Jamie Lee Curtis ‘in talks’ to take on Angela Lansbury’s iconic role in Murder She Wrote in new feature film
Lansbury, who died aged 96 in 2022, was best known for her portrayal of mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher in the hit American crime drama series Murder She Wrote, which ran for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996.
Variety has confirmed that Oscar winner Curtis, 66, is in early talks to play Fletcher in the Universal Pictures film with producers Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Amy Pascal.
The script is by Dumb Money writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo.
Curtis is best known for her portrayal of Laurie Strode in several films in the Halloween franchise.
She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2023 for her role as Deirdre Beaubeirdre in Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Jamie Lee Curtis ‘in talks’ to take on Angela Lansbury’s iconic role in Murder She Wrote in new feature film
Lansbury, who died aged 96 in 2022, was best known for her portrayal of mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher in the hit American crime drama series Murder She Wrote, which ran for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996.
For her role in Murder She Wrote, Lansbury was nominated for ten Golden Globe Awards, winning four, earning her the record for most Golden Globe nominations and wins for Best Actress in a television drama series.
She was also recognized for her work on the hit show with 12 Emmy nominations, making history once again for achieving the most Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, despite never winning the award.
The series itself received three Emmy nominations for Best Drama Series, as well as six Golden Globe nominations in the same category, with two major wins.
Fans were delighted with the casting with one writing: ‘Jamie Legend Curtis can do anything and I’m sure Queen Angela would approve!’
A second wrote: “I can see it,” while a third wrote: “I would love to see that movie!!!”
In addition to his work on the hit CBS series, Lansbury also gained worldwide fame through a wide variety of other roles on stage and screen.
Even her voice gained worldwide recognition, after she lent it to the iconic Beauty and the Beast character Mrs. Potts in Disney’s 1991 animated film, Beauty and the Beast.
He is survived by his three children and three grandchildren.
In 2013, she received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her 80-year career as an actress, having been nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress on three separate occasions for her roles in Gaslight (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), and The Manchurian Candidate (1962).
Beyond the big and small screens, Lansbury became a legend on stage, having trod the Broadway boards in several different productions, and his work on Great White Way earned him five Tony Awards, as well as a lifetime achievement award. .
She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2023 for her role as Deirdre Beaubeirdre in Everything Everywhere All At Once.
The actress (seen in 2018) died peacefully in her sleep at her Los Angeles home in October 2022. She is survived by her three children and three grandchildren.
Curtis is best known for her portrayal of Laurie Strode in several films in the Halloween franchise, seen in 2022’s Halloween Ends.
Having earned Oscar nominations for two of her first three big-screen roles, it seemed to many that Lansbury was destined to become one of Hollywood’s biggest leading ladies; However, she later revealed that her mature behavior led the producers to pigeonhole her as older characters.
Lansbury became a legend in Hollywood and Broadway during a career that spanned an impressive eight decades and saw her take on roles alongside some of the industry’s best-known stars when she was just a teenager; The actress landed her first major film job just four years after she fled wartime London at the age of 14.
Lansbury moved to New York with her actress mother after leaving her home in the UK, and pursued her love of drama, bursting onto the film scene in spectacular fashion at the age of 17, when she landed her first role in the film. The 1944 thriller Gaslight, which saw her hold her own on the big screen alongside Hollywood heavyweights such as Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer.
“One moment I was wrapping Christmas presents in a department store and the next I was performing alongside Ingrid Bergman. It was nothing short of a miracle,” Lansbury once told the Daily Mail of his rapid rise to stardom.
The work eventually earned her a contract with MGM, as well as the first of three Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress (the second of which came a year later for her role in The Picture of Dorian Gray) and marked the beginning of an illustrious career on stage and screen, during which she would star alongside several industry icons, including Gene Kelly and Katharine Hepburn.
The actress married actor Peter Shaw in 1949, and that marriage would last 53 years, until his death from heart failure in 2003.
Together, the couple welcomed two children: son Anthony, born in 1952, daughter Deirdre, born in 1953, and Lansbury also became stepmother to David, Shaw’s son from a previous relationship.
Lansbury once described their relationship as “perfect”, and his death left her heartbroken, saying at the time: “We had the perfect relationship.” Not many people can say that. He was everything to me: we were co-workers, as well as husband, wife and lovers. I don’t know how we had such a long marriage, but the simple fact was that we were dedicated to each other.