Celebrity News

Angela Lansbury named Dame of the British Empire

“Murder, She Wrote” actress Angela Lansbury has been named a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

Lansbury and 1,000 others made the New Year’s Honours List, which for the first time had more women than men.

Also getting nods: actor Michael Crawford (“Phantom of the Opera”), mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins and Tina Selby, who founded a charity that has sent nearly 10,000 knitted hats containing chocolate bars to British forces in Afghanistan.

Notably absent, on the other hand, were David Beckham, who announced his retirement this year, and 2013 Wimbledon champ Andy Murray — the first British man to win the tournament in 77 years. Both had been expected to take home honours.