Everyone is paying tribute to Angela Lansbury, who died just five days short of her 97^th birthday.  But, fear not – you haven’t seen the last of Angie!  She’ll be back on the big screen before the end of the year in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.  And she’ll be in good company – also in the cast is the late Stephen Sondheim!  We don’t know if they appear together, but we do know they appear as themselves.

It bears noting that Lansbury was one of the first celebrities to join forces in the fight against AIDS.  Way back in September of 1987, she headlined the first big AIDS benefit in Chicago which raised over $1 million – and, trust me, not a lot of stars were speaking out in the ‘80s!  She also sent out Christmas cards for Aids for AIDS, saying (in part), “This illness is robbing us of our friends and our futures.  This disease knows no discrimination”.

I have one Angela Lansbury story worth sharing.  My friend Rick McKay was making his acclaimed documentary, Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There.  When he would come to LA to interview people, he would stay with me.  One day, he went to Angela Lansbury’s house for an interview.  He was a bit early and no one was home.  He returned to the car to wait and, shortly thereafter, saw Angie pull into her driveway and get out of the car with a gorgeous array of roses.  He waited a few minutes and then returned to her front door and rang the bell.  Still no response.  He rang again, and Lansbury appeared – in gardening gloves and holding pruning shears.  “I’m sorry I didn’t hear you – I was in the backyard cutting some flowers for our interview.”  And then she proceeded to arrange the roses he had previously seen her walk in with!  Well, a big Broadway star needs props!