So you're doing it, in other words. Angela Lansbury' s legacy lives on. GROSS: Yes. The Picture of Dorian Gray. And that made me roar with laughter. You knew Merman's work. So upset to hear the news that the legendary Dame Angela Lansbury has died, Paige tweeted, sharing a picture of the pair together. BIANCULLI: Angela Lansbury speaking to Terry Gross in 2000. I had a dream. Just listen and hear and do what I was told and asked to do. And in this movie, a terrific movie, you're a manipulative, domineering mother and wife who's trying to promote the political career of your husband. I never allow the emotion of a scene, if possible, to get to me. And you were asked to do this in England by Arthur Laurents, who wrote the book and directed the British production. I say that without any sense of pride at all. Get a daily dose of showbiz gossip direct to your inbox. LANSBURY: Yes. Irish-British and American actress (19252022), (Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock), (John Nacion/startraksphoto.com/Cover Images). And a pussy's good for maybe six or seven at the most. You must have been shocked when you found out. And she was a most beautiful woman, my mother. LANSBURY: Yes. I could discuss it, but I - in most instances, I was pretty quick to pick up directorial indications from somebody like George Cukor because he was extremely clear and funny and helpful. "But what it meant for me, besides just how special it is to have both of them in the movie, it meant that I just got to spend 10 minutes with each of them to film this little moment." What convinced you then that you liked acting after being so ambivalent about your mother's career? Angela Lansbury married twice. GROSS: Yeah. Lansbury was a star of theater, film and television, winning five Tony Awards and an. And congratulations again on the Kennedy Center Honor. I know that eventually - I think it crept in. Next month, Angela Lansbury will receive a special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award. LANSBURY: I hated it. And in the song "A Little Priest," Angela Lansbury, as Mrs. Lovett, suggests a particularly gruesome partnership. Actress. So I got to listen to all kinds of performers. You know, that green-eyed monster sort of crept in from my mother's side. I assume you probably saw her on Broadway in "Gypsy." Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. The cast also includes Ioan Gruffudd, Jane Seymour, Roma Downey, and Abigail Spencer. https://t.co/hdW1XJs2H7pic.twitter.com/COmVlrS6ET. Angela Lansbury, the London-born actress who for seven decades brought a commanding, ladylike presence to stage, screen and television especially over the 12 years she played dauntless. 2:00. But it's the most rousing speech I've ever read. 1, she recognised the fact that Britain was likely to be bombed, and that London really was no place for us to remain if we could possibly get away. An Academy Award nominee as a teenager, for her debut performance in "Gaslight," the London-born actress went on to ring up five Tony Awards on Broadway, star for a dozen years in the cherished. LANSBURY: (As Rose, singing) Why did I do it? Though Lansbury and Sondheim were certainly memorable, they're far from the only cameos Glass Onion. Advertisement GROSS: We've talked about your long and really wonderful career on stage and screen. And she wanted to get away from it. When's it your turn to be onstage and to be before the lights? (Getty Images), This is magical. Lansbury's cameo in "Glass Onion" is especially fitting, seeing as "Knives Out" contains a short clip from an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" which fans of the classic series loved seeing. Will and Grace actor Eric McCormack, who starred with Dame Angela in a play, and described her as an "incredible woman", adding there was "no one like her," on Twitter. And during that scene, I suddenly got this - the feel and the smell of being able to make an effect by the way I played the role, the way I comported myself. LANSBURY: That's absolutely true. You gave me such a fright. I'm going to sing the scene. This archival press footage is somewhat grainy, but the performance is tremendous. So I would end up doing it. So I had to make my - make peace with myself on that score. In 1989 she opened the awards show with the first act finale from Gypsy. I think you worked out a deal with your mother that you would be tutored at home and then also take singing and dancing lessons. The Private Affairs of Bel Ami. You see; we all have different problems as youngsters. BIANCULLI: Angela Lansbury speaking to Terry Gross in 2000. It's been nearly sixty years since she made her stage debut here in town at the National Theatre. And we celebrated. Copyright 2022 NPR. They take bows, and you're batting zero. Do forgive me if me head's a little vague. I wouldn't want to let go of that lady. I relish the - having had that opportunity to play that role because I don't think there are many written like that. GROSS: "Gaslight" is one of those movies with really nice black-and-white lighting. Audiences were immediately reeled in for the pairs delightful duet, as Orbach began recording the iconic song, and Lansburys enchanting voice followed. In the West End's Blithe Spirit, Angela Lansbury's past is always present --- Editor's note: I'm delighted to welcome London critic and reporter M The Tony Award-winning actor starred in the Broadway musicals Mame, Gypsy and S weeney Todd, as well as the TV series Murder, She Wrote. | BIANCULLI: Angela Lansbury speaking to Terry Gross in 2000. By 1997, Angela Lansbury had made her fair share of animated movies. Copyright 1991-2023 Playbill Inc. All Rights Reserved. And I must say, when people would come backstage after the performance, they would be in tears. She won her first Tony Award for that performance . Well, this was a tremendous kind of boost to my self-esteem. