RIP: Angela Lansbury, ‘Murder, She Wrote’ star and legendary Hollywood actress, dead at 96.

In the 1940s, Lansbury and her family headed to New York where Moyna kicked off her acting career and embarked on a tour. The family eventually traveled to Los Angeles where Moyna helped her daughter land a screen test at MGM. At age 17, Lansbury made her movie debut in 1944’s “Gaslight.” The role earned her an Oscar nomination. She went on to play Elizabeth Taylor’s sister in “National Velvet” that year.

The following year brought another Oscar nomination for Lansbury, thanks to 1945’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” At 19, Lansbury married leading man Richard Cromwell. The couple separated nine months later and Lansbury learned the actor was gay. The two remained friends until his death in 1960 from cancer.

In 1949, Lansbury married Peter Shaw, a British actor who later became a Hollywood agent, in London. Moyna served as matron of honor. Lansbury kept busy pursuing a thriving career both on the big screen, on television and on the stage. At one point, she played Elvis Presley’s mother in 1961’s “Blue Hawaii” despite the actress being 10 years older than the singer.

In 1962, she played Laurence Harvey’s mother in “The Manchurian Candidate.” For this role, she was three years older than her on-screen son. It earned Lansbury her third Oscar nomination.

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