Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury (born
October 16,
1925) is a British-born American
actress and the granddaughter of politician
George Lansbury.
She made her film debut in
1944, and has since enjoyed a long and varied career, mainly as a film actress, appearing in everything from
Samson and Delilah to
Disney's
Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Her performance in
The Manchurian Candidate as the evil, manipulative mother who turned her son into an assassin won much praise, as did her role as a similarly distant mother in the comedy,
The World of Henry Orient. She also played
Miss Marple in
The Mirror Crack'd.
As Jessica Fletcher in the long-running television series, Murder, She Wrote (1984), she found her biggest success and a worldwide following.
Lansbury received Kennedy Center Honors in 2000.