Angela Lansbury, Prolific Actress & 'Beauty and the Beast” Star, Has Died

Dame Angela Lansbury, star of Murder She Wrote and the voice of Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast, has passed away. The prolific stage and screen actress was 96.

“The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30 a.m. today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday," her family said in a statement.

The actress, whose range inspired many, was best known for her stage musical roles as pie-maker Nellie Lovett in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and her latest role in 2009’s “Blithe Spirit.” The veteran actress received five Tony Awards over her lifetime.

Anyone who grew up watching Disney animated features likely associates Lansbury with her role as the maternal Mrs. Potts and her 1991 Academy Award-winning song “Beauty and the Beast.”

Fans and those who have worked with the Broadway star across the globe have already started mourning Lansbury. “Imagine single-handedly fending off a Nazi invasion using witchcraft and that not even being your most iconic or best remembered role. Angela Lansbury had the range,” noted one fan on Twitter of her role as Miss Eglantine Price in the 1971 Disney movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

“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,” George Takei shared on Twitter.

“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,” noted actor Jason Alexander.

“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,” explained Jesse Tyler Ferguson on Twitter. “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.”

Rest in peace, Great Dame Angela Lansbury. You truly wove a tale as old as time, and an unforgettable one at that.