Angela Lansbury has died “peacefully” aged 96, her children have confirmed today.
“The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30 a.m. today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday,” her family said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
“In addition to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, she is survived by three grandchildren, Peter, Katherine and Ian, plus five great grandchildren and her brother, producer Edgar Lansbury,” the statement adds.
“She was proceeded in death by her husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw. A private family ceremony will be held at a date to be determined.”
The London-born actress, whose career spanned seven decades, is perhaps best known for her role as mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher on CBS series Murder, She Wrote.
Lansbury’s stage and screen career began when she was just 17, starring as the cockney maid in the Ingrid Bergman-Charles Boyer classic 1944 thriller Gaslight. The role saw the then-teen nominated for an Oscar.