Angela Lansbury, cuddly? Her best roles were anything but

The late Angela Lansbury was blessed, or perhaps cursed, with a demeanour and appearance that could best be described as “comforting”. In many of her most famous roles, whether as the author-cum-sleuth Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, the aloof but warm-hearted Eglantine Price in Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks or late appearances in family films such as Nanny McPhee and Mary Poppins Returns, she radiated a good-humoured charm that made her one of the most in-demand character actresses of the 20th century. The psychological thriller based on a play by Patrick Hamilton starred Ingrid Bergman as the wronged heroine, but Lansbury stood out in the supporting role of manipulative cockney maid Nancy. Did you see the way she looked at me?” In an extended scene of flirtation with her employer Gregory, as played by Charles Boyer, the young Lansbury demonstrated an arch sex appeal; when told that she is looking especially pretty, Nancy pouts and says “I don’t know it at all sir, I’m sure”, and ends the scene by promising to spy on Gregory’s wife, saying “I’d be very pleased to do anything I can, sir.” The film was a significant box office success, and won Bergman an Academy Award for Best Actress, while Lansbury was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, launching her varied career across film, TV and theatre. Although her next role in the equine sports film National Velvet as Elizabeth Taylor’s elder sister neither stretched her nor moved her out of what would later become the undemanding comfort zone of family entertainment, MGM – the studio that produced Gaslight – was keen to capitalise on Lansbury’s success and cast her in the role of Sybil Vane in The Picture of Dorian Gray.