‘Beauty and the Beast’ Stars, Uzo Aduba Pay Tribute to Angela Lansbury: “She Touched Four Generations”

Robby Benson, Uzo Aduba and Josh Gad were among the list of Hollywood stars and entertainment industry members who shared tributes and expressed their condolences following the news of the passing of actress Angela Lansbury.

The celebrated performer and iconic star of Murder, She Wrote was a five-time Tony Award winner, recipient of an honorary Oscar, multiple Golden Globe winner and a 12-time Emmy nominee — one for each season she starred in the hit CBS procedural. Known for her memorable and acclaimed roles in films like 1945’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate and 1944’s Gaslight — for which she received her first Oscar nomination at 19 — Lansbury passed away in the early hours of Tuesday at her L.A. home just five days shy of turning 97. 

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The actress was also a legendary stage talent, winning her first Tony for her role in 1966’s Broadway production of Mame. She would go on to star and win Tonys for her roles in 1969’s Dear World, the 1974 revival of Gypsy, the 1979 production of Stephen Sondheim classic Sweeney Todd and then, in 2009 — at the age of 80 — the revival of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit. This past June, she received her final Tony: a lifetime achievement award. 

Lansbury, who was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by the late Queen Elizabeth II, was also known for her portrayals in several Agatha Christie movie adaptations, plus children’s and family fare Mary Poppins Returns, Anastasia, Beauty and the Beast and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

A rare leading woman on the small screen during her ’80s and ’90s run on the CBS show, thanks to her iconic portrayal of mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher, the London-born actress broke ground for female performers on TV with the ratings juggernaut.

Lansbury’s Beauty and the Beast co-star Robby Benson, who voiced the Beast, recalled to The Hollywood Reporter a moment on-set that he remembers to this day. “One of the most memorable moments in my life was being so very fortunate to be in the recording studio when Ms. Lansbury sang the title song, ‘Beauty and the Beast,’” he said. “For me, the 2 minutes and 46 seconds was a lifetime of inspiration.”

Actor Jason Alexander celebrated Lansbury on Twitter as “one of the most versatile, talented, graceful, kind, witty, wise, classy ladies” he’d ever met. Meanwhile, Broadway actress and Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth remembers Lansbury for her role in Mame. “Nobody did Mame quite like her,” she wrote. “Thank you for your art & wisdom.”

Fellow Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein called Lansbury “EVERYTHING” while Tony-nominated playwright Jeremy O. Harris dubbed the late actress a “GOAT,” aka greatest of all time, who shaped his adolescence.

“I hate knowing she is done now,” Lucie Arnaz said in a statement. “Wanted her classiness to remain as long as possible. She was my main inspiration for making my life in the theatre. And she was robbed in the film version of Mame — even my mother thought so.”

Josh Gad, who starred in 2017’s Beauty and the Beast live-action remake, pointed out how rare it is for someone to touch multiple generations, the way Lansbury did. He wrote, “From ‘Mame’ to ‘Bedknobs’ to ‘Murder She Wrote’ to ‘B&TB’ to ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ she touched 4 generations. RIP Legend.”

Read more social media tributes to the late actress from stars below.

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