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. "Little Yellow Bird" from The Picture of Dorian GrayThe first time American audiences had the chance to hear Lansbury sing (in a voice much different from her later Broadway outings) was in the 1945 film The Picture of Dorian Gray, which earned the stage and screen star her second Oscar nomination. I do feel a sense of tremendous warmth from the American public who have known and loved that program. . After training in New York City, she headed west to Hollywood, and within two years had earned a contract at MGM. That was all prearranged and thought up by George Cukor. BOYER: (As Gregory Anton) Yes. I thought you was a ghost half a minute. Many . "Lansbury is joined by late actor Jerry Orbach, who voiced Lumiere the candlestick in "Beauty and the Beast," in the dynamic performance. And that's acting (laughter). Terry Gross spoke to Angela Lansbury in 2000. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. I would go to the studio heads and say, look; don't make me play this part. Yet, even with so many vocal performances on her resume, her take on the Dowager Empress Marie in Don Bluth's "Anastasia" is. | In 2013, Dame Angela was given an honorary Academy Award for her lifetime achievements in the film industry and was also awarded a lifetime achievement award by Bafta in 2002. I dreamed it for you, June. It just had never really sunk in. LANSBURY: (As Nancy Oliver) Oh, no, sir - not with me. 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I'm not going to just spout the lyric. LANSBURY: (As Nancy Oliver) Oh, you don't know what you've missed, sir. Dame Angela smiled in solo shots, but was also pictured linking arms with actress Eva Marie Saint, and next to Carole Cook, Diane Baker and Robert J. Wagner, on the red carpet. Fox News Digital's Lori Bashian. She's not the only one in the house, is she? She became a TV icon in Murder She Wrote as Jessica Fletcher, a murder mystery novelist who helped the police solve homicide cases. And he also had an incredible library of music, of old 78 records in those days. So I had to marry those two rather carefully. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery has a huge cast of stars announced as headliners, but the cameos are just as iconic, marking the final film for both the late Angela Lansbury and Stephen Sondheim. GROSS: Well, I thank you so very much for talking with us. When it comes to the work, I'm on solid ground. More after a break. But I was still way out of my age range. LANSBURY: (As Nancy Oliver) Oh, I'm going to a musical. BOYER: (As Gregory Anton) I've never been to an English musical. "It was musical theater heaven," composer songwriter Alan Menken revealed in the documentary. They are such pros. This was before the LPs and even the 45s came out. LANSBURY: (As Nancy Oliver) Gentleman friend, sir. On TV, she starred as amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher in "Murder, She Wrote." Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. LANSBURY: I wouldn't say, yes, I was, but it's a very curious thing. We thought, my God, would either of them ever do it? GROSS: Do you remember any of the more helpful or interesting directions that Cukor gave you? That second performance proved to be the last performance of the US tour and Angela Lansbury's last performance as Mrs. Lovett - the fiendishly plotting baker who's passion for the demon barber of Fleet Street lead them both down very dark paths. In 1984, renowned British film and stage actress Angela Lansbury, known for movies like The Manchurian Candidate, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, began her first major. And when you're a student and you are given a role, something is assigned to you. "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," the statement added. However, while she rarely portrayed villains, her greatest screen performance is arguably as the atypically . And Ingrid gave me lovely bottles of Strategy, which was a lovely, smelly cologne, which - I'd never had anything as lovely as that - and powder, you know, sort of talcum powder and things that, you know, set. I always remember that. I know what's required here, and I know what a absolutely tremendous, overpowering role it is. LANSBURY: Yes. And he arranged that the casting director would see me, this young English girl, who at that time was - I think I was 17. GROSS: You