She’s Happy to Be on ‘Murder’ Trail Again

Angela Lansbury is up to her neck in intrigue once again as the award-winning actress reprises her popular role of mystery writer-sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the new CBS movie “Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For,” which premieres tonight.

Lansbury, 74, starred as Fletcher from 1984 through ’96 on the top-rated “Murder, She Wrote” series, receiving 12 Emmy nominations. The new thriller was directed by her son, Anthony Shaw, who directed numerous episodes of the series and the 1997 “Murder, She Wrote” movie, “South by Southwest.”

One of Broadway’s brightest lights, Lansbury has won four Tony Awards for best actress in a musical for “Mame,” “Dear World,” “Gypsy” and “Sweeney Todd.” She is returning to the stage later this year in “The Visit,” a new John Kander and Fred Ebb musical version of the Friedrich Durrenmatt drama.

Question: This is the first “Murder, She Wrote” movie in three years. Why was there such a long time period between the mysteries?

Answer: Trying to find the right script, other projects, just general things that got in the way. Our very loyal audience has been waiting for another “Murder, She Wrote.”

Q: So you have been hearing from fans?

A: Constantly. Constantly I hear from them. They come and talk to me. I have an incredible ability to sort of attract people in markets and stores. I am so proud that they love the show and they feel that something has gone out of their lives. They are very sweet about it.

The people I am hearing from now are the youngsters who grew up watching with their moms or their grandmothers or an aunt. It’s very, very interesting--teenagers and 20-year-olds and 25-year-olds watched it. After all, we are talking about 16 years ago it started. So there is a whole generation that grew up watching it with their family, and that really pleases me.

Q: Your experience sort of flies in the face of the long-assumed fact that “Murder, She Wrote” doesn’t appeal to the desirable 18-to-49 demographic.

A: It’s absolutely true. [The demographic] is absolutely bull.

Q: Was it easy to get back into playing Jessica after such a long absence?

A: I wouldn’t say it was a snap. I had to think twice. She’s always there tucked away within me. The interesting thing was in this case I had a writer [J. Michael Straczynski of “Babylon 5”] who had written several “Murder, She Wrote” one-hours, and he’s quite a wordsmith, as the saying goes.

He loves words and he loves Jessica. So he always presents her in the most lovely way as a very compassionate woman, which I like a lot. He makes her very caring about young people who are starting out and people of all ages. We address that in this story. We see her talking to groups on college campuses at the beginning and at the end at this conference she’s attending where the murder takes place.

Q: So who gets murdered this time around?

A: It’s a writer. He’s a Russian. This has quite a lot of international intrigue in the story. In this case, he was a man who was originally the head of the KGB and he has written this memoir. The question is who did it and who would have a motive for doing it. It is quite an interesting group of people who are gathered together in this Los Angeles hotel [for the conference]. They are from all walks of life. They are not all writers. Some of them are motivational speakers. Some of them are athletes. So that is where we draw our drama from.

Q: So how does your co-star Richard Crenna fit into the plot?

A: He plays a writer--you sense he has been rather a close friend of mine in the years gone by. We are like brother and sister, but one senses there might have been a romance at one time. Maybe they had a little fling together. We don’t know. It’s inferred. It gives [the film] a nice warm feeling. And, of course, Richard Crenna is just the dreamiest person on two feet.

Q: Are there any more “Murder, She Wrote” movies in the pipeline?

A: There is never a final “Murder, She Wrote.” That is one thing. CBS always wants to leave the door open. I am perfectly prepared to do [more]. We fit them in. We have another script that they are interested in going ahead with. Whether or not we can do it before I go to New York to my stage opus remains to be seen.

Q: When do you begin rehearsals in New York for “The Visit”?

A: We report for rehearsal the 30th of October. We open in December in Boston and we play there for about two months, and then we come into the Broadway Theatre in New York.

Q: Are you excited about returning to Broadway after nearly two decades?

A: I am. I am filled with all the right feelings.

* “Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For” will be shown tonight at 8 on CBS. The network has rated it TV-PG-V (may be unsuitable for young children with special advisories for violence).