Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was a British actress and singer whose career spanned eight decades. Born in London, she fled the Blitz during World War II and moved to the United States, where she launched a remarkable Hollywood career. At just 18 years old, Lansbury made her film debut in ‘Gaslight’ (1944), playing Nancy Oliver, a cheeky Cockney housemaid opposite Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She followed this with a role in ‘National Velvet’ (1944) as the snobbish older sister to an adolescent Elizabeth Taylor, and later in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ (1945), where she portrayed Sibyl Vane and received a Golden Globe Award and a second Oscar nomination. Lansbury’s early career was marked by her rapid rise from a department store cashier to a two-time Oscar nominee before turning 21. She signed a seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1942, bypassing typical ‘B-movie’ roles to secure high-profile, prestigious film roles. Despite her doe-eyed appearance and meteoric rise, studios often typecast her in mature, supporting roles, casting her as characters decades older than her age, sharp-tongued, or antagonistic. Her versatility and poise allowed her to excel in these roles, laying the foundation for her legendary seven-decade career on screen and Broadway. Lansbury’s early work in the 1940s established her as a versatile and talented performer, setting the stage for her enduring success in film, television, and theater.