Celebrities from the entertainment world mourn the passing of actress Angela Lansbury on Tuesday at the age of 96.
“One of the most memorable moments of my life was just being lucky enough to be in the recording studio when Ms. Lansbury sang the theme song ‘Beauty and the Beast,'” said actor Robby Benson, who voiced the Beast in the 1991 Disney classic awarded Beauty and the Beast, PEOPLE said on Tuesday. “For me, the 2 minutes and 46 seconds was a lifelong inspiration.”
“The amazing Angela Lansbury – one of the most versatile, talented, graceful, kind, funny, wise and noble ladies I have ever met has left us,” Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander wrote on Twitter on Tuesday amid news of Lansbury’s death . “Your great contribution to art and the world will always remain.”
Harvey Fierstein shared a black and white photo of himself with Lansbury and film composer Jerry Herman on Twitter in memory of Lansbury.
“Angela Lansbury – She, my darlings, was EVERYTHING!” he wrote.
“Angela Lansbury, who performed for decades, won five Tony Awards and brought detective Jessica Fletcher into our living rooms for a dozen years, has died,” actor George Takei wrote on Twitter. “An ancient tale, our beloved Mrs. Potts will now sing us lullabies from the stars. Rest, great soul.”
“She was amazing,” comedian/actor Mario Cantone wrote of Lansbury on Twitter, alongside a photo of them posing together.
English actor Stuart Antony called Lansbury “a good actress” in a statement he posted to Twitter.
“We are saddened to hear that Dame Angela Lansbury has passed away,” wrote Antony. “A fine actress and was always very nice to me on the many occasions we met. Another legend lost.”
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Modern Family actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson shared an anecdote on Twitter about sitting next to Lansbury “on an opening night.”
“I’ll never forget sitting next to Angela Lansbury on an opening night. Even though I had to pee, I refused to leave my seat during the break. Instead, I spent the 15 minutes chatting with her,” he wrote. “She was incredibly kind and I’m so glad I had this short time with her. RIP Angela.”
Sex and the City actress Kim Cattrall wrote “what an incredible life” in a comment on Variety’s Instagram post announcing the news of Lansbury’s death.
“RIP x What an incredible life. I have had the great pleasure of meeting her once and have been able to thank her for all the memorable characters and performances she has given,” she wrote.
Writer and playwright Paul Rudnick wrote on Twitter that Lansbury would be “missed, celebrated and adored” after her death.
“That’s what fame means, especially in the theater: she provided the most fabulous, irreplaceable joy,” Rudnick wrote. “She was popular as a person and as an actress and managed to be approachable, glamorous and heartbreaking.”
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Angela Lansbury.
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On Tuesday, the actress’ children announced in a statement that Lansbury died overnight at their Los Angeles home. She died five days before her 97th birthday.
“In addition to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, she is survived by three grandchildren, Peter, Katherine and Ian, as well as five great-grandchildren and her brother, producer Edgar Lansbury,” the statement added. “She was brought to her death by her husband, Peter Shaw, 53 years old. A private family ceremony will be held on a date to be determined.”
The actress, who was born Angela Brigid Lansbury in London, rose to fame in 1944 with her Oscar-nominated film debut as Nancy in Gaslight. By the end of her seven-decade Hollywood career, Lansbury had accumulated over 100 credits as a screen actress, according to IMDB.
According to the Oscars website, Lansbury was nominated three times for the Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Gaslight, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962).
The actress received 17 lifetime Emmy Award nominations but never won, although she was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1996. In June, Lansbury was honored with her sixth Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theater at the 75th Tony Awards ceremony.
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