Beloved stage icon Angela Lansbury gave a statement to Entertainment Tonight on the passing of her friend and former 'Mame' co-star Bea Arthur.
"Bea Arthur and I first met when we did 'Mame' together in 1965. She became and has remained 'My Bosom Buddy' ever since. I am deeply saddened by her passing, but also relieved that she is released from the pain. I spoke to Matt, her son, yesterday and I was aware that her time was imminent. She was a rare and unique performer and a dear, dear friend."
Arthur passed away at her home on Saturday at the age of 86.
Angela Lansbury is appearing in the current revival of Blithe Spirit which began preview performances on Thursday, February 26, 2009 and had an official opening on Sunday, March 15, 2009 at The Shubert Theatre (225 West 44th Street).
Angela Lansbury, who last appeared on Broadway in Deuce, has enjoyed a career without precedent. Her professional career spans more than a half-century, during which she has flourished, first as a star of motion pictures, then as a four-time Tony Award-winning Broadway musical star and most recently as the star of "Murder, She Wrote," the longest-running detective drama series in the history of television. The actress made her Broadway debut in 1957 when she starred as Bert Lahr's wife in the French farce, Hotel Paradiso. In 1960, she returned to Broadway as Joan Plowright's mother in the season's most acclaimed drama, A Taste of Honey, by Shelagh Delaney. One year later, she starred on Broadway in her first musical, Anyone Can Whistle. Lansbury returned to New York in triumph in 1966 as Mame, for which she won the first of her unprecedented four Tony Awards as Best Actress in a Musical. She received the others as the Madwoman of Chaillot in Dear World (1968), as Mama Rose in the 1974 revival of Gypsy and as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (1979). From 1984-1996 she starred as Jessica Fletcher, mystery-writing amateur sleuth, on "Murder, She Wrote," for which she won four Golden Globe Awards. In 1982, she was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame, and in 1994 she was named a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. Angela and her husband Peter were married in 1949. They worked together until Peter's death in January 2003. Angela has three grown children, Deirdre, Anthony and David, and three grandchildren.
Tickets for Blithe Spirit can be purchased by visiting telecharge.com or calling 212-239-6200 in the New York area, and 800-432-7250 outside the New York metro area
Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.
