She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England whose alumni include Terence Stamp, Elizabeth Knowelden, Hugh Bonneville, Rupert Friend, Antony Sher, Matthew Goode, Sue Johnston, Minnie Driver and Julian Fellowes.
She was a longtime friend of the late Bob Hope and gave a speech at his memorial service on 27 August 2003. She and Hope appeared on Bob Hope: The First 90 Years (1993) (TV), and she sang with him.
She was among the special guests who were invited to the Grand Opening of the first Disney Park in Europe (Disneyland Resort Paris, formerly known as EuroDisney Resort), where she impressed her hand prints.
She was awarded a C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to drama in 1994.
She was awarded the 2009 Tony Award for Actress in A Featured Role in a Play for her performance in "Blithe Spirit" on Broadway in New York City.
She was considered for the role of Miss Caswell in All About Eve (1950), but Marilyn Monroe was cast in the part instead.
She was nominated for the 2007 Tony Award (New York City) for Actress in a Drama for "Deuce".
She was offered the role of "Nurse Ratchet" in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) but turned it down because she didn't think she could handle the role.
She was one of the last guest stars on "Newhart" (1982).
She was one of the speakers at Jerry Orbach's memorial service.
She was reunited with The Court Jester (1956) co-star Glynis Johns in the "Murder, She Wrote" (1984) episode "Sing a Song of Murder" (#27) 29 years after that film.
She, her mother Moyna MacGill and her twin younger brothers were in the last boatload of family members evacuated from London to America during the WWII blitz.
Sister of Edgar Lansbury and Bruce Lansbury, and half-sister of Isolde Denham.
Though she's not hailed for her singing voice often, she has won 4 Tony Awards for Best Actress In A Musical, and is best known for being in musicals.
Wearing just conventional makeup (i.e., not studio made-up to look "old"), she was most chilling and unforgettable (and convincing!) as the manipulating mother of Laurence Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), while in real life being scarcely three years Harvey's senior.
While filming Death on the Nile (1978), aboard ship, no one was allowed his or her own dressing room, so she shared a dressing room with Bette Davis and Maggie Smith.
With her 2009 Tony Award for Actress in a Featured Role in a Play on June 7, 2009, she and Julie Harris are the only two actresses to win five Tony Awards.