Dame Angela Lansbury, one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars of the last seventy years, has passed away at the grand age of 96.

The multi-award winning actress died in her sleep on Tuesday morning, just five days shy of her 97th birthday.

Lansbury was born to Irish actress Moyna Macgill and English politician Edgar Lansbury in Regent’s Park, London in 1925. She studied acting in her youth, but was forced to leave England for the United States during the Battle of Britain in 1940.

As a teenager, she began working at a Los Angeles department store before being signed up by MGM Studios. At the age of 19, she made her film debut as conniving maid Nancy in the psychological drama Gaslight (1944). The role landed her a first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, though she lost out on the gong to the experienced Ethel Barrymore.

After playing Elizabeth Taylor’s sister Edwina in National Velvet (1944), Lansbury then landed the first of six Golden Globe wins for her portrayal of tragic nightclub performer Sibyl Vane in the fantasy drama The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). Like Gaslight, that role landed her a second Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actress.

Now established as a supporting player of quality, she began a long career, often as “the other woman” in major productions and as the leading lady in lesser films. Amongst her other notable credits in the 1940s included The Harvey Girls (1946), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), State of the Union (1948), The Three Musketeers (1948) and Samson and Delilah (1949).

During that period, Lansbury had a brief marriage to artist Richard Cromwell, that ended in divorce in 1946. Later that year, she found love again with English producer Peter Pullen Shaw, which led to the pair tying the knot in 1949. The marriage would last over fifty years, with Shaw passing away in 2003.

In the early 1950s, she severed ties with MGM and found herself committing a lot of her work to touring productions. At the same time, she gave birth to two children; son Anthony in 1952 and daughter Dierdre the following year.

Returning to cinema as a freelance actress, she found herself typecast as women older than herself in many films in which she appeared during this period. However, she did end the decade strongly with stellar turns in The Long, Hot Summertime and The Reluctant Debutante (both 1958).

The 1960s opened up more opportunities for Lansbury with appearances in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) and All Fall Down (1962) as well as playing Elvis Presley’s mother in the musical Blue Hawaii (1961).

However, it was another matriarchal role that garnered huge praise for her, as she portrayed the scheming Eleanor Shaw Iselin in the political thriller The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Her performance landed her a second Globe win and her third (and FINAL) Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Having appeared in the likes of The World of Henry Orient (1964), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and Mister Buddwing (1966), Lansbury also found success on stage as she won two Tony awards for her performances in Mame (1966) and Dear World (1969).

Into her fourth decade as an actor, she earned praise for her role as Countess Herthe von Ornstein in the comic-caper Something for Everyone (1970). The following year saw her relationship with Disney begin with her memorable performance as reclusive witch Eglantine Price in the hit family musical Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971).

Her stage work also continued to flourish in the 1970s, with Tony Award-winning roles as Rose in Gypsy (1975) and as Nellie Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979). She would later reprise her role in the latter production in a TV adaptation in 1982.

Lansbury then earned praise for her portrayal of novelist and murder victim Salome Otterbourne in the big-screen adaptation of Agatha Christie’s hit novel Death on the Nile (1978). Remarkably, she would receive her only BAFTA nomination for her performance, though the British organisation did eventually recognise her with a Lifetime Achievement prize in 2003!

The 1980s saw her juggle between film and television with respective roles in the likes of The Mirror Crack’d (1980), The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story (1983), Lace (1984), The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (1984) and The Company of Wolves (1984).

1984 also led to the creation of Lansbury’s most iconic screen character in the form of retired schoolteacher-turned-sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the light mystery series Murder, She Wrote.

Her performance became widely known and loved by millions for over a decade, and would lead to her winning four Golden Globes between 1985 and 1992. However, she had no such luck with the Emmys, as she failed to win a single award from TWELVE nominations! Though Murder, She Wrote finally ended in 1996 (with a grand total of 264 episodes), Lansbury would later reprise the role of Jessica in four spin-off television films between 1997 and 2003.

Another beloved role came in 1991 when she provided the voice of the talking teapot Mrs. Potts in the much-loved Disney animation Beauty and the Beast. She performed the film’s title ballad, that went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song.

Other light-hearted roles in the 90s included playing the title character in the hit festive film Mrs. Santa Clause (1996) and her vocal performance as the Dowager Empress Marie in the DreamWorks animation Anastasia (1997).

Into the Millennium, Lansbury produced Emmy-nominated turns in The Blackwater Lightship (2004), Law & Order: Trial By Jury (2005) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2005) which were then followed by lighter film appearances in Nanny McPhee (2005) and Mr. Popper’s Penguins (2011).

Even into her 80s, she continued to receive recognition for her work, with a sixth Tony win awarded to her for her performance in Blithe Spirit (2009). She also finally got her due by the Academy in 2014 as she received an honorary Oscar for her work in film.

On being made a dame by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2015, Lansbury stated: “I’m joining a marvellous group of women I greatly admire, like Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. It’s a lovely thing to be given that nod of approval by your own country, and I really cherish it.”

In her final few years, she appeared in TV adaptations of Driving Miss Daisy (2014) and Little Women (2017) while also providing the voice of Major McGerkle in Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch (2018). Her last notable role was a memorable cameo as the Balloon Lady in the long-awaited Disney follow-up, Mary Poppins Returns (2018).

Lansbury is survived by her son and daughter, plus many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.