In 2000 Angela Lansbury received the Kennedy Center Honors, adding to her Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, which was awarded to her by Queen Elizabeth II.
Angela Lansbury’s film career started over fifty years ago and includes memorable titles like Gaslight, National Velvet and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Writers gave Jessica a potential love interest in Scotland Yard Inspector George Sutherland. Mendocino, California substituted for many of the outdoor shots of Cabot Cove. Although very much a woman of her times, Jessica never drove a car. She always rode her bicycle or took a cab. That’s Hollywood for you - while it may look like the real thing, the harbor of Jessica's hometown, Cabot Cove, was actually the Jaws lake on the Universal Studios tram tour. Jessica studied to be a journalist before she met and married her husband Frank. Angela Lansbury does double duty when she appeared as Jessica Fletcher’s cousin Emma in two episodes. Did you know Jessica’s maiden name was McGill, the same name as Angela Lansbury’s real-life mother? Did you know there was actually a town by the name of Cabot Cove in Northern California, near where Alfred Hitchcock filmed The Birds? Jessica had help solving the various murders she encountered thanks to private investigators Harry McGraw and Charlie Garrett. Jessica hailed from a large family. She had four brothers and sisters, but we only ever met her brother Marshall. Angela Lansbury recently appeared on Broadway in Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music,” also starring Catherine Zeta-Jones. Lansbury has won a total of five Tony Awards during her decades-long career.