She had to pay off a tabloid to not mention how her children were members of the Manson Family.

This actress has seemingly been around since the beginning of time.

I mean when you get up there to the age of Betty White, that is saying something.

The thing is, our actress didn’t become super famous until much later in life.

Oh, sure, she had a nice steady career, but nothing like that hit television show. It was when she got super famous that she had to pay off a tabloid to not mention how her children were members of the Manson Family.

They didn’t take part in the killings or planning, but were neck deep in the family.

Angela Lansbury

Murder She Wrote

Daughter Deirdre Ann Shaw

The Children of the Stars

In early 1968, Charles Manson was living in Topanga Canyon near Los Angeles with several young women. He’d been released from prison nearly a year earlier (March 1967) and initially received approval from his parole officer to live in San Francisco. But by late ’67, Charlie wanted to be closer to Hollywood, in order to find success as a musician.

When he met Deirdre Shaw, aka ‘Didi’, he grew hopeful that her connections would help him find success.

Deirdre ‘Didi’ Shaw was born April of 1953 to famed actress Angela Lansbury and her second husband, Peter Shaw. Didi grew up in Malibu with two older brothers. The children were frequently left in the care of their father while their celebrated mother was traveling the world and by her mid-teens, Didi was dabbling in drugs. Her mother later lamented, “It started with cannabis but moved on to heroin. There were factions up in the hills above Malibu that were dedicated to deadly pursuits. 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.” — Angela Lansbury quoted in “Angela Lansbury: How Drugs and Divorce Have Shaped My Life” ©May 2014 DailyMail.com

Manson was especially fond of Didi. She gave him hope that the children of other stars would flock to him, helping him get famous. Plus, she had mommy’s credit cards. Those cards were used to buy food and clothing for several months. Didi also introduced her friend Nancy Pitman to Manson.

“Nancy and Deirdre came from Malibu, bringing food from their parents’ cupboards,” Lynette Fromme wrote. “’They’ll never miss it,’ Didi assured us. ‘They don’t even know it’s there.’ The girls also presented us with high quality cannabis and LSD. They knew all the best dealers at the high school. Deirdre was of strong English-Irish stock, resilient, and good-natured. She wore jeans and soft blouses — too adventurous for dresses — and she looked like a child when she grinned. On a warm afternoon, she sat on our roof strumming a guitar and singing to herself, while below, Charlie and I listened, and he said tenderly, ‘Look at her. She’s ten times the actress her mother is without even trying’.” — Reflexion by Lynette Fromme ©2018 Peasenhall Press – Source