Dame Joan Plowright, award-winning actress and widow of Laurence Olivier, dies age 95

Dame Joan won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award in an illustrious career spanning more than six decades

Actress Dame Joan Plowright has died (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

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17 January 2025

Oscar nominee Dame Joan Plowright has died at the age of 95, her family has said.

The British actress, who was married to Lord Laurence Olivier, was known for her Golden Globe award-winning performances in TV biopic Stalin and Enchanted April, for which she was also nominated for an Academy Award.

Dame Joan also starred in Love You To Death with River Phoenix, and was a star of the West End and Broadway before her international movie success.

The lights of London's West End will dim in memory of the Olivier award-winning actress on Tuesday.

Her family said in a statement: "It is with great sadness that the family of Dame Joan Plowright, the Lady Olivier, inform you that she passed away peacefully on January 16 2025 surrounded by her family at Denville Hall aged 95.

"She enjoyed a long and illustrious career across theatre, film and TV over seven decades until blindness made her retire.

"She cherished her last 10 years in Sussex with constant visits from friends and family, filled with much laughter and fond memories.

"The family are deeply grateful to Jean Wilson and all those involved in her personal care over many years.

"Joan is survived by her loving family: Tamsin and Wilf, Julie-Kate and Dan, Richard, Shelley, Troy, Ali, Jeremy, step-granddaughter and great-granddaughter Kaya and Sophia, and great-granddaughter soon to arrive.

"The family ask you to please respect their request for privacy at this time.

"We are so proud of all Joan did and who she was as a loving and deeply inclusive human being.

"She survived her many challenges with Plowright grit and courageous determination to make the best of them, and that she certainly did.

"Rest in peace, Joan...".

Dame Joan's wedding to Lord Olivier in 1961 was the sensation of the year, and their marriage was an enduring one until the theatre great's death in 1989 at the age of 82.

She became his carer through a series of chronic illnesses, including cancer, until he died.

Her role in the 1991 British comedy Enchanted April won her a Golden Globe for her waspish widow character, and she was also known for 101 Dalmatians in 1996 and Tea With Mussolini in 1999.

She won a second Golden Globe for the TV biopic Stalin in 1993.

Dame Joan Plowright won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award in an illustrious career spanning more than six decades

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In 1961 she won a Tony Award for the role of Jo in Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey on Broadway, which saw her star opposite the late Dame Angela Lansbury playing her mother.

Born in Scunthorpe, Dame Joan was educated at the local grammar school before winning a scholarship to the Old Vic Theatre School at the age of 17.

The town's Scunthorpe Civic Centre was renamed the Plowright Theatre during the 1990s in honour of the actress's achievements.

Paying tribute to Dame Joan, Plowright Theatre operators Scunthorpe Theatres said in a statement: "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. Born in Brigg she became one of the most distinguished actors of her generation.

"Our Plowright Theatre, once known as Scunthorpe Civic Theatre, was renamed in the 1990s in recognition of the achievements of Joan and it was her father, Bill Plowright who founded Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club who continue to perform there today.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time."

Her first stage appearance was in If Four Walls Told at the Croydon Repertory Theatre in 1948 and she later joined the English Theatre Company at the Royal Court.

She met Lord Olivier in 1957 when he was still married to Gone With The Wind star Vivien Leigh, and they fell in love while co-starring in the stage version of John Osborne's The Entertainer.

She received a damehood in the 2004 new year honours.

A year before, she had appeared in Freaks And Geeks creator Paul Feig's directional debut film I Am David, set after the Second World War.

Feig wrote on X that it was an "unbelievable honour" and that he "was in over my head directing such a legend but she made it all so easy".

"I marvelled at every take she did and learned so much from her," the director of 2016's Ghostbusters and 2011's Bridesmaids said.

Dame Joan announced she was retiring from acting in 2014, after she lost her eyesight because of macular degeneration and was registered as blind.

In 2021, her friend and contemporary Dame Judi Dench spoke about having the same condition.

In 2014, Dame Joan took part in the documentary film Nothing Like A Dame, with Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Judi and Dame Maggie Smith, in which they discussed their careers and lives.

UK Theatre and Society Of London Theatre co-chief executive Hannah Essex said that Dame Joan, who won the Olivier award for best actress in 1978 for the drama Filumena, "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".

She added: "We are honoured to contribute to the celebration of her extraordinary career (by dimming the London theatre lights for two minutes) and extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and loved ones."

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Dame Joan Plowright, award-winning actress and widow of Laurence Olivier, dies age 95

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