Commencement | Biography | University of Miami

2008 Honorary Degree Recepient

Angela Lansbury
Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa

“Is there no end of things that Angela Lansbury can do?” The New York Times once asked. In a remarkable career spanning more than six decades, Angela Brigid Lansbury has flourished in the multiple mediums of film, television, and musical and dramatic theatre, winning the devotion of millions of fans and dozens of awards and honors. In grateful recognition of the achievements of one of the most respected, charismatic, and versatile actresses of our time, the University of Miami is delighted to award Angela Lansbury the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.

Lansbury was born in London in 1925, the daughter of Belfast-born actress Moyna MacGill and businessman Edgar Lansbury. After her father’s death, and just prior to the German bombing campaign of London during World War II, Lansbury’s mother took her children to America, where they soon settled in Los Angeles. At just 17 years of age, Lansbury landed a seven-year contract at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer when she was cast as a sinister Cockney maid in Gaslight, a role for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination in 1944. She was nominated again the following year for her work in The Picture of Dorian Gray, for which she received a Golden Globe Award.

Lansbury has appeared in more than 50 motion pictures to date, including National Velvet, The Harvey Girls, State of the Union, The Long Hot Summer, The Manchurian Candidate (for which she received a second Golden Globe Award and her third Academy Award nomination), Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The World of Henry Orient, and Death on the Nile. She also has voiced memorable characterizations in animated films, such as the Dowager Empress Marie in Anastasia and the singing teapot Mrs. Potts in the Disney hit Beauty and the Beast.

In 1966, Lansbury conquered Broadway as the madcap heroine of Mame. The hit musical, with music and lyrics by legendary University of Miami alumnus Jerry Herman, ran for more than 1,500 performances and earned Lansbury her first Tony Award for best leading actress in a musical. Three more Tony Awards followed: for her work as the Madwoman of Chaillot in Dear World, Mama Rose in the 1974 revival of Gypsy, and Mrs. Lovett in the 1979 production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. Throughout her career in musical theatre, Lansbury also continued to act in serious dramas by playwrights ranging from William Shakespeare to Edward Albee.

Active in television since the early 1950s, Lansbury achieved perhaps her greatest fame as mystery writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote. The program, which debuted on CBS in 1984, became the highest-rated drama series on television for a record nine straight seasons. Lansbury served as the show’s executive producer during its final four years and was nominated for an Emmy Award in each of the 12 years it aired.

Named a Disney Legend in 1995, Lansbury received a Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 and a Kennedy Center Honor in 2000, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Among her many accolades are two Drama Desk Awards, six Golden Globe awards, and a Career Achievement Award from the Television Critics Association. Lansbury has been inducted into both the Theater Hall of Fame and the Television Hall of Fame. In 1994 Queen Elizabeth II appointed her a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Lansbury has donated her time to many civic activities, ranging from the American Red Cross to the Salvation Army. As a member of the AmFAR National Council, she has helped to raise millions of dollars to fight HIV/AIDS. She has served as the national spokesperson for Childreach, the U.S. partner of the global development charity Plan International. She recently became the new spokesperson for the ALS Association, devoted to finding a cure for Lou Gehrig’s disease, which took her sister’s life in 1987. Lansbury also developed a video and co-wrote a book, both titled Positive Moves, about fitness and well-being.

Lansbury was married for 53 years to Peter Shaw, an agent and studio executive who died in 2003. They have three children, Anthony, Deirdre, and David, and she is a proud grandmother to Peter, Katherine, and Ian.

For her indelible performances, the talent and warmth with which she has enchanted generations of fans, and her gracious support of worthy causes that have helped thousands of people around the world to live healthier lives, the University is delighted to honor Angela Lansbury today.