To avoid confusion with the first film, Cukor's version was originally titled The Murder in Thornton Square in the UK. I’ll see you soon in Cabot Cove.A remake of the 1940 British film of the same name directed by Thorold Dickinson, Cukor's version had a larger scale and budget than the earlier film, and lends a different feel to the material. They live on in celluloid and remain with us throughout the years, taking us back to a simpler place in time every time we watch them.ĭame Lansbury, thank you for your service. Both are still as entertaining as they were when they made their 1980s debuts. The two are sort of strangely intertwined with a shared fanbase. And, again, as with the “Girls,” “Murder” still appears on cable television regularly. Much like with “The Golden Girls,” I still watch “Murder, She Wrote” on occasion. (May we all live to be 96 and in good health.) She lived a full life and was beloved. “Everything about Mame coincided with every young man’s idea of beauty and glory and it was lovely,” she said.Īs a man of a certain age (50), I continue to watch as the gay icons I grew up with make their exit one by one. She credited her status in the gay community to her role as Mame. “I am very proud of the fact that I am a gay icon,” Lansbury, as reported by The Advocate, said in an interview while she was appearing in Blythe Spirit in London. 5 on Playbill’s list of Definitive Divas Who Are Gay Icons. The following year, Lansbury was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth. Lansbury was still working up until 2018, when she appeared in a small role in the Disney sequel “Mary Poppins Returns.” In 2013, she was awarded an honorary Oscar to go along with the five Tony Awards she had previously won for her stage work. (And I’m proud to say that I own the entire series on DVD. Jessica was not particularly glamorous - quite the opposite - but the gay audience identified with the feisty senior citizen who was so often cast aside and underestimated. In the 1980s, Lansbury reinvented herself, starring as mystery writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the TV series “Murder, She Wrote.” Lansbury, who executive produced the show, would go on to do “Murder” for 12 seasons and four additional television movies. “Life is a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death,” Mame famously said. Co-starring was Bea Arthur as Vera Charles. She originated the role of Mame Dennis on Broadway. These early roles all took place in the 1940s, but 26 years later, in 1966, Lansbury would take on the role that would solidify her place as a gay icon. She soon racked up another Oscar nomination starring as Sibyl Vane in the film adaption of Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” Next was a role as Elizabeth Taylor’s sister in “National Velvet” and a starring role alongside Judy Garland in “The Harvey Girls.” In short, Lansbury quickly established herself as a favorite with queer audiences. I did not know at the time but would soon learn that Lansbury and the gays had been engaged in a love fest for years.įrom her debut and Oscar-nominated role as Nancy in 1944’s “Gaslight,” directed by George Cukor, whose homosexuality was well known in Hollywood circles, Lansbury thrilled gay audiences. By this time, Disney films were about as gay as a picnic basket. Potts, a wise, talking teapot, who sang the title song in the film. The renowned actress voiced the character of Mrs. The latest Disney film at that time was “Beauty and the Beast,” which gave me my introduction to Angela Lansbury. They forced us to wear itchy and highly flammable cardigans and hideous polyester pants and, worst of all, subjected us daily to an endless loop of Disney songs playing on a big screen mounted at the back of the store. Personally, in 1992, I was 20 and living in Miami doing a brief stint as a cast member - that’s what they called us employees - at The Disney Store, now basically defunct. The proud gay icon leaves behind a legacy of rich performances that will continue to entertain for decades to come. Just days shy of her 97 th birthday, the legendary lady of stage, screen and television took her final bow Tuesday.
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