Skip to Main Content Skip to Header Menu Skip to Main Menu Skip to Category Menu Skip to Footer

ANGELA LANSBURY - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 10/20/1996 - HFSID 270299

Angela Lansbury sends a letter to her friend Phyllis Diller. Typed Letter Signed: "Angela", 1 page, 8½x11. No place, but probably Los Angeles, 1996 October 20. On stationery imprinted with her name to comedienne and actress Phyllis Diller, Los Angeles, California.

Price: $240.00

Condition: Lightly creased, otherwise fine condition Add to watchlist:
Chat now or call 800-425-5379

ANGELA LANSBURY
Angela Lansbury sends a letter to her friend Phyllis Diller.
Typed Letter Signed: "Angela", 1 page, 8½x11. No place, but probably Los Angeles, 1996 October 20. On stationery imprinted with her name to comedienne and actress Phyllis Diller, Los Angeles, California. Begins: "Dear Phyllis". In full: "I know first hand about the generosity and caring of the American people...the most generous in the world. As a 15-year-old drama student escaping the German blintz (sic) of London, I arrived in this country 58 years ago to continue my studies which I supported by my job as a salesgirl. Four years later, I was honored with an Academy nomination for 'Gaslight,' my first film. What a wonderful adventure it has been thus far. The same kind of generosity that embraced me then, I see every day of my life in a working community where 'giving' is an intrinsic part of life. We are so very fortunate to make our livings doing what we love, I feel it is natural for us to want to give back. Please consider doing just that for the Volunteers of America's 'Christmas to Remember.' For eight years, this 100-year-old organization has hosted five hundred or more of Los Angeles' impoverished and, too often, 'forgotten' elderly to a holiday luncheon on Christmas Day at The Bonaventure Hotel. I understand that many start calling the Volunteers of America office months before just to know that they will have a place to go on this special day. Though they have little money, they arrive looking their best to indulge in a 'posh' hotel lunch...a photo opportunity with Santa...a small gift...and entertainment. However, your sponsorship does much more. The bulk of your gift goes to provide home-delivered meals throughout the year to those frail elderly who are homebound and physically unable to attend the party. Every day, Volunteers of America delivers a warm, nutritious meal and a bit of friendly conversation by way of a volunteer to the frail and forgotten aged in the poverty pockets of Los Angeles. If you can afford to sponsor one person, I know you will. If you can afford to sponsor a whole table of ten, I know you will. If all of us join together, I know we will fill the ballroom of the Bonaventure on Christmas Day. So whether your holiday is celebrated around a Hanukkah bush or a Christmas tree, please consider this marvelous way to express your concern for others. Finally, although it's early in the season, Peter joins me in wishing you a very happy holiday. Sincerely". Peter was Lansbury's second husband, British actor PETER SHAW, to whom she was married from August 12, 1949 until his death on January 29, 2003; the couple had two children. She had previously been married to actor Richard Cromwell from1945-1946. In the year she signed this letter, Lansbury starred in the title role in the made-for-TV movie, Mrs. Santa Claus, appeared on The Rosie O'Donnell Show and was finishing up the last season of her hit TV show, Murder, She Wrote. Stage, screen and television actress ANGELA LANSBURY, born in London in 1925, is best known to television audiences as Jesica Fletcher, the role she played in the long-running TV series, Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996), and its subsequent made-for-TV movies. The series, about a best-selling novelist-turned-amateur sleuth, debuted on September 30, 1984, and it was the highest-rated drama series on TV for a record nine straight seasons (1985-1994). As mentioned in this letter, Lansbury made her film debut in 1944's Gaslight, for which she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. She would also be nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscars for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Lansbury's other film credits include Samson and Delilah (1949), The Long, Hot Summer (1958), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960), Blue Hawaii (1961), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Death on the Nile (1978) and Nanny McPhee (2006), and she was the voice of Mrs. Potts in the animated film, Beauty and the Beast (1991). Lansbury also won the 1966 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, her first, for her portrayal of the title character in Mame. She later won Tony Awards for Dear World (1969), Gypsy (1975) and Sweeney Todd (1979).Comedienne PHYLLIS DILLER (1917-2012), known for her outrageous appearance, zany outfits, distinctive laugh and a stand-up act that featured frequent references to her fictional husband, "Fang", and zingers about her sex appeal and numerous plastic surgeries, got her big break in March 1955 (at age 37), when she debuted at San Francisco's Purple Onion club. A subsequent appearance on The Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar launched her national career, which got a big boost after Bob Hope saw Diller in a Washington, D.C. club. A favorite of the comedian, Diller would appear in three of Hope's films and 23 of his TV specials. Diller, who recorded her first comedy record album in 1959, took her groundbreaking "funny hausfrau" act to nightclubs and television variety shows and specials and she also appeared on the big screen. Her feature film credits include Splendor in the Grass (1961), The Fat Spy (1966), Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966), The Sunshine Boys (1975) and The Silence of the Hams (1994), and she provided the voice of the Queen in A Bug's Life (1998). By 2000, the comedienne, who had trained as a concert pianist before her marriage (1939-1965) to Sherwood Anderson Diller, had appeared as a piano soloist with 100 symphony orchestras across the U.S. Despite retiring from nightclub/stage tours in May 2002 at the age of 84, Diller continued to make films (Motorcross Kids, 2004; Forget About It, 2005) and occasionally appear on TV programs, including two episodes of 7th Heaven (2002, 2003) and a guest shot on The Wayne Brady Show (2004). Lightly creased with folds, not at signature. Fine condition.

This website image may contain our company watermark. The actual item does not contain this watermark
See more listings from these signers
Make an offer today and get a quick response
Check your account for the status.

Following offer submission users will be contacted at their account email address within 48 hours. Our response will be to accept your offer, decline your offer or send you a final counteroffer. All offers can be viewed from within the "Offer Review" area of your HistoryForSale account. Please review the Make Offer Terms prior to making an offer.

If you have not received an offer acceptance or counter-offer email within 24-hours please check your spam/junk email folder.

 

Fast World-Wide Shipping

Fast FedEx and USPS shipping

Authenticity Guarantee

COA with every purchase

All Questions Answered

Contact us day or night

Submit an Offer Today

Get a quick response