Angela Lansbury, best known for playing Jessica Fletcher in the long-running TV show Murder, She Wrote, has died aged 96.
Lansbury, who spent part of her life living in Co Cork “died peacefully in her sleep” her family confirmed in a statement.
They said: “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, whose career on stage and screen spanned over 80 years, was a three-time Oscar nominee.
She received an honorary Oscar in 2013 from the Academy Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. Lansbury who was 88 at the time told the Los Angeles Times: “It’s very, very special for me. It is very unique and wonderful to receive at my time of life though I am still in the running – doing things and acting.”
She also won five Tony awards, most recently in 2009 for Best Featured Actress for Blithe Spirit.
Her other Tony wins were for Best Actress in a Musical for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 1979, Gypsy in 1975, Dear World in 1969 and Mame in 1966.
Lansbury took her singing skill from Broadway to the big screen in Disney’s1991 animated musical Beauty and the Beast.
She voiced the sentimental Mrs Pott and sang the critically-acclaimed and much-loved song Tale As Old As Time.
However, it was her portrayal of sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the television series Murder, She Wrote which gained her millions of fans across the world.
She was born on 16 October, 1925, in central London. Her parents were Irish actress Moyna Macgill and English politician Edgar Lansbury.