Star of 'Murder She Wrote' tells Andrew Johnson it's great to be in the limelight once again at 84
To millions in Britain, she is the American queen of daytime television: Jessica Fletcher, amateur sleuth of a certain age in Murder, She Wrote. In America, though, Angela Lansbury, at 84, is the British queen of Hollywood and Broadway.
Elizabeth Taylor – with whom Lansbury co-starred in 1944's National Velvet – has a claim to the title of greatest British female acting export. But Lansbury, who is nominated tonight for what would be a record-breaking seventh Tony Award, is the greater success. She has more film and TV credits than Taylor, is still working – currently treading the boards eight times a week along with fellow Brit Catherine Zeta-Jones in the musical revival of Sondheim's A Little Night Music on Broadway – and has played everything from the evil Mrs Iselin opposite Frank Sinatra in the 1962 thriller The Manchurian Candidate to a prim English witch in 1971's Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
Despite her skill as an actress – she has had three Oscar nominations – the plum starring roles have eluded her. But she believes this has actually helped her career.
