FILM ICON DEAD
SCREEN legend Dame Angela Lansbury has died at the age of 96 just days before her birthday.
The actress - best known for starring in Murder, She Wrote - died "peacefully in her sleep" at her home in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
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Dame Angela enjoyed a stellar career spanning across eight decades, entertaining millions in her many film, theatre and television roles.
She voiced Mrs Potts in the beloved 1991 Disney musical Beauty and the Beast - singing one of the most famed songs, Tale As Old As Time.
Dame Angela was one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
Her family said in a statement: "The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30am today, just five days shy of her 97th birthday.
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"In addition to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, she is survived by three grandchildren,
"Peter, Katherine and Ian, plus five great grandchildren and her brother, producer Edgar Lansbury.
"She was proceeded in death by her husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw.
"A private family ceremony will be held at a date to be determined."
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Dame Angela was born in London in 1925 and moved to the US in 1940 to escape the war before studying at the Feagin School of Dramatic Art.
She landed her first big screen role playing a conniving Cockney maid in the 1944 film Gaslight after meeting Hollywood executive John van Druten at a party.
Following her debut as a teenager, she played the doomed Sibyl in The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1945 and Laurence Harvey's evil, manipulative mother in The Manchurian Candidate in 1962.
All three roles earned her Academy Award nominations.
Her mature demeanor prompted producers to cast her much older than her actual age.
In 1948, when she was 23, her hair was streaked with gray so she could play a newspaper publisher in their 40s in the film State of the Union.
Dame Angela later became queen of the New York theatre scene, winning Tony Awards for Mame in 1966, Dear World in 1969, Gypsy in 1975 and Sweeney Todd in 1979.
She flicked between stage and screen work, appearing in films including Bedknobs and Broomsticks in 1971, Anastasia in 1997 and Nanny McPhee in 2005.
During her career, she received an Honorary Academy Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the BAFTA, a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award and five additional Tony Awards, six Golden Globes, and an Olivier Award.
Dame Angela was catapulted into international stardom when she moved into TV work in 1984, taking up the role of Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote.
The hit series centered around the character, a mystery novelist and amateur sleuth, for 12 seasons until 1996.
Almost seven decades after her first film, she was awarded an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement at age 88 in 2013.
The following year, she was made a Dame by the late Queen at a ceremony at Windsor Castle.
'VERSATILE, TALENTED AND GRACEFUL'
Recalling the moment, Dame Angela said: "It is a very proud day for me to be recognised by the country of my birth, and to meet the Queen under these circumstances is a rare and lovely occasion."
Catherine Zeta-Jones - who starred alongside Dame Angela in the first Broadway revival of A Little Night Music from December 2009 to June 2010 - led tributes to the legend.
She wrote: "Dearest, darling, Dame Angela Lansbury. May your rest in peace.
"Our broadway double act will forever be one of the joys of my life.
"As the lights dim for you on 'The Great White Way' you shall glow forever in our heart. Love you Angela."
Singer Marie Osmond shared a tribute on Twitter, writing: "One of the brightest stars in the last decade - rest in peace Angela Lansbury.
"The world is a better place because of you."
Modern Family actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson described the star as "graceful and witty".
He tweeted: "I'll never forget sitting next to Angela Lansbury at an opening night.
"Even though I had to pee I refused to leave my seat during intermission.
"I spent the 15 minutes chatting with her instead. She was incredibly lovely and I'm so glad I had that brief time with her. RIP Angela."
Seinfield actor Jason Alexander wrote: "The great Angela Lansbury - one of the most versatile, talented, graceful, kind, witty, wise, classy ladies I’ve ever met has left us.
"Her huge contribution to the arts and the world remains always."
Star Trek actor George Takei said: "Angela Lansbury, who graced the stage for decades winning five Tony awards and brought the sleuthing Jessica Fletcher into our living rooms for a dozen years, has passed.
"A tale old as time, our beloved Mrs. Potts will sing lullabies to us now from the stars. Rest, great soul."
Dame Angela tied the knot with actor Richard Cromwell in 1945, but the marriage lasted less than a year.
In 1949, she married Peter Shaw, who became her manager.
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She became stepmum to David, from Shaw's first marriage, and they had two children together, Peter and Deirdre.
Shaw, who produced Murder, She Wrote with his two sons at Universal Studios, died in 2003.
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