Dame Angela Lansbury is best known as Jessica Fletcher in the popular series Murder, She Wrote. This woman is one of the most beloved figures in the British-American movie scene. With her energy and positive attitude, she captured the hearts of people who watched her in various roles. However, not many people know the story behind her smile.
We at Bright Side love hearing touching love stories, so we wanted to share this one with you.
Angela Lansbury’s rise as an actress was smooth and natural.
Born in East London, Angela Lansbury immigrated to the United States with her family during the Second World War. Since her early childhood, she was keen on books, theatre, and cinema. It was in New York that she started cultivating her talent for performance. After moving to Los Angeles, Lansbury signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, after which she appeared in 13 films with the studio. Unlike many of her colleagues, her rise was smooth and relatively easy.
She met her first husband at a young age.
Lansbury was only 19 when she married actor Richard Cromwell. They tied the knot in 1945 but split up less than a year later. Initially, the couple did not reveal the reason for their divorce, but Lansbury admitted the real truth many years later.
Their marriage was destined to fail, but it didn’t leave a wound.
As she once said, the age gap wasn’t the only obstacle. The attractive, fabulous man that she fell head over heels for turned out to be gay. However, Lansbury said that, despite this, she didn’t regret her marriage to Cromwell and they remained good friends for life.
Since the beginning of her career, one accomplishment followed another.
Lansbury started her acting career by earning an Oscar nomination for her film debut in 1944’s Gaslight, and she continued in the same manner. With 5 Tonys won, she is the second all-time most awarded performer. Queen Elizabeth II recognized her worth and promoted her to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to drama, charitable work, and philanthropy at Windsor Castle. This title made her a part of a group of marvelous women, including the likes of Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.
Another man took her heart, and it lasted for a lifetime.
After one unsuccessful marriage and many successes in her career, Lansbury fell in love again. In 1949, she said her vows to English actor and producer Peter Shaw. Their marriage lasted for more than 5 decades, which is a rarity in the Hollywood film industry. Lansbury and Shaw were both partners at work and lovers at home. As she noted, they were everything to one another, and that’s what made their marriage last for so long.
She finally found the secret to true love.
As Lansbury stated, what made them a perfect couple is that they had the same kind of energy. For them, unsolvable problems didn’t exist. The love and devotion they nurtured could serve as an example for their friends and colleagues.
After grief caused by loss, Lansbury managed to find a reason for happiness again.
It’s needless to say that after Shaw’s death, Lansbury was completely heartbroken. The loss of her loved one led her to a depressive phase. As she stated in an interview for CNN, she didn’t want to force herself to get out of it and act like she was fine: “I just knew I had to wait, and the moment would arrive when I had to look at the surface again and find a way to mend the rift inside my soul.” Eventually, after some time, she managed to continue with her life. Knowing her late husband would want her to continue, she put her wonderful smile back on.
Do you know any examples of lifelong love? How do you think people make their marriages work out?
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