Joan Plowright, celebrated actress, widow of Laurence Olivier, dead

Dame Joan Plowright, one of the great English actresses of both stage and screen died on Thursday 16 The Guardian reports. She was 95.

Plowright’s family confirmed her death, saying she died at a nursing home in Northwood, England for people who had worked in theatre. A cause of death was not disclosed.

“She enjoyed a long and illustrious career spanning seven decades in theatre, film and television until blindness forced her to retire,” Plowright’s family said. “She loved her last 10 years in Sussex with constant visits from friends and family, filled with lots of laughter and great memories.”

To honor Plowright, the Society of London Theater announced that theaters across the West End will dim their lights for two minutes at 7pm next Tuesday, January 21.

Plowright rose to prominence during the 1950s and 1960s, garnering acclaim for her work with the English Stage Company and later the National Theater when it was managed by her second husband, Laurence Olivier. She won the Tony for Best Actress in 1961 for her performance in Shelagh Delaney’s A taste of honey. Decades later, she received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in Mike Newell’s historical drama Enchanted April.

Although she lost the Oscar that year, she won a Golden Globe for her performance in Enchanted April — one of two Globes she took home that night. The other was for her portrayal of Joseph Stalin’s mother-in-law in an HBO film about the former Soviet leader.

Plowright, born 28 October 1929, grew up in the North East of England and was drawn to acting at a young age through his mother, who ran a local drama group. She eventually won a scholarship to the Old Vic Theater School in London, and Orson Welles gave her one of her earliest breaks with the sole female role in his 1955 production, Moby Dick – Rehearsed. A real breakthrough came the following year, with a performance The countrywomanwhich attracted the attention of Olivier, who in 1957 tapped Plowright to appear with him in a production of John Osborne’s The entertainer.

In 1960, Plowright and Olivier starred in a film adaptation of The entertaineras well as a stage production of Ionesco’s Rhinocerosdirected by Welles. In the same year, Plowright and Olivier also separated from their respective spouses; they married a year later. Olivier would direct Plowright in productions of Chekhov’s Three sisters and Shakespeare’s Love’s labor is lostwhile they also appeared together in a production of The Merchant of Venice.

The majority of Plowright’s stage work was based in London, and after her Tony-winning performance in A taste of honeyshe only returned to Broadway once more when a production of Filumena (also known as The best hour in Naples) moved across the Atlantic in 1980. She also tried her hand at directing in 1988 with the play, Married Lovewhile in 1990 she appeared on stage with her daughters, Julie-Kate and Tamsin Olivier, in a production of The time and the Conwaysdirected by her son, Richard.

In the eighties, Plowright’s film and television work increased significantly. Along with Enchanted Aprilshe delivered memorable turns in the 1990 comedy I love you to death (opposite Tracy Ullman and Kevin Kline), and Franco Zeffirelli’s 1999 war drama, Tea with Mussolini. In 2003 she appeared in I’m Davidthe directorial debut of Paul Feig, who hailed Plowright on X“I was in over my head directing such a legend, but she made it all so easy. I marveled at every take and learned so much from her.”

Plowright made his last film appearance in the 2009 thriller Knife edgealthough in 2018 she participated in the documentary, Tea with ladieswhere she recalled her career alongside other luminaries, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Eileen Atkins.