In the wake of Angelia Lansbury’s death on Tuesday, a 2014 interview the actor gave to MailOnline (via The Independent) has resurfaced due to the revelation that Lansbury once saved her daughter from joining Charles Manson‘s cult. Lansbury said her daughter, who is now 69, was “fascinated” by Manson, the notorious serial killer whose string of victims included Sharon Tate. Lansbury’s child became involved with drugs as a young teen and fell under Manson’s spell.
“It started with cannabis but moved on to heroin. There were factions up in the hills above Malibu that were dedicated to deadly pursuits,” Lansbury said. “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.”
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Lansbury, after discovering her daughter had fallen into Manson’s circle, told her husband that they had to leave the Los Angeles area for good. Staying was not an option.
“We upped sticks and moved the family to a house I found in County Cork,” Lansbury said. “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.”
Lansbury said “it took Deidre a little longer” to break her bad habits, “but she finally got married and she and her husband now live in Los Angeles, where they run their own Italian restaurant.”
Lansbury, whose 75-year acting career included hits such as “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Manchurian Candidate,” died at her Los Angeles home on Oct. 11. She was 96 — five days shy of her 97th birthday.
