How old was Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher? Tributes pour in as Murder, She Wrote star dies aged 96

Jessica Fletcher recently died at the age of 96 (Image via Robyn Beck/Getty Images)
Jessica Fletcher recently died at the age of 96 (Image via Robyn Beck/Getty Images)

Irish-British-American actress Angela Lansbury passed away on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, aged 96. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood Cinema.

Broadway icon Lansbury, who was a part of the entertainment industry for around eight decades, was also the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award from BAFTA.

Her family announced the demise, stating:

“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.”

Angela Lansbury's cause of death has not yet been revealed by her family.


All about Angela Lansbury’s character in Murder, She Wrote

Lansbury was 58 years old when she was cast as Jessica Fletcher in the CBS crime drama series Murder, She Wrote. The character was a murder-mystery novelist who participated in homicide investigations, with her detective skills becoming popular at one point. Apart from being a novelist, she was also an English teacher, amateur detective, criminology professor, and congresswoman.

When her husband dies, Fletcher writes a manuscript called The Corpse Danced at Midnight, which her nephew Grady shows to his girlfriend Kit Donovan, who ensures that it gets published by the publishing house she works in.

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Jessica Fletcher soon publishes more novels, but while promoting them, she is frequently drawn into the center of investigations, with one of them also leading her to fill in as Maine’s Representative to the US House of Representatives.

She later shifts to New York to start teaching again. However, she continues to release novels and travel back to her hometown and other destinations, solving murders cases.


Journey of Angela Lansbury in the entertainment industry

Angela Lansbury appeared in many TV shows and movies (Image via Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Angela Lansbury appeared in many TV shows and movies (Image via Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Born on October 16, 1925, Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury’s mother was Moyna Macgill, a famous actress, and her father was Edgar Lansbury, a British Communist politician.

Lansbury was enrolled at South Hampstead High School in 1934, where she studied music at the Ritman School of Dancing. She also studied acting at the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art in Kensington, London, in 1940.

Lansbury finished her graduation in March 1942 and her family then shifted to a flat in Morton Street, Greenwich Village.

She made her debut in Hollywood in 1942 and initially signed with MGM, playing important roles in films like Gaslight, National Velvet, and The Picture of Dorian Grey. Lansbury appeared in eleven more MGM films before her contract ended in 1952.

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She was praised for her performance in the 1962 psychological political thriller film The Manchurian Candidate. Lansbury then played the lead role in the 1966 Broadway musical Mame and moved to County Cork, Ireland in 1970. She continued to appear in stage musicals like Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, The King and I, and more.

Lansbury also lent her voice to animated films like Beauty and the Beast and Anastasia. She also appeared in films like Nanny McPhee and Mary Poppins Returns.

Angela Lansbury was a recipient of five Tony Awards, six Golden Globes, three Academy Awards, 18 Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award.


Netizens pay tribute to Angela Lansbury on Twitter

Twitterati expressed grief and paid tributes to the legendary actress when they heard about her demise. Check out some of these tributes below.

Angela Lansbury is survived by her sons Edgar, Anthony, Deirdre, and David; grandchildren Peter, Katherine, and Ian; and five great-grandchildren.

A private family mourning ceremony is reported to be organized later.

Edited by Abhipsa Choudhury