long Summer". Some characters, as well as tone, were inspired by Tennessee Williams' 1955 play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a film adaptation of which – also starring Paul Newman – was released five months later.

Lansbury portrays Minnie, the long-time mistress of the Big Daddy character of Will Varner (Orson Welles), who is not happy with their status and wants him to marry her. Lansbury has said that this film and “The Reluctant Debutante” put her back on the casting radar.

3 - The Picture Of Dorian Grey

Lansbury won her first Golden Globe Award and, at age 20, her second consecutive Oscar nomination in Albert Lewin’s adaptation of the classic Oscar Wilde tale of hedonist Dorian Gray , who falls madly in love with singer Sibyl Vane (Lansbury).

2 - Gaslight (1944)

Lansbury made a spectacular film debut in George Cukor’s mystery about a woman whose husband coerces her into thinking she’s going insane. Lansbury plays Nancy, a young maid to the wife (Ingrid Bergman) who is convinced that the maid hates her and is having an affair with her husband. For her performance as Nancy, Lansbury received her first Academy Award nomination at age 19.

1- The Manchurian Canfidate : (1962 )

In my mind there is no doubt at all this is her greatest role. In the manchurian candidate, a neo noir political thriller that follows a Korean War veteran from a distinguished political family brainwashed after being captured by communists. Lansbury won her second Golden Globe award for her performance as the sheming political power hungry matriarch, Eleanor Iselin