Lansbury continued discussing the experience many years after it happened.
In later interviews, she expressed gratitude that the family had recognized the danger and made the decision to leave.
She also acknowledged that she and Peter Shaw had been inexperienced when it came to drugs and addiction.
That honesty makes the story particularly striking.
Lansbury was not presenting herself as a parent who had known exactly what to do from the beginning.
She was describing a family that became frightened, realized it needed help, and eventually chose a drastic solution.
She also understood that removing the children from California did not guarantee recovery.
It simply gave them a different environment in which recovery could begin.
And for her, that was enough reason to make the journey.
The Lasting Place of Ireland in Lansbury's Life
Ireland remained an important part of Angela Lansbury's identity long after the immediate crisis had passed.
She continued visiting County Cork and spoke warmly about her connection to the country.
Her relationship with Ireland became independent of the original reason she had gone there.
What began as an emergency family decision became a lifelong emotional connection.
Lansbury's later comments often returned to the idea of balance — balancing career and family, public life and private life, ambition and home.
She credited Peter Shaw with supporting her career while also helping her maintain a family life. In a later RTÉ interview, she spoke about how important it had been to balance family and professional commitments and described her husband as a major source of support.
That perspective helps explain why the move to Ireland was so significant.
It was not simply Angela Lansbury abandoning Hollywood.
It was Angela Lansbury redefining what mattered most at a particular moment.
A Quiet Decision With Enormous Consequences
The Lansbury family's move to County Cork did not make headlines in the same way that a new movie or Broadway opening might have.
Yet privately, it may have been one of the most consequential decisions of Lansbury's life.
At a moment when her children were struggling with drugs and one of them had become associated with people surrounding Charles Manson, Lansbury and Shaw chose to change almost everything around them.
They left California.
They found an old farmhouse.
They embraced a quieter life.
Lansbury put her career aside temporarily.
And the family began rebuilding.
Years later, Lansbury would become one of the most respected actresses of her generation, eventually earning multiple Tony Awards and becoming a television icon through Murder, She Wrote.
But when she looked back on the difficult years around 1970, her memories often returned to Ireland.
For her, the countryside of County Cork represented something Hollywood could not provide at that moment: distance, privacy, simplicity and time.
It gave her family the opportunity to step away from a destructive environment and try again.
And perhaps that is why the story has remained so compelling.
It is not ultimately a story about a Hollywood star escaping scandal.
It is a story about a mother recognizing that her family was in trouble — and being willing to give up almost everything familiar in order to give her children another chance.
For Angela Lansbury, that chance began in a farmhouse in rural Ireland.
Sources
- The Irish Times — “Angela Lansbury: still a star at 90”
A detailed profile covering Lansbury’s family difficulties in the late 1960s, her children’s struggles with drugs, Deirdre’s association with the Manson group, the loss of the family’s Malibu home, and the family’s subsequent move to County Cork.
Read the full article — The Irish Times - The Irish Times — “Angela Lansbury: retire, she won’t”
Includes Lansbury’s own retrospective comments about moving to Ireland after her children experienced problems with drugs and her description of Ireland as a safe and secure place for her family.
Read the full article — The Irish Times - RTÉ — “Angela Lansbury saluted Irish roots on Dublin visit”
Ireland’s national broadcaster reports on Lansbury’s Irish background, her years living in County Cork, and her reflections on balancing family and career.
Read the full article — RTÉ - Los Angeles Times — “Angela Lansbury Clues Us In”
A contemporary 1985 profile in which Lansbury discussed leaving California with her family, the destruction of their Malibu home in 1970, and the later lives of Anthony and Deirdre.
Read the full article — Los Angeles Times - The Irish Times — “Angela Lansbury was ‘Irish, English, Scottish’, a TV superstar and a Broadway demon”
A retrospective profile published after Lansbury’s death, documenting her long relationship with County Cork and her description of Ireland as a secure and welcoming place.
Read the full article — The Irish Times - The Irish Independent — “Angela Lansbury’s Irish home: Newly released interview reveals how moving to Cork allowed star and her family to ‘start our life anew’”
Reports on a previously recorded interview in which Lansbury discussed the impact of moving to Cork and the role Ireland played in giving her family a fresh start.
Read the full article — Irish Independent - Los Angeles Times — “Angela Lansbury: ‘Murder, She Wrote’ actor was 96”
Provides biographical information about Lansbury, Peter Shaw, their children and her career, helping establish the family background discussed in the article.
Read the obituary — Los Angeles Times - TIME — “Angela Lansbury, Beloved Star of Murder, She Wrote, Dies at 96”
Provides broader biographical context about Lansbury’s career and confirms the family difficulties and subsequent move to Ireland.
Read the article — TIME