Angela Lansbury once saved her daughter from joining Charles Manson’s cult
Angela Lansbury, who passed away aged 96 on Tuesday, October 11th, enjoyed an impressive acting career spanning eight decades. As a result of her fast success, Lansbury became one of the final stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age of cinema.
As tributes pour in for the actor, who was best known for voicing Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast, an interview from 2014 has resurfaced where Lansbury shared that she had to save her teenage daughter from Charles Manson and his cult during the 1960s.
Whilst living in California, Lansbury’s daughter, Deidre, now 69, developed a fascination with the Manson Family, who infamously murdered actress Sharon Tate and her companions in 1969. As a teenager, Deidre began experimenting with drugs, inspired by the counter-culture movement that was blossoming in Los Angeles. However, it didn’t take long for her to seek out the Manson Family for herself.
Lansbury shared: “It started with cannabis but moved on to heroin. There were factions up in the hills above Malibu that were dedicated to deadly pursuits. It pains me to say it but, at one stage, Deidre was in with a crowd led by Charles Manson. She was one of many youngsters who knew him – and they were fascinated. He was an extraordinary character, charismatic in many ways, no question about it.”
Once Deidre involved herself in the circle, Lansbury knew her family had to move far away from Los Angeles. “We upped sticks and moved the family to a house I found in County Cork. I was drawn to Ireland because it was the birthplace of my mother, and it was also somewhere my children wouldn’t be exposed to any more bad influences. I still have a house there which I try and visit at least once a year. So I refused all work for a year and simply kept house.”
The actor’s other child, Anthony, struggled with cocaine and heroin addiction at this time, yet he managed to get clean by 1971. Lansbury shared that it took Deidre “a little longer” to kick her bad habits; however, “she finally got married and she and her husband now live in Los Angeles, where they run their own Italian restaurant”.
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