Angela Lansbury, the British-born actress, on stage and on television, died at age 96

Angela Lansbury, a British-born actress whose career spanned eight decades and produced unforgettable portraits of a wide range of characters in films, on stage, and on television, including villainesses, sleuths, and light comedic roles, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 96, her family announced.

According to a statement from her children, Lansbury, who portrayed a crime-solving mystery author in the venerable US television series ‘Murder, She Wrote,’ ‘died peacefully in her sleep’ at home in Los Angeles. The actress was only five days from from turning 97, according to the statement.

In movies, Lansbury turned in riveting supporting performances, including her film debut as a teenager playing the conniving Cockney maid in ‘Gaslight’ in 1944, as the doomed Sibyl in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ in 1945 and as Laurence Harvey’s evil, manipulative mother in ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ in 1962. All three roles earned her Academy Award nominations.

In November 2013, she received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement at the age of 88, nearly seven decades after the release of her first film.