Murder, She Wrote star Dame Angela Lansbury dies aged 96

The Irish-British and American actress was best known for her portrayal of Jessica Fletcher in American drama series Murder, She Wrote.

According to a family statement cited by the AP news agency, Dame Angela died in her sleep five days before her 97th birthday.

With a career spanning more than eight decades, Dame Angela was a three-time Oscar nominee and five-time Tony Award winner.

She was born in London in 1925 and later moved to the US where she studied at the Feagin School of Dramatic Art in New York.

Dame Angela’s first film role was in George Cukor’s Gaslight as a young maid named Nancy Oliver who worked in the home of the film’s protagonist Paula Alquist, played by Ingrid Bergman.

The then-19-year-old Dame Angela received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her role in the 1944 film.

Dame Angela garnered a great deal of recognition and is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Murder, She Wrote novelist and sleuth Jessica Fletcher – a retired school teacher from the fictional town of Cabot Cove who became a successful detective novelist after her husband’s death.

She played the character in the crime drama TV series for a total of 12 years and nine seasons, after first starring in the role in 1984.

In 2013, Dame Angela was given an honorary Academy Award for her lifetime achievements in the film industry.

In 2002, she was awarded a lifetime achievement award by Bafta and also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

More recently Dame Angela starred in the 2017 BBC adaptation of Little Women, playing Aunt March in the three-part-series based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott.

She also had a cameo part in the 2018 Mary Poppins sequel Mary Poppins Returns, in which she featured as an elderly colourfully-dressed balloon seller.

In addition to her success on screen, Dame Angela became a star on Broadway after her performance as the titular character in Mame – Jerry Herman’s musical adaptation of the novel Auntie Mame.

Mame opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway in May 1966 and won Dame Angela her first Tony Award for best actress in a musical.

She has also appeared in shows in London’s West End including All Over and Gypsy.

Dame Angela was criticised for comments she made about women taking the blame for sexual harassment in the wake of allegations made against Harvey Weinstein and others in Hollywood.

In response to the 2017 criticism she said: “There is no excuse whatsoever for men to harass women in an abusive sexual manner.

“And I am devastated that anyone should deem me capable of thinking otherwise.”