SAG-AFTRA Mourns the Passing of Life Achievement Honoree Angela Lansbury

SAG-AFTRA mourns the loss of Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement recipient Dame Angela Lansbury, who died today at the age of 96, five days shy of her 97th birthday. 

Lansbury — who joined Screen Actors Guild in 1943 and AFTRA in 1944 — had a career filled with impressive screen and stage accomplishments, from garnering an Oscar nomination for her first film appearance — in 1944’s Gaslight — to receiving the Order of the British Empire in December 2013, bestowing upon her the title of “Dame.” The actor was one of the most decorated players in stage history having received five Tony Awards. In 1996, Lansbury received the 33rd Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. In 2013 she received an honorary Academy Award. 

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher praised Lansbury for her accomplishments on and off set. 

“I was fortunate to have seen Dame Angela twice on Broadway, and she was even more captivating on stage as she was on television and film. What an amazing presence,” Drescher said. “She was an inspiration both on and off stage, and I was personally a huge fan. Thank God she lived a good, long life as we were all blessed to bask in her light. I’m grateful that her body of work lives on to inspire generations to come. I will miss you terribly, Angela, you were one in a mil!” 

Lansbury received the SAG Life Achievement Award for her professional and philanthropic endeavors, which included involvement with charities that combated domestic abuse and HIV infection. In accepting the award, Lansbury lauded her fellow performers:  

“You know, over the past 54 years I‘ve been fortunate enough to have worked with some of the greatest talents in the business: actors, directors, producers, composers, lyricists and animators. And wonderful craftspeople: crews, carpenters, lighting technicians [and] cameramen,” she said. “It has been an outstanding life, especially for me. I just love actors. I love the creative environment of our work.”

About SAG-AFTRA

SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. A proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA has national offices in Los Angeles and New York and local offices nationwide representing members working together to secure the strongest protections for entertainment and media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.