PODCAST: Angela Lansbury, set to host TCM doc about Disney, reflects on an extraordinary career

Aside from a few child stars, there aren't many actors who began their careers 65 years ago and are still working today, but that is precisely what stage, television and film legend Angela Lansbury is — and loves — doing.

Today, when people discuss a blond with a British accent who has repeatedly reinvented herself, it's usually Madonna, but Lansbury fits the bill even better — she'd already gone through several different career incarnations before Madonna was even born ... plus she's actually British!

Lansbury was still a teenager when she made made her big screen debut and earned a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for playing a conniving, cockney maid opposite Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman in "Gaslight" (1944). Then, she portrayed the snooty older sister of Elizabeth Taylor in "National Velvet" (1944), before earning yet another Oscar nomination for best supporting actress as a rather pathetic dance hall performer infatuated with the ageless Hurd Hatfield in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1945). Over the next few years, she was aiding Judy Garland in "The Harvey Girls" (1946), tormenting Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in "State of the Union" (1948), and taking direction from Cecil B. DeMille in "Samson and Delilah" (1949).

During the 1950s, Lansbury gave birth to two children and consequently worked less often, mainly on episodic television shows. When she returned to the big screen in the 1960s, though only in her 30s, she was not infrequently asked to play mother figures.

She played these roles to great effect with Elvis Presley in "Blue Hawaii" (1961), Warren Beatty in "All Fall Down" (1962), and, most famously, with Laurence Harvey as the manipulative Mrs. Iselin, possessor of the Ace of Hearts, in "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962), for which she earned her third Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

In 1964, facing limited prospects on the screen, Lansbury turned to the stage. Over the next 15 years, she returned to the big screen only two or three times, one being to make the family favorite "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (1971). During that short span, she appeared in numerous hit productions, gave four performances that won Tony Awards for best actress (musical) — in "Mame" (1966), "Dear World" (1969), "Gypsy" (1975), and, most famously, as Mrs. Lovett in "Sweeney Todd" (1979) — and altogether solidifed her standing as one of the greatest and most beloved Broadway actresses of all time.

But Lansbury was not done yet — not by a long shot — as there remained one more medium to conquer: television. Conquer it she did, earning 10 Golden Globe nominations, four Golden Globes and a fortune for her portrayal of amateur detective Jessica Fletcher on "Murder, She Wrote," which was one of the most popular shows on CBS from 1984 through 1996.

And if the audience for the show skewed older, well, she more than compensated by using some of her off time to provide the voice of the animated teapot Mrs. Potts in Disney's best picture-nominated "Beauty and the Beast," which introduced her to a whole new generation.

At 83, Angela Lansbury is preparing to return to Broadway next year in "Blithe Spirit" and continues to lend her name (and inimitable voice) to special causes and family-friendly programming. In fact, on Sunday evening at 8:45 p.m. PST, she can be heard on the cable network Turner Classic Movies narrating a brand-new documentary entitled "The Age of Believing: The Disney Live-Action Classics," which focuses on Disney's expansion from an animation-only studio into one that also produces live-action films, and which is part of TCM's celebration of family classics every Sunday in December.

Last Friday, Lansbury was kind enough to speak with me about it all — her humble beginnings, her ever-changing career and her thoughts looking back — over the course of a half-hour phone interview that I hope you'll check out by clicking HERE!

OSCAR TRIVIA: Can you think of any actor — other than Julie Andrews, Marlon Brando, Glenn Close, James Dean, Angela Lansbury, Estelle Parsons and Teresa Wright — who received Oscar nominations for two of his or her first three credited big screen performances?

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Photos, from left: "Gaslight," MGM; "The Manchurian Candidate," United Artists; "Sweeney Todd," Broadway; "Murder, She Wrote," CBS; "Beauty and the Beast," Buena Vista Pictures.

Comments

[Matt Mazur]

This was fantastic! I love how you're keeping an eye on not only the current Oscar season, but also paying homage to the people who came first, the true industry pioneers. I wish more writers would consider profiling women like Nina Foch and Angela Lansbury.

[Scott Feinberg]

Thanks a lot for checking it out and writing, Matt! I love the great films and stars of the past and figured others must, too. Glad to hear ths is the case.

[Renat]

Thank you Mr. Feinberg so much for this wonderful article and interview with legendary Ms. Lansbury! It was also a great pleasure to read your interview with Lauren Bacall and late Nina Foch.
Could you please tell me if it true that there will be no Honorary Award recipient this year?
Stage and screen legend Angela Lansbury is a great actress. Mrs. Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate is not only her best screen performance, but also one of the greatest female performances ever. Ms. Lansbury deserves to be recognized with an Honorary Oscar for her outstanding contribution to the art of film. It’s pretty pathetic that there have been no female recipients in 14 years. I think it is about time to give one to a woman for a change.