DAME Angela Lansbury has died at the age of 96, her family has announced.
The Irish-British and American actress was best known for her portrayal of Jessica Fletcher in American drama series Murder, She Wrote.
According to a family statement cited by the AP news agency, Lansbury died in her sleep five days before her 97th birthday.
With a career spanning more than eight decades, Dame Angela was a three-time Oscar nominee and five-time Tony Award winner.
She was born in London in 1925 and later moved to the US to avoid the Blitz.
Lansbury's first film role was in George Cukor’s Gaslight as a young maid named Nancy Oliver who worked in the home of the film’s protagonist Paula Alquist, played by Ingrid Bergman.
The then-19-year-old Dame Angela received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her role in the 1944 film.
Lansbury garnered a great deal of recognition and is perhaps best known for her portrayal of novelist and sleuth Jessica – a retired school teacher from the fictional town of Cabot Cove who became a successful detective novelist after her husband’s death.
In 2013, Dame Angela was given an honorary Academy Award for her lifetime achievements in the film industry.
In 2002, she was awarded a lifetime achievement award by Bafta and also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here