Lansbury, who played a crime-solving mystery writer in the long-running US television series “Murder, She Wrote,” “died peacefully in her sleep” at home in Los Angeles, according to a statement from her children.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.
Lansbury maintained a grueling acting schedule well into her 80s, appearing on Broadway in 2012 in “The Best Man” with fellow octogenarian James Earl Jones. “Not since the heyday of Bette Davis had there been an actress of this range and accomplishment,” wrote critic David Shipman. Returning to film, she won applause as Orson Welles’ mistress in “The Long Hot Summer” , Robert Preston’s friend in “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs” , Elvis Presley’s mother in “Blue Hawaii” and Warren Beatty’s mother in “All Fall Down” .”High praise continued for “Dear World,” “Gypsy” and “Sweeney Todd.”