Angela Lansbury, James Earl Jones Take ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ on Australian Tour

According to New York magazine, Angela Lansbury will join James Earl Jones for an Australian touring version of “Driving Miss Daisy” next winter.

Lansbury, 86, currently is starring in “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man,” and said in a conversation with the magazine recently that the excursion to Australia with Jones is likely to happen.

“Driving Miss Daisy” was originally written by Alfred Uhry in 1987, and debuted that year Off-Broadway at the Playwrights Horizons Theater. The play received more widespread attention two years later when it was adapted into a film staring Jessica Tandy as Daisy Werthan and Morgan Freeman as her chauffeur Hoke Coleburn.

James Earl Jones starred in both New York and West End revivals of the play beginning in 2010. Vanessa Redgrave played Daisy for those performances.

“A timeless American play, which inspired the beloved Academy Award-winning film,” describes the play’s official website, “‘Driving Miss Daisy’ tells the affecting story of the decades-long relationship between a stubborn Southern matriarch and her compassionate chauffeur. Their iconic tale of pride, changing times and the transformative power of friendship has warmed the hearts of millions, and is being performed for the first time on a Broadway stage.”

The film adaptation, which also stared Dan Aykroyd as the son of Daisy, won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Makeup. Freeman and Aykroyd also were nominated for their roles in the film.

Lansbury tells New York magazine that coming back to New York from Los Angeles to work in theater saved her.

“If I hadn’t had theater to go back into, I would have sort of fizzled out, ignominiously,” she said.

Her appearance in “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man” is her fourth Broadway appearance since returning to New York six years ago. Jones also stars in the production.