caption years_active birth_name birth_place children nationality honorific_suffix birth_date spouse image article_title name occupation
lansbury in 1950 1944 -- present angela brigid lansbury regent kingdom 's park , london , england , united 2 british , american dbe 16 october 1925 richard his death cromwell 1945 1946 divorced peter shaw 1949 2003 studio publicity angela lansbury.jpg angela lansbury
 dame angela lansbury actress , singer , songwriter , producer , writer
angela lansbury

dame angela brigid lansbury , dbe -lrb- born 16 october 1925 -rrb- is a british actress and singer who has appeared in theatre , television and film .
her career has spanned seven decades , much of it based in the united states , and her work has attracted international attention .
lansbury was born to an upper-middle-class family in central london , the daughter of northen irish actress moyna macgill and english politician edgar lansbury .
to escape the blitz , in 1940 she moved to the united states , there studying acting in new york city .
proceeding to hollywood , los angeles in 1942 , she signed to mgm and obtained her first film roles , in `` gaslight '' -lrb- 1944 -rrb- and `` the picture of dorian gray '' -lrb- 1945 -rrb- , earning her two oscar nominations and a golden globe award .
she appeared in eleven further mgm films , mostly in minor roles , and after her contract ended in 1952 she began supplementing her cinematic work with theatrical appearances .
although largely seen as a b-list star during this period , her appearance in the film `` the manchurian candidate '' -lrb- 1962 -rrb- received widespread acclaim and is cited as being one of her finest performances .
moving into musical theatre , lansbury finally gained stardom for playing the leading role in the broadway musical `` mame '' -lrb- 1966 -rrb- , which earned her a range of awards and established her as a gay icon .
amid difficulties in her personal life , lansbury moved from california to county cork , ireland in 1970 , and continued with a variety of theatrical and cinematic appearances throughout that decade .
moving into television in 1984 , lansbury achieved widespread fame as the fictional writer and sleuth jessica fletcher in the american murder mystery series `` murder , she wrote '' , which ran for twelve seasons until 1996 , becoming one of the longest-running detective drama series in television history .
through corymore productions , a company that she co-owned with her husband peter shaw , she assumed ownership of the series and was its executive producer for the final four seasons .
she also moved into voice work , thereby contributing to animated films like disney 's `` beauty and the beast '' -lrb- 1991 -rrb- .
since then , she has toured in a variety of international productions and continued to make occasional film appearances .
lansbury received an honorary oscar in 2013 , and has won five tony awards , six golden globes and an olivier award .
she has also been nominated for numerous other industry awards , including the academy award for best supporting actress on three occasions , and various primetime emmy awards on eighteen occasions .
she has been the subject of three biographies .
