The actress died yesterday when she was about to turn 97. Most of us will always remember Angela Lansbury thanks to her role in the TV series – Murder, She Wrote – for 12 years. In that TV series she played the part of a retired teacher who wrote mystery books and solved the mysteries she bumped into in her personal life when she travelled around the country visiting relatives and friends. The character seemed to lead a peaceful life in Cabot Cove – where she lived – but her acute and insightful grasp of human mind helped her to solve the most complicated crimes around her. Obviously, the creators of the TV series based the character of Jessica Fletcher on Miss Marple, the character created by Agatha Christie, an old lady who lives in an English village and who also solves the mysteries and crimes that come up around her. Perhaps this parallelism is not so obvious if you are not familiar with Agatha Christie´s stories but if you are, you can´t miss the connection. I must tell you that I´m very fond of this character not just because the plots were well-devised and they were reminiscent of the traditional English detective stories but also for a very personal reason, Jessica, that is, Angela Lansbury reminded me of my aunt Ana: she resembled her physically and she was intelligent, sociable and caring, and that´s what one of the most important traits of Jessica Fletcher. She cared for the people around her and tried to do her best to get them out of the serious mess they were in. So I may take advantage of this small forum to pay tribute not only to Angela Lansbury but to my aunt Ana who died a long time ago but I would have liked her to lead a life as long and full of health as that of the actress.
At the time I watched the TV series, I was very young and to me, the actress was closely linked to that role but Angela Lansbury had a very long career in theatre – above all Broadway musicals – television and cinema. She received numerous awards including Oscar nominations, the Honorary Oscar Award in 2013 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and the DBE (Dame of the British Empire as Angela was born in London in 1922). If you´re also fond of the Disney animated film version of Beauty and the Beast (1991), you must know that the voice of Mrs. Potts belongs to Angela Lansbury.
If you´re a learner of the English language, you should watch this film. The exquisite language spoken by the character of Mrs. Potts as well as the rest of the cast is the main reason regardless of other matters.
Angela Lansbury was a beloved actress who played a very familiar role for many of us but I think that it is important to recall that she belonged to the golden age of Hollywood – even if she was chosen for “utilitarian” roles (in her own words) rather than for glamorous ones – and by saying good-bye to her, we say also say good-bye to a very special part of the history of cinema.
