HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAME ANGELA LANSBURY
                            October 16, 1925

Her illustrious career has spanned seven decades.  Arriving in the United States in 1940 she studied acting in New York City.
Moving to Hollywood she signed a contract with MGM.
                 For her first two roles in Gaslight (1944) and
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) she earned two Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe Award.  When her contract with MGM ended in 1952 she supplemented her cinematic work with theatrical appearances.
                Her finest performance is still as the mother of
Laurence Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate (1962).

HER LIFE ON STAGE

For 15 weeks in 1957 she debuted at the Henry Miller Theatre in Hotel Paradiso, a French burlesque set in Paris. She earned good reviews for her role as Marcel Cat. She later stated that had she not appeared in the play her "whole career would have fizzled out."  Next came A Taste of Honey at the Lyceum Theatre in which she played Helen, the boorish, verbally abusive, otherwise absentee mother of Josephine (played by Joan Plowright).

Publicity photo in 1950

Her first appearance in a theatrical musical was the short-lived Anyone Can Whistle, (1964)  by Arthur Laurents  and
Stephen Sondheim.   She worked with Janet Hayes Walker who founded the York Theatre and in a recent interview with Jack Ford on Metro Focus (PBS) she talked about Janet and how that musical led the way for her chance to play Mame in
Jerry Herman's musical adaptation of Patrick Dennis's novel.

NOTE:  The York Theatre is presenting Dame Angela Lansbury with its annual Oscar Hammerstein Lifetime Achievement Award at a gala on November 16, 2015.

Mame opened at the Winter Garden in May, 1966.
Stanley Kauffman in the New York Times wrote: "Miss Lansbury is a singing-dancing actress, not a singer or dancer who also acts..In this marathon role she has wit, poise, warmth.." She received her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical and the Tony Award. According to her biographer Margaret Bonanno Mame made her a "superstar". To quote Angela: "Everyone loves you, everyone loves the success, and enjoys it as much as you do. And it lasts as long as you are on that stage and as long as you keep coming out of that stage door."

Stardom achieved through Mame allowed her to make further appearances on television.  She was invited to star in a musical performance for the 1968 Academy Awards ceremony and co-hosted that year's Tony Awards with former brother-in-law
Peter Ustinov.   Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Club elected her "Woman of the Year".  She later starred in a musical adaptation of Jean Giraudoux's The Madwoman of Chaillot, Dear World (1969) and won a second Tony Award.

"A small number of people have seen me on the stage. Television is a chance for me to play to a vast U.S. public, and I think that's a chance you don't pass up. I'm interested in reaching everybody. I don't want to reach just the people who can pay forty-five or fifty dollars for a theatre seat."

MURDER SHE WROTE (1984 - 1996)

As mystery writer and amateur detective, her characterization of Jessica Fletcher won over 23 million viewers and Murder She Wrote is still one of the most successful and longest-running television shows in history.   In syndication it is still successful throughout the world.
She holds the record for the most Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a TV drama series and the most Emmy nominations.  

"Ange is classy and elegant, warm and generous, but she's also tough and expects everyone around her to give their all.  As far as she is concerned, there is no challenge that can't be at least partially met with a 'cuppa' very strong Yorkshire Gold.  Working on the stage keeps her vibrant. A healthy regimen keeps her beautiful.  What keeps her ageless is her immense curiosity, her exuberance for life and her tremendous gift for holding on to joy."
                   Len Cariou, friend, co-star, Sweeney Todd


Resource:  Wikipedia