Following the sad news of the passing of legendary multiple Tony and Olivier Award winner Dame Angela Lansbury, West End theatres will dim their lights for 2 minutes at 7pm on Wednesday 12 October in her memory.
Claire Walker and Hannah Essex, Co-Chief Executives of the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, said:
‘The theatre world is a smaller place tonight after the passing of Dame Angela Lansbury whose work touched so many generations. She lit up every stage she graced, and her extraordinary talent will be very much missed.’
Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony and Olivier Award-winning actress Dame Angela Lansbury has passed away at 96.
After a start in the Golden Age of Hollywood and a host of Academy Award nominations for films like Gaslight, National Velvet and The Picture Of Dorian Gray.
She went on to take leading roles on the stage throughout the 1960s and 70s, starring in Mame, Dear World, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd and The King And I; which earned her four Tony Awards and two Drama Desk Awards
From 1984, she took up perhaps her most recognisable role as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, which ran for twelve seasons. She was nominated for a Golden Globe ever year from 1984 to 1994, and won four times for the role.
You can also see and hear her in children’s films including voice acting in Beauty And The Beast and Anastasia and appearances in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Nanny McPhee and Mary Poppins Returns.
She won six Tony Awards across her lifetime, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.
Her last appearance in the West End was in 2015, playing Madame Arcati at the Gielgud Theatre, for which she won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.