Angela Lansbury, Broadway star and spunky detective in ‘Murder, She Wrote,’ dies at 96
LOS ANGELES — Angela Lansbury, a Tony Award-winning actress who conquered Broadway in the glamorous roles movie studios never gave her and captured television viewers as the star of the hit series “Murder, She Wrote,” has died at her home in Los Angeles.
Lansbury, who played television’s literary sleuth Jessica Fletcher from 1984 to 1996, died Tuesday “peacefully in her sleep ... just five days shy of her 97th birthday,” her family said in a statement provided to the Los Angeles Times. She was 96.
“Angela Lansbury - She, my darlings, was EVERYTHING!,” wrote stage actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein on Twitter after news of her death spread.
“Frozen” actor and fellow Broadway star Josh Gad also paid his respects online.
“It is rare that one person can touch multiple generations, creating a breadth of work that defines decade after decade,” he tweeted. “#AngelaLansbury was that artist. From “Mame” to “Bedknobs” to “Murder She Wrote” to “B&TB” to “Mary Poppins Returns” she touched 4 generations. RIP Legend.”
Beyond her acclaimed work in theater, “Murder, She Wrote” was a classic but lighthearted whodunit, a literate and sophisticated TV show complete with clues and
