Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#2072
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Angela Lansbury represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 79 years in, and Angela is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Angela Lansbury appears in 24 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Angela. Beauty and the Beast is the clearest case: a film rated 7.8 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for documentary, mystery, comedy. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Jeffrey Schwarz, Rian Johnson, Lonny Price and others, Angela Lansbury helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Beauty and the Beast (1991) as Mrs. Potts (voice) · Anastasia (1997) as Dowager Empress Marie (voice) · The Manchurian Candidate (1962) as Mrs. Iselin
Career snapshot
Ranked #2072 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
24
1944–2023
Career length
79 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.8
Beauty and the Beast
Average Nutevio score
6.2
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.7
Beauty and the Beast
Most frequent director
George Sidney
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With George Sidney
Most common genre
Family
10 titles
Average runtime
1h 52m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.0
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.9
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
1990s
7.7 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Anastasia, Beauty and the Beast — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.7
Across 2 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
7.7
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1940s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Samson and Delilah, The Three Musketeers, The Harvey Girls.
Most productive era
1940s
6 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.94 films | — | 6.82 films | — | — | — | — | 6.01 film | — |
| Thriller | 7.21 film | — | 7.21 film | — | 6.11 film | — | — | — | — |
| Comedy | 6.41 film | 6.91 film | 6.21 film | — | — | — | 6.71 film | 6.53 films | 3.52 films |
| Crime | 7.21 film | — | — | — | 6.11 film | — | — | — | 7.01 film |
| Romance | 6.53 films | — | 6.21 film | — | — | 7.81 film | — | — | — |
| Horror | 6.91 film | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1944Gaslight
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Nancy.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
7.8 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
The current state of the argument, as Self (archive footage).
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
24 of 24 films
as Mrs. Potts (voice)
Directed by Kirk Wise
as Mrs. Iselin
Directed by John Frankenheimer
as Miss Price
Directed by Robert Stevenson
as Dowager Empress Marie (voice)
Directed by Gary Goldman
as Nancy
Directed by George Cukor
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Mrs. Potts (voice)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Performance score7.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Mrs. Potts (voice) gives Angela Lansbury a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Mrs. Iselin
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Performance score7.6
The Manchurian Candidate asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Mrs. Iselin is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Miss Price
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
Performance score7.5
Bedknobs and Broomsticks asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Miss Price is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Dowager Empress Marie (voice)
Anastasia (1997)
Performance score7.4
Anastasia asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Dowager Empress Marie (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Mrs. Potts (voice)
Start here. Beauty and the Beast is the clearest statement of what Angela Lansbury does — accessible, 84 minutes, and rated 7.8 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Angela at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Gaslight (1944)
A deliberate change of key after Beauty and the Beast — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Keeps the drama register of Gaslight but asks for a colder reading of it.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
A deliberate change of key after The Manchurian Candidate — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Anastasia (1997)
Keeps the fantasy register of Bedknobs and Broomsticks but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
George Sidney
Director
2 films together
Notably The Three Musketeers
George Cukor
Director
1 film together
Notably Gaslight
Albert Lewin
Director
1 film together
Notably The Picture of Dorian Gray
Clarence Brown
Director
1 film together
Notably National Velvet
Cecil B. DeMille
Director
1 film together
Notably Samson and Delilah
Melvin Frank
Director
1 film together
Notably The Court Jester
Norman Taurog
Director
1 film together
Notably Blue Hawaii
John Frankenheimer
Director
1 film together
Notably The Manchurian Candidate
George Stevens
Director
1 film together
Notably The Greatest Story Ever Told
Robert Stevenson
Director
1 film together
Notably Bedknobs and Broomsticks
John Guillermin
Director
1 film together
Notably Death on the Nile
Guy Hamilton
Director
1 film together
Notably The Mirror Crack'd
Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Director
1 film together
Notably The Last Unicorn
Kirk Wise
Director
1 film together
Notably Beauty and the Beast
Gary Goldman
Director
1 film together
Notably Anastasia
Kirk Jones
Director
1 film together
Notably Nanny McPhee
Mark Waters
Director
1 film together
Notably Mr. Popper's Penguins
Rob Marshall
Director
1 film together
Notably Mary Poppins Returns
Scott Mosier
Director
1 film together
Notably The Grinch
Lonny Price
Director
1 film together
Notably Show of Titles
Rian Johnson
Director
1 film together
Notably Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Jeffrey Schwarz
Director
1 film together
Notably Commitment to Life
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
George Sidney
Director
2 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Three MusketeersKirk Wise
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Beauty and the BeastGary Goldman
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AnastasiaJohn Frankenheimer
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Manchurian CandidateGeorge Cukor
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GaslightRian Johnson
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Glass Onion: A Knives Out MysteryArthur Rankin, Jr.
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Last UnicornJohn Guillermin
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Death on the NileScott Mosier
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The GrinchRobert Stevenson
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Bedknobs and BroomsticksMelvin Frank
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Court JesterAlbert Lewin
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Picture of Dorian GrayClarence Brown
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
National VelvetKirk Jones
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Nanny McPheeRob Marshall
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mary Poppins ReturnsCecil B. DeMille
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Samson and DelilahGeorge Stevens
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Greatest Story Ever ToldNorman Taurog
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Blue HawaiiGuy Hamilton
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Mirror Crack'dMark Waters
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mr. Popper's PenguinsJeffrey Schwarz
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Commitment to LifeLonny Price
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Show of TitlesSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
The Manchurian Candidate
as Mrs. Iselin
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Beauty and the Beast
as Mrs. Potts (voice)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Beauty and the Beast
as Mrs. Potts (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
as Angela Lansbury
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Beauty and the Beast
as Mrs. Potts (voice)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Angela Lansbury has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
79 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Family Legend
Awarded
10 catalogue titles in family, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Anastasia
as Dowager Empress Marie (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Gaslight
as Nancy
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Buttons
as Rose
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Gaslight
as Nancy
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Anastasia
as Dowager Empress Marie (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Anastasia
as Dowager Empress Marie (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Beauty and the Beast
as Mrs. Potts (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Blue Hawaii
as Sarah Lee Gates
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Robert Downey Jr.
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Jamie Harris
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Have your say
Community
Which Angela Lansbury performance holds up best?
Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
Join the conversation
Reference
Continue exploring
Trending performers
Directors they work with
Collections to read next
