ANGELA LANSBURY & MARIAN SELDES on 'Deuce'

In memory of the great actresses Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes, Theater Talk presents an encore of our 2007 interview with them in which they discuss their careers acting (and in Seldes case, teaching acting as well) and their roles on Broadway in Terrence McNally's play Deuce.

[@claymccleery9451]

Two crown jewels of the theatre.

[@irenemak1302]

Greater than these you seldom see.

[@January.]

Very missed 😢

[@DavidN369]

Dame Edna, The Stritch and the Tony predicton shows notwithstanding, a candidate for most representative Theater Talk episode, which is saying something. Mesmeric. ❤❤❤❤

[@PhilAlumb]

Irreplaceable Talent.💯

[@markhayward7400]

I saw 'Deuce' on Broadway. There was much to admire in the performances of these two grand dames of theatre, but the play itself was a slight thing even they couldn't rescue.

[@christophercarey3232]

Mrs. Dudley from The 1999 remake of The Haunting.

[@bojack40]

I saw this. It was good to see these two ladies in an intelligent play, but the text wasn’t enough to make it engrossing, given there was nothing but the text to focus on.

[@OfficialBrianAtene]

I had Seldes at Juilliard. She was the equivalent of DC Comics' "Two Face". She loved herself as she bad-mouthed her students.

[@theatertalk]

I thought she was just great, Brian, but whatever your experience with Marian was, I suspect you know by now that acting can be a brutal business. Let us, therefore, let go of past resentments and move forward without them to have some serenity.

[@OfficialBrianAtene]

@theaterralk: There wasn't any acting-business-brutality. She was a teacher in an academic setting who lied about her students to the faculty. We liked her, but her rosiness was always suspect. So, Group 14 broke into the office and read her notes on us and others. They were egregious. We didn't resent her. It was more a pity. We moved forward realizing she was merely an actress and she had an ego. Serenity is knowing she was only human.

[@ronwheeler316]

Marian Seldes is the inspiration for Jessica Lange in “The Great Lillian Hall” now streaming on MAX.