know, the press release for the Kennedy Center Honor describes you as a beloved actress, which I think is pretty accurate. But, you know - and we would listen to music all the time. And she loved doing it, but it put a tremendous strain on her, whereas I seem to do it with one hand tied behind my back. "Liaisons" from A Little Night Music At the 2011 Olivier Awards, Lansbury performed Mme. And that was part of the business in the movie of "Gaslight." And he was an extraordinarily careful, painstaking person when it came to lighting women. Margaret Hall And that's what sells the song. They were so kind and so generous. LANSBURY: Thank you. You know LANSBURY: That came - I mean, totally, I understood that. I would be drinking a glass of water and breathing a big sigh of relief. Lansbury received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her very first film role, as the young maid Nancy in the home of. Angela Lansbury is being remembered. It felt like a very special privilege to get to do that," Johnson added. In "Gypsy," Mama Rose was the ultimate stage mother. Scroll down to see who appears briefly in the flick alongside stars Craig, Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr., Kathryn Hahn, Edward Norton, Janelle Mone, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline and Dave Bautista. She had a talent. Directed by Tim Janis, "Buttons" follows two orphaned girls who dream of finding a family to adopt them in time for Christmas and are aided in the search by two guardian angels, played by Lansbury and Van Dyke. For 12 seasons, from 1984 to 1996, she portrayed motherly mystery writer and amateur sleuth. And she was very, very good at it. It was produced as a 2014 film by Broadway Near You (United States) in association with Umbrella Entertainment (Australia). Well, someone tell me, when is it my turn? For a career that spanned over half a century, the London-born actress received 5 Tony Awards, 18 Emmy nominations, 3 Academy Award nominations, and an Honorary Oscar (2013). (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images). Next month, she'll receive yet another Tony, a special Lifetime Achievement Award. I know they - I don't know whether they're mixing me up with the character. The actress died on October 11 at age 96. Market data provided by Factset. Days after Lansbury's death, Johnson was in disbelief at how lucky they were to have worked with the two legends. Actress Angela Lansbury has died at 96 years old. Fox News Digital's Lori Bashian contributed to this report. What did it get me? In September, Netflix released a sneak preview of Glass Onion that featured writer-director Johnson introducing the film and its premise, which brings Benoit Blanc into a new mystery set in Greece with a new cast of suspects, including characters played by Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr., Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista and more. The songs, "Be Our Guest," "Belle" and "Beauty and the Beast" were nominated in that category, and the last song, sang by Lansbury in the film, won the award. You thought you were auditioning for - you thought you thought your first role would be in "The Picture Of Dorian Gray." The actor Angela Lansbury, best known as Jessica Fletcher in the TV series Murder, She Wrote and for numerous film and theatre roles, has died aged 96. (SOUNDBITE OF GYPSY ORCHESTRA AND RICHARD LEONARD'S "OVERTURE"). He also had a tremendous classical repertoire of music in his collection. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. In 1991, Lansbury starred in the Disney classic, "Beauty and the Beast" as Mrs. Potts, the former castle cook who turned into a teapot after the curse was placed on the castle. "I Don't Want to Know" from Dear World Although the Jerry Herman musical Dear World played only 132 performances, Lansbury's performance as Countess Aurelia brought her a second Tony Award in 1969. Your mother was an actress. But she - but mainly, No. He felt she was - and when I gave him that, he thought it was terribly funny. His wife is played by Ingrid Bergman. But nevertheless - I don't know if you remember, but I do smoke a rather long Cigarettello in the movie. ANGELA LANSBURY, MURDER, SHE WROTE STAR AND HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS, DEAD AT 96. Angela Lansbury. James Frawley, Angela Lansbury and Arnold Soboloff in, Friedman-Abeles / The New York Public Library, Angela Lansbury, Jane Connell, Sab Shimono and Frankie Michaels in, Bonnie Langford, Lisa Peluso, and Angela Lansbury, Charles Rule, Rex Robbins, and Angela Lansbury, Zan Charisse, Angela Lansbury, and Maureen Moore, Martha Swope/NYPL for the Performing Arts, Zan Charisse, Angela Lansbury, and Rex Robbins, Mary Louise Wilson, Zan Charisse and Angela Lansbury in, Zan Charisse, Angela Lansbury and Rex Robbins in, Len Cariou, Merle Louise, and Angela Lansbury, Len Cariou, Victor Garber, and Angela Lansbury, Angela Lansbury, Rupert Everett and Susan Louise O'Connor, Deborah Rush, Rupert Everett, Angela Lansbury, Jayne Atkinson and Simon Jones, A Little Night Music Playbill - Opening Night, Angela