Disney Legend Angela Lansbury dies aged 96

British star Angela Lansbury who famously starred as crime novelist Jessica Fletcher in the long-running series Murder, She Wrote, has died at the age of 96.

Angela died on Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles, five days before her 97th birthday, her children confirmed.

"The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles," her family said.

The three-time Oscar nominee had a career spanning eight decades and across film, TV and theatre.

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Angela first began working on Murder, She Wrote in 1984 and continued on the show for 12 years and nine seasons.

At the time, she was one of the wealthiest women in the US with a fortune estimated at $100 million.

She also famously starred as Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast.

In 2013, the actress was given an Oscar for lifetime achievement, with Australian actor Geoffrey Rush describing her as the "living definition of range".

She then received a lifetime achievement award from BAFTA in 2002, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2019, she told US magazine Parade, she was not ready to retire, "Yes, I do [think about it] on some days. I think, Oh, no, goodness gracious. I can’t pull myself together to do this today. But I keep doing it. There’s going to come a point, where I’ll think, I’m folding up now. I’m putting that person away in the closet and I’m going to just live out my remaining years with the family."

She is survived by children Anthony and Deidre and stepson David, plus three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and her brother, Edgar.

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