Moved to USA with family to escape WWII; family initially settled in NYC

Worked as a singer at the Samovar Club in Montreal

Family moved to Los Angeles

Sold cosmetics at Bullock's-Wiltshire in L.A.

Signed to contract at MGM after screen test

Film debut, "Gaslight"; had initially been rejected for the role as a Cockney maid by director George Cukor because he thought she was too young; earned first Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress

First leading lady role in film, "The Picture of Dorian Gray"; also screen singing debut; received second Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination

Portrayed a madam in "The Harvey Girls"; singing voice dubbed

Played matronly newspaper editor in "State of the Union"; was only 23 years old

Briefly went on unemployment in the early 1950s after her MGM contract expired

US TV debut, "Revlon Mirror Theater"

Broadway debut, "Hotel Paradiso", starring Burt Lahr

Had stage success with the Broadway production of "A Taste of Honey"

Received critical attention for her performance in the film "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs"

Made two films with John Frankenheimer, "All Fall Down" and "The Manchurian Candidate"; received third Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for the latter; played the mother of Laurence Harvey who was only three years her junior

Starred in first Broadway musical, "Anyone Can Whistle"; first collaboration with composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim

Starred on Broadway in the title role of Mame Dennis in the Jerry Herman musical hit, "Mame"; received first of four Tony Awards as Best Actress in a Musical

Reteamed with Jerry Herman for the musical "Dear World", adapted from the play "The Madwoman of Chaillot"; received second Tony Award

Co-starred in "Something for Everyone", directed by Harold Prince

Appeared in the Disney animated-live action feature "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"; last film for seven years

Due to family problems, retreated to Ireland in the early 1970s

London stage debut, "All Over", with the Royal Shakespeare Company

Starred in London debut and Broadway revival of the musical "Gypsy" in the role of Mama Rose originated by Ethel Merman; lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; won third Tony Award

Played Anna for two weeks in the Broadway revival of "The King and I", opposite Yul Brynner

Returned to features as a dotty novelist in the Agatha Christie adaptation, "Death on the Nile"

Triumphed as the Cockney baker Mrs. Lovett in the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical, "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"; musical staged by Harold Prince; won fourth Tony Award

Portrayed the Agatha Christie sleuth Miss Marple in "The Mirror Crack'd"

Had featured role of Ruth in the film version of the New York Shakespeare Production of "The Pirates of Penzance", helmed by Wilford Leach

Reprised role as Mrs. Lovett in the Showtime adaptation of "Sweeney Todd"

Portrayed Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in the NBC miniseries "Little Gloria,,,Happy at Last"

Starred as Jessica Fletcher in hit TV series "Murder, She Wrote"

Last onscreen feature role (to date), played Granny in Neil Jordan's "The Company of Wolves"

Formed Corymore Productions

Served as host of the annual telecast of the Tony Awards on CBS

Starred in the ABC "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation of "The Shell Seekers"

Voiced the character of Mrs Potts in Disney's animated "Beauty and the Beast"; sang Oscar-winning title tune

Became executive producer of "Murder, She Wrote"

Starred in the CBS TV-movie "Mrs. 'arris Goes to Paris"; directed by son Anthony Shaw

Underwent hip replacement surgery

Named a Comander of the British Empire

Production company, Corymore, signed development deal with Universal

Had title role in "Mrs. Santa Claus" (CBS), an original musical written especially for television by Jerry Herman

Voiced the character of the Dowager Empress in the animated film "Anastasia"

Reprised signature role of Jessica Fletcher in the CBS TV-movie "Murder, She Wrote: South By Southwest"

Again played sleuth Jessica Fletcher in "Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For" (CBS)

Starred in the CBS drama "The Blackwater Lightship" about a man in the final stages of AIDS is cared for by his sister and mother and grandmother; received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Earned an Emmy nomination for her guest-starring role on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC)

Co-starred with Emma Thompson and Colin Firth in "Nanny McPhee" a family comedy scripted by Emma Thompson

Returned to Broadway to star opposite Marian Seldes as retired women tennis players in "Deuce"; earned a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play