Lansbury, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Keaton Whittaker, Kerry Butler, Eric McCormack and Angela Lansbury in, John Larroquette, Angela Lansbury and Candice Bergen in, By BIANCULLI: This is FRESH AIR. We didnt think they would. I have a serviceable voice. And it turns out you're actually part of a conspiracy to assassinate the political opponent and take over the country. The director, 48, shared a clip of Lansbury performing the song "By The Sea" from the Broadway musical Sweeney Todd, for which she won a Tony in 1979 for best actress in a musical. GROSS: So you started drama school during the war, staying home in London. You - and I picked up a tremendous amount at MGM, working with Kay Thompson and Judy and Andy Williams, all those. Andrew Gans Lansbury also appeared on The Great White Way in Gore Vidal's The Best Man, A Little Night Music, Deuce, Hotel Paradiso, A Taste of Honey, Anyone Can Whistle, The King and I, and A Little Family Business, and her numerous film credits include Gaslight, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Manchurian Candidate, all of which brought the Kennedy Center Honoree Academy Award nominations. A private family ceremony will be held at a date to be determined. And I fought it. So you're onstage in front of an empty theater and singing your number. LANSBURY: When I first started "Murder, She Wrote," I thought it would last maybe two, three years, you know, or maybe a year if we were lucky. I'm David Bianculli, in for Terry Gross, back with more of Terry's 2000 interview with Broadway, film and TV actress Angela Lansbury. (Singing) Up in a balloon, boys, up in a balloon. LANSBURY: (As Mrs. Iselin) You are to shoot the presidential nominee through the head. "She was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw. I mean, I didn't enjoy it. Dame Angela Lansbury smiled for the camera and posed with fellow veteran actors at a red carpet event, in the last public pictures taken of the actress before her death. It was a quick hello after a performance of the sensational musical "Mame," in New York in 1966. . LANSBURY: I was completely nonplussed. Liverpool was bombed right after we left on our ship, which was a Canadian Pacific liner which was headed for Canada. In other words, what I do is I use the emotional kick that I know is inherent in that moment, in that scene that I'm singing. And therefore, she was quite happy to have me stay at home with her and have classes and start my dramatic training. In 1991, Lansbury starred in the Disney classic, "Beauty and the Beast" as Mrs. Potts, the former castle cook who turned into a teapot after the curse was placed on the castle. And being Jessica was second nature to me because she embodied all of the qualities that I like about women. Well, I was introduced to the studio, which was MGM, by a young man who was being considered for the role of Dorian Gray. She died just five days short of her 97th birthday. But what I experienced at drama school was the fun and the excitement of being given a part. And I know now that it was a difficult period of trying to be what I really wasn't. I know of no one else in the musical theater who can sing as well as she does and be the actress that she is. And Johnny will really hit those microphones and those cameras with blood all over him, fighting off anyone who tries to help him, defending America even if it means his own death, rallying a nation of television viewers into hysteria to sweep us up into the White House with powers that will make martial law seem like anarchy. Photo by Getty Images. No. So to be able to play that gave me tremendous sort of pleasure, and I'm so glad I've done it. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER. LANSBURY: It was a hard adjustment for me. Aged 93, and wearing a long red cardigan and cream trousers, the Broadway star attended the Robert Osborne Celebration of Classic Film event at The Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills. And so, well, the rest, as they say, is history. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. LANSBURY: Well, simply that he felt that she was a naughty, rather dirty girl, and that was the way he saw her. Angela Lansbury at her apartment in New York on April 16, 2007. The only, let's say, the comfort I took was - and even then, I kind of leant on it - was the fact that I knew that I was an actress and that I could play different roles because I was continuously being offered extraordinary stretches, shall we say, as an actress, to play parts which were way out of my range. BIANCULLI: Angela Lansbury speaking to Terry Gross in 2000 - more after a break. Get off of my runway. Both those latter musicals had lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and both were very juicy leading roles. And I always remember it because Ingrid and Charles and George Cukor were so wonderfully kind. I wasn't - I had nothing to draw on to know - as I say, I had had no experience sexually, and I didn't really didn't know. Good, you got it. We want you to - we know you can sing it as far as your own rendition of the songs. And he encouraged me to be this snotty, cocky little person who was able to dominate Charles Boyer with inference. We'd go to the various schools all around, preferably in New York and Miss - what's its name? The production arrives in New York after a world premiere at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. She was nominated for an Academy Award for that performance, and received another nomination the following year for her role in "The Picture Of Dorian Gray." March 3, 2023, By RIP dearest Angela., Celeb obsessed? GROSS: You made "The Manchurian Candidate" in 1962. The speech is short. Andy was a backup singer in those days. She was Cabot Cove's treasured murder solver. What kind of work did she do? 