Angela Lansbury would have turned 98 on Oct. 16 — and her “Murder, She Wrote” co-star, Louis Herthum, shared some memories of working with the legendary stage, screen and TV star, who passed away Oct. 11, 2022.
Lansbury garnered 12 consecutive Emmy nominations for her starring role in “Murder, She Wrote” as sleuthing mystery author Jessica Fletcher, who solved murders in the seaside community of Cabot Cove, Maine, and never let her late-in-life fame as a best-selling novelist go to her head.
The series, which aired from 1984 to 1996 on CBS, co-starred Tom Bosley as Sheriff Amos Tupper, William Windom as Dr. Seth Hazlitt, Ron Masak as Sheriff Mort Metzger — and starting in Season 8, Herthum, who played Deputy Andy Broom for the show’s final five seasons. (He replaced Will Nye, who played Deputy Floyd.)
Herthum previously appeared on “Murder, She Wrote” as other characters (opposite Jerry Ohrbach, who played private investigator Harry McGraw — later to star in his own series — and guest star Elliott Gould). He said his first hint of Lansbury’s generosity occurred during his first season as an everyday on the show.
“I remember we were out on the lake in Cabot Cove [on the Universal lot] and Angela had been nominated for one more Emmy,” Herthum told The Post. “I sent her a telegram just wishing her a much-deserved nomination and congratulations.
“We were waiting for her to reach on set to shoot a scene — there have been other people around — and I feel these two hands on my shoulders from behind and he or she whispers in my ear, ‘Thanks a lot in your lovely telegram.’ I used to be like, ‘Holy moley.’ But that was the type of person she was.
“She was warm and funny and he or she would sing songs from [theatrical] shows she had done. She was just so lovely.”
Herthum also cited Lansbury’s graciousness.
“I had her e-mail address and I’d all the time send her an e-mail on her birthday,” he said. “And she or he would all the time respond with a ‘Thanks. Hope you’re doing well.’ It wasn’t like we were friends and frolicked but there was all the time a friendly camaraderie there,” he said.
“I had a lot respect, admiration and gratitude to her due to her demeanor and the way she was with people, including myself. She was just a stunning person and I can’t say enough about her.”
Herthum described Lansbury’s generosity of spirit on the set of “Murder, She Wrote,” when an elderly actor was having some difficulties.
“Something that actually sticks in my mind — to know how kind and giving she was — there was a gentleman, he was probably in his 70s, who had a scene in the sheriff’s office, a line or two,” he said. “The entire group was there: me in the background as Andy often was, Ron Masak, William Windom and Angela. And this gentleman couldn’t get his lines out. I feel he was nervous being in Angela’s presence, to be quite honest.
“I’ve been on sets when that happens and everybody gets type of uncomfortable, but Angela was as patient as she may very well be and at one point grabbed his hand and said, ‘It’s effective. You’re doing effective.’ I’ve seen stars of other shows get very annoyed [when someone can’t remember their lines], but Angela was just the opposite. She did all the things she possibly could to calm him down.
“And she or he all the time made the background actors feel welcome, he said. “She was just an attractive person.”
Herthum said Lansbury didn’t put on any airs while shooting “Murder, She Wrote.”
“I all the time describe her to people [that] when she walked on the set she had an aura about her — not a ‘star’ thing — she was just warm and friendly to everyone. It was all the time slightly intimidating to work with her, though I used to be in a position to recover from it,” he said. “It was simply because I didn’t need to screw up and disappoint her.”
Lansbury was just as real off-camera as she was on-camera, Herthum said.
“She was all the time so down-to-earth. I can’t inform you how many individuals said they used to see her in Whole Foods all the time, doing her own shopping and talking to people. She never demanded star treatment,” he said.
‘Murder, She Wrote’ was the highlight of his profession. He concluded: “I feel very privileged and honored to have been in that position.”