Tributes pour in for Dame Angela Lansbury after her death aged 96
Tributes have been pouring in for Dame Angela Lansbury after her death at the age of 96.
The actress, who starred in TV drama Murder, She Wrote, died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles early on Tuesday, her family said.
Born in London, she won five Tony Awards for her Broadway performances, was nominated for three Oscars, and in 2013 she received an honorary Academy Award for her lifetime achievement in film.
Her death has been met by an outpouring of tributes and praise for her acting talent by stars from across the industry.
American actress and Orange Is the New Black star Uzo Aduba called her “an icon of the stage”.
She tweeted: “She poured so much love into each of us.
“An icon of the stage, and legend across so many mediums but, we all knew…she was always one of us.”
Frozen actor Josh Gad said that Dame Angela had “touched four generations” with her work.
“It is rare that one person can touch multiple generations, creating a breadth of work that defines decade after decade. Angela Lansbury was that artist,” he wrote on Twitter.
Jason Alexander, who appeared in Seinfeld, praised her as “one of the most versatile, talented, graceful, kind, witty, wise, classy ladies I’ve ever met”.
He added: “Her huge contribution to the arts and the world remains always.”
Actor Harvey Fierstein tweeted: “Angela Lansbury – She, my darlings, was EVERYTHING!”
Catherine Zeta-Jones, who starred alongside Dame Angela in the Broadway musical A Little Night Music, said their time together will “forever be one of the joys of my life”.
Disney Animation Studios tweeted: “We join the world in mourning Disney Legend Angela Lansbury, who brought such incredible warmth and personality to Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast. Her unforgettable performance will forever be a classic.”
Playwright Paul Rudnick said Dame Angela “provided the most fabulous, irreplaceable joy” and was “beloved as a person and an actress, and managed to be approachable, glamorous and heartbreaking”.
West End star Elaine Paige said Dame Angela was “one of the last Golden Age of Hollywood stars & a Broadway & West End icon”.
Author Rebecca Makkai wrote: “A thing you should know: In September, 1987, Angela Lansbury headlined a show that packed the Chicago Theater with 2,400 people to raise money for AIDS research. It was the first major AIDS benefit in Chicago, and it raised $1 million.”
