What roles Angela Lansbury could still play on stage? — Page 2

Random, Lansbury was generally a supporting actress but Mirror was a theatrical release (Columbia), she was the star of Bedknobs and of course there was Murder She Wrote.

And of course one doesn't have to have been a movie leading lady to have a major late career starring role in a film, as stage stars whose films careers were generally restricted to secondary roles Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy), Edith Evans (The Whisperers), and Peggy Ashcroft (like the New York Film Critics who awarded her best actress (as they did for Evans in The Whisperers btw), I'm of the opinion that Mrs. Moore in Passage to India was a leading role) have proven.

EDIT: You also have to remember that Lansburies agent for most of her life was her husband Peter Shaw, she took off some major time to care for him. A time where she could have had the reassurgence of popularity like Dench, Redgrave, and Smith as that's when there resurgence was occurring. That and a sick agent isn't going to be able to do his best work for you.

IIRC, the earlier breaks in Lansbury's career were taken to care for her son, who suffered from drug addiction. When Lansbury discovered the problem, she packed the entire family off to Ireland for a year or more. (This would have been between MAME and GYPSY, I believe.) It was well reported at the time.

Her breaks to care for Peter came in the last decade or two, I believe. I admit I have no inside knowledge and am relying on my memory of press reports.

I appreciate the correction, henrik. I don't know how many roles present that much flexibility, though of course some roles have changed over time. Williams said Blanche was 25, but from the movie onward, she has been played as 40 or thereabouts. This makes sense, since we no longer think of a woman as in dire straits just because she isn't married by 25. (On the other hand, I saw the hugely talented Ellen Geer play the role at 60 and that just made Blanche seem like a crazy bag lady, despite the considerable skills of the actress.)

What's really sad and maybe it's just me, but I have a really hard time thinking of good roles for actresses over 60, at least in plays of the last 40 years.

Updated On: 2/19/12 at 04:22 PM

Big Edie in "Grey Gardens." Would love to hear her do "Jerry Likes My Corn."

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That would've been an awesome role for her.
She was in talks to join the West End revival of Pygmalion as Mrs. Higgins apposite Rupert Everett, but the deal fell apart and the role went to Dame Diana Rigg instead. Too bad, Lansbury would’ve been great in it.

There is an old play called The Curious Savage that centers around a woman whose husband recently died and left her a fortune. It's a great showcase for an older actress and Lansbury would've killed it.

I adore the idea of Mrs.Lansbury playing Big Edie! I could actually see her doing it too. Maybe if they finally take the show (or at least mount a new production) on the west end, she could garner herself a long overdue Oliver award?

How about Nanny in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds?

Mrs. Fisher in the new musical of Enchanted April (or in the play)

in other plays from Brit classics:
Mrs. Moore in A Passage to India
Charlotte Bartlett and Eleanor Lavish in A Room With A View
Mrs. Havisham in Great Expectations
Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride and Prejudice

And finally Madame Desmermortes in Anouilh's RING ROUND THE MOON, which not only seems due for revival, but was originally the sophisticated comedy Sondheim thought of musicalizing before he instead settled on Smiles of a Summer Night.

Updated On: 3/6/12 at 01:15 PM

^nice!