She was still acting into her 90s, including many bookish roles. She appeared in Disney’s animated Beauty and the Beast, The Picture of Dorian Gray, National Velvet, PBS’s Little Women miniseries, Mame, the 2018 Mary Poppins Returns, among other book-to-movie or -stage adaptations. While most of her early roles were what she called “bitches on wheels and people’s mothers,” her experience with Murder, She Wrote was different: “What appealed to me about Jessica Fletcher is that I could do what I do best and have little chance to play — a sincere, down-to-earth woman.” A beloved actor, she will be missed by legions of fans collected over her long and decorated career. Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
