Dame Joan Plowright, one of Britain’s most famous stage and movie actors and the widow of Sir Laurence Olivier, died at the age of 95.
Her career lasted 60 years, including an Oscar nomination for the 1991 Enchanted April picture.
She married Olivier in 1961 after playing his daughter in The Entertainer and went on to become a key figure in the National Theatre, which he founded.
Her family stated they were “so proud of all Joan did and who she was as a loving and deeply inclusive human being.”
“It is with great sadness that the family of Dame Joan Plowright, Lady Olivier, informs you that she died peacefully on January 16, 2025, surrounded by her family at Denville Hall at the age of 95.
“She had a long and illustrious career in theatre, film, and television spanning seven decades before blindness forced her to quit.
“She cherished her last 10 years in Sussex with constant visits from friends and family, filled with much laughter and fond memories.”
They continued, “She survived her many challenges with Plowright grit and courageous determination to make the best of them, which she certainly did.”
“Rest in peace, Dame Joan…”
She’d been retired for a decade, having lost her vision and been declared blind.
Plowright, born in Scunthorpe, rose to prominence in London’s West End in the 1950s, debuting opposite Olivier in John Osborne’s The Entertainer at the Royal Court in 1957.
At the time, he was still married to Gone With The Wind star Vivien Leigh, while Plowright married her first husband, Roger Gage.
Plowright and Olivier fell in love, and their acting collaboration garnered both Bafta nods for the film adaptation of The Entertainer, released in 1960.
That same year, Plowright made her Broadway debut in A Taste of Honey, where she won a Tony Award.
Her other significant plays include George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan on Joan of Arc, in 1963, for which she won Best Actress at the Evening Standard Theatre Award.
In 1978, she earned a Society of West End Theatre Award for Filumena, which was eventually renamed the Olivier Awards in honour of her husband.
She won another Bafta nomination that year for her role in the film adaptation of Equus, starring Richard Burton.
In 1993, she won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Enchanted April as the elegant yet peevish Mrs Fisher.
Dame Joan was a member of a generation of great actresses, appearing in the 1999 film Tea with Mussolini alongside Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith.
In the 2018 BBC documentary Nothing Like A Dame, she was filmed reminiscing with Dames Judi, Maggie, and Eileen Atkins.
In a popular clip from the event, a disgruntled Dame Maggie tells Dame Judi that she was “always asked first” when acting possibilities were available.
Dame Joan first missed the exchange because one of her hearing aids had fallen out, but she eventually joined in on the fun and related a similar story. Dame Maggie, who passed away in September 2024, kindly offered her a spare hearing aid.
According to writer David Hare, Dame Joan was part of an “extraordinary” performing company created by her husband when the National Theatre first opened at the Old Vic in the early 1960s.
Others included Maggie Smith, Michael Redgrave, Derek Jacobi, and Michael Gambon.
“She represented, at that point, a new realism in the theatre – a working class background, obviously, like many of her contemporaries,” Hare said on BBC Radio 4’s The World at One.
“And she had the not very easy task of being Laurence Olivier’s wife while Laurence Olivier was running the theatre, and she handled that situation extremely well.”
Tributes from Theatre World: Remembering Dame Joan Plowright
Hare continued, “I’ll remember her as an extraordinarily wise and witty woman. She was a lot of fun, she loved to laugh, and she utilized humor all the time to diffuse some of the tensions that arose around her husband.”
Hare stated that when he initially worked with her at 23, he was “totally out of my depth, and she never treated me with anything but friendliness, courtesy, and wit”.
Rufus Norris, the current director of the National Theatre, noted that Dame Joan’s “contribution as one of the central pillars of the National Theatre cannot be overstated”.
She gave “an extraordinary series of celebrated performances” in plays including Uncle Vanya, Saint Joan, The Master Builder, Much Ado About Nothing, and Three Sisters, he noted.
“In many of these, she played alongside Sir Laurence Olivier, her artistic and personal partner.
“Dame Joan’s offstage influence on the young National Theatre was equally significant, and her exceptional talent and dedication to her craft have left an indelible impression as an actor.
“She remained a personal friend to and champion of the National Theatre throughout its history.”
On Tuesday, West End theatres will dim their lights for two minutes to honour Dame Joan.
Hannah Essex, co-chief executive of UK Theatre and the Society of London Theatre, stated, “Dame Joan Plowright was an iconic and deeply respected figure in the world of theatre, leaving an indelible mark on the industry she shaped with her talent and dedication.”
“We are honoured to contribute to the celebration of her extraordinary career and extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and loved ones.”
The managers of Scunthorpe’s Plowright Theatre, named for Margaret in the 1990s, also paid tribute.
“We are saddened to hear that Dame Joan Plowright, the esteemed British actress whose career spanned over six decades, has passed away at the age of 95,” according to a statement.
“Born in Brigg she became one of the most distinguished actors of her generation.”
Plowright’s father, Bill, established the Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club, which still performs at the site.
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