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 a.m. today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday, her family said in a statement obtained by Us Weekly at the time. It was like training on the job. Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury DBE (October 16, 1925 - October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress and singer. The Long, Hot Summer. We would do scenes from "Romeo And Juliet," and she would do scenes as Desdemona. So when it turned out that he was, I never blamed him for it in any way. So this is what I mean about I - my education at that time was so varied and so exciting from the point of view of what I was learning that I've used and called on it ever since. Ruthie Henshall, Adam Garcia, More Will Lead U.K. Jackie Burns, Ashley Prez Flanagan, Nathaniel Tenenbaum Star in, See Who's Joining Wayne Brady, Lea Salonga, Ali Stroker for 2023. It's interesting, the things you do remember. GROSS: Did you learn a different style of singing from being exposed to all the singers in his collection? Lansbury appears in a brief cameo that nods to her Murder, She Wrote heyday. She also left behind. The chillingly evil Angela Lansbury performance that will stand the test of time. Angela Lansbury died Tuesday, October 11, at the age of 96. The last time out, two-time Tony award winner Angela starred in the out-of-town tryouts of a musical called Prettybelle. And people don't really always believe this. And it really doesn't matter. "A tale old as time, our beloved Mrs. Potts will sing lullabies to us now from the stars. When I heard Angela Lansbury had died, I immediately thought . GROSS: Can you talk about any specific aspect of singing that you learned during that period? And I was never going to be groomed to be a glamorous movie star. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE WORST PIES IN LONDON"). I'm sure many of our LANSBURY: Listeners will remember those. Lansbury died at 1:30 a.m. on October 11, 2022, while asleep in her home in Los Angeles, California, her family confirmed in a statement to People. It was the kind of role she'd always dreamed of having. He said, sort of whispered in the ear of Mr. Ballerino, the man I was seeing, you know, you should suggest that this young lady meets George Cukor, who's trying to cast the role of the maid in "Gaslight." In 1972, when Barry Brown and Arthur and Fritz Holt, Barry's partner, asked me to do "Gypsy" in London, I said, you've got to be kidding. Dame Angela was known for playing crime novelist Jessica Fletcher in the long running TV series Murder, She Wrote, Broadway musicals Mame and Gypsy, and for voicing Mrs Potts in the Disney animation Beauty and the Beast. Here, she performs Lovett's first solo in the 1980 national tour of the Tony-winning musical, which co-starred George Hearn. We can't wait to see Lansbury show up on screen once more when "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" is released to Netflix in December 2022. We'd do Shakespeare. You docket it all away, and you remember and you use stuff later. It wasn't for me, Herbie. She started off doing Shaw - George Bernard Shaw and also Shakespeare, and became also the leading lady of the great English sort of matinee actor who was Sir Gerald du Maurier. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. In 1966, Angela Lansbury got her first big break on Broadway with her performance in Mame. GROSS: So you say you learned a lot from him. And when I say that, I don't mean that I was aware of that, but I know from my own uncertainty about my personal - you see; I've always been a very private person. Get away, world. BOYER: (As Gregory Anton) Oh, we must see about that. She was 96. LANSBURY: Well, he had an extraordinary group of friends, wonderful people in the business who I never would have met. He was a serial killer intent on murdering many of his customers. March 3, 2023, By The world premiere will officially open March 8 at Houston's Alley Theatre. Armfeldt in the 2009 Broadway revival of A Little Night Music, but at the 1993 Kennedy Center Honors she had the chance to perform Desiree's solo to honor Stephen Sondheim. For many fans Angela Lansbury, who recently passed away at the age of 96, will forever be Jessica Fletcher, the mystery writer and shrewd amateur sleuth who uses her charm and persistence to solve every crime she comes across. Last modified on Mon 26 Dec 2022 13.25 EST. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.