The American Theatre Wing Names Angela Lansbury as its First Ever Honorary Chairman
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FOR RELEASE ON SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2010
THE AMERICAN THEATRE WING
NAMES
FIVE TIME TONY AWARD® WINNER
A N G E L A L A N S B U R Y
AS ITS FIRST EVER
HONORARY CHAIRMAN
New York, NY – The American Theatre Wing has named Angela Lansbury as its first ever Honorary Chairman. The five-time Tony Award®-winning actress accepted the position earlier this evening onstage during the Tony Awards® ceremony at Radio City Music Hall, broadcast live on CBS Television. Theodore S. Chapin, ATW’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, made the announcement and introduced Ms. Lansbury. As Honorary Chairman, Ms. Lansbury will be involved with carrying out the American Theatre Wing’s mission of recognizing excellence and supporting education in theatre.
Accepting the position, which she referred to as a “prestigious honor,” Ms. Lansbury said:
“Would you believe 70 years ago I arrived in New York with my mother and twin brothers – evacuated from war-torn London? Because we did not have the means for me to continue my training as an actress, The American Theatre Wing of the British War Relief Effort arranged for me to have a scholarship to study at a dramatic school here in New York. The training I received eventually lead to a wonderful career.
We talk about a person becoming a star overnight. It really doesn’t happen that way, you know. Young people hoping for a career in the theatre should think about learning everything they can about their craft, and how to apply those skills in the modern world of the theatre. The American Theatre Wing website offers hundreds of hours of free programs to students, aspiring professionals and audiences. I hope you young hopefuls out there will take advantage of these invaluable resources and maybe someday you will find yourself saying “thank you” on stage at the Tonys.”
The American Theatre Wing (Theodore S. Chapin, Chairman, Board of Directors; Howard Sherman, Executive Director) is a not-for-profit organization best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards®, which it presents annually with The Broadway League. In addition to “Downstage Center,” “In The Wings,” “Working in the Theatre,” and a host of other online resources, The Wing sponsors many programs, all dedicated to recognizing excellence and supporting education in theatre. Visitors to www.americantheatrewing.org can listen to, watch or download from ATW’s extensive media collection, and learn more about all of its programming for students, aspiring and working professionals, and audiences who want to learn more about the making of theatre. Follow ATW on www.Facebook.com/TheAmericanTheatreWing, www.youtube.com/americantheatrewing and www.Twitter.com/TheWing.
Bio
ANGELA LANSBURY has enjoyed an unprecedented career spanning more than 60 years, first as a star of motion pictures, and as an award-winning stage actor in New York and London. Currently appearing in A Little Night Music as Madame Armfeldt, for which she is nominated for a 2010 Tony Award®. She appeared as Madame Arcati in the 2009 revival of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit, for which she won her fifth Tony Award®, as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and she performed in 2006 in Terrence McNally’sDeuce, for which she was also nominated for a Tony. She made her Broadway debut in 1957 as Bert Lahr’s wife in Hotel Paradiso. In 1960, she returned to Broadway as Joan Plowright’s mother in the season’s most acclaimed drama, A Taste of Honey, by Shelagh Delaney. A year later, she starred in her first musical, Anyone Can Whistle. Lansbury returned to Broadway in triumph in 1966 in Mame, for which she won her first Tony. She received others as the Madwoman of Chaillot in Dear World (1968), as Mama Rose in the 1974 revival of Gypsy and as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (1979). From 1984-1996 she starred as Jessica Fletcher, mystery-writing amateur sleuth, on “Murder, She Wrote,” the longest-running detective drama series in the history of television, and won four Golden Globe Awards. In 1994, Queen Elizabeth named her a Commander of the British Empire, and in 2000 she received the Kennedy Center Honors. Married in 1949, she and husband Peter worked together until his death in 2003. She has three children and three grandchildren.
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