On television, Jessica Fletcher was a fictional mystery writer and amateur detective who lived in Cabot Cove, Maine.
In real life, Angela Lansbury starred as Fletcher in the “Murder, She Wrote” series for 12 seasons, from 1984 to 1996, and then for four made-for-TV films from 1997 to 2003. And the heroine’s fictional hometown of Cabot Cove was actually Mendocino, at least for the show’s exterior scenes.
Lansbury died in 2022. But Jessica Fletcher still lives on among the show’s many fans, who on May 1-3 will come to Mendocino for the third annual “Murder, She Wrote” festival.
“When Angela Lansbury died, there was a spontaneous outpouring of affection for her in the form of wreaths at Blair House,” said Anne Semans, director of the Kelley House Museum in Mendocino.
In the TV series, the Blair House Inn in Mendocino represented Jessica Fletcher’s home in Cabot Cove. Interior scenes were primarily filmed on sound stages at Universal Studios in Universal City.
Recognizing the devotion fans held for the fictional Jessica Fletcher and the legendary actress who played her, Mendocino introduced “Murder, She Wrote” tours in 2023, visiting sites used for exterior shots during the series.
The first festival followed in 2024. Tickets sold out in a day, nine months in advance, Semans said. This year’s three-day passes also are sold out, but tickets remain available for some events at kelleyhousemuseum.org.
Last year, London-based host Tim Benzie brought his interactive “Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote” format to the festival, and he’ll return this year.
“We basically sit and watch an episode and play trivia games and have prizes,” Benzie said by phone from London. “I have picked an episode that was filmed in Mendocino, called ‘Joshua Peabody Died Here … Possibly.’”
In the series, Joshua Peabody was a Cabot Cove hero of the Revolutionary War, but there is some doubt that he actually existed. The 1985 episode featured outdoor scenes filmed in Mendocino, including a protest by Cabot Cove residents against a proposed cliffside development. At the same time, there was a real-life protest off-screen against the filming itself, Benzie said.
However, many Mendocino locals embraced the show, appearing in crowd scenes, and some even had speaking parts.
Steve Jordan, who grew up in Mendocino and lives in his grandfather’s house, had roles on the show in the mid-1980s. He played a reporter in an episode titled “Obit for a Dead Man,” and a TV newsman in a two-parter called “Mirror, Mirror,” guest-starring Jean Simmons and Shelley Fabares.
“On the set, it was pretty relaxed, but as soon as Angela Lansbury appeared, the professionalism increased, because everyone wanted to be the best they could around her,” Jordan said. “She was a major star around. She was certainly gracious.”
Married couple Michael Horton, who played Jessica’s nephew Grady on the series, and Debbie Zipp, who played Donna, his girlfriend and later his wife, attended the festival last year and will return this year.
“We had a ball,” Horton recalled. “It was the first time we had come face to face with all those ‘Murder, She Wrote’ fans. It was surprising to find it meant a lot to people all those years later.”
Horton, who lives in Los Angeles, also discovered Mendocino.
“I never did any of the episodes shot in Mendocino,” he said.
Joann Mauro of San Jose, one of the leaders of “Murder, She Wrote” tours in Mendocino, who also stages trivia contests based on the show, is an Angela Lansbury fan who came late to the TV series, watching reruns in syndication.
“We go to all these places where scenes were filmed,” Mauro said. “These adults who take the tour are like kids in Disneyland.”
At its peak, the show attracted over 30 million viewers weekly, occasionally surpassing 40 million.
Benzie, who has presented his “Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote” shows in the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland, believes that lasting fandom for the series is fueled by admiration for Lansbury, whose seven-decade career spanned film, Broadway, and television, earning her five Tony Awards, six Golden Globes and an honorary Oscar.
“It’s her, more than the mystery element,” Benzie said.
IF YOU GO
What: “Murder, She Wrote” Festival
When: May 1-3
Where: Mendocino and Fort Bragg
Admission: Festival passes are sold out, but tickets are available for some individual events
Information and full schedule: kelleyhousemuseum.org/events-murder-she-wrote-festival
Original article
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