Angela Lansbury Opens up About Early Broadway and Television Career

Stage and screen legend Angela Lansbury recently sat down with the LA Times to talk about her extensive career, including five Tony Awards, an honorary Oscar, and of course a starring role on a hit television show.

"I love to be on stage," said the star. "It's lovely to be able to entertain an audience, and with me so much of it has to do with the innate humor in people. Madame Arcati is such an earnest soul. She's totally serious about every aspect of what she's about. This is what makes her so fascinating and fun to play."

As a teen, Lansbury started to study theatre at a British drama school, but had to stop when she and her family went to America during World War II. She said that despite the fact that where she really wanted to perform was the stage, Hollywood had more opportunities for her. She quickly got a contract with MGM, and received two Oscar nominations by 1945. "I did it because I had to. I needed the money. After all there was family involved, but I was always longing for theater."

"Looking back I used up a lot of valuable years in making lousy movies at MGM," Lansbury said. "And let's face it, they were not great or suitable parts for me. Because I was a so-called natural actress I would play anything anyone handed to me. I was under contract at a studio that would say, 'I'm sorry, dear, but this is what we'd like you to do,' and they would have me playing these older ladies and character roles."

She knew she needed to get serious about musical theatre, however, when she portrayed a villain in The Manchurian Candidate and feared becoming pigeon-holed as a villian for the rest of her career. "You can't live down a part like that," Lansbury said. "I decided, 'Forget it. I'm going to sing now. I'm going to make you happy by singing.'"

Lansbury made her Broadway musical debut in Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim's ANYONE CAN WHISTLE, and launched her now legendary stage career.

Read more from her interview here.