Acting legend Dame Joan Plowright dies at 95
Dame Joan Plowright, one of Britain’s most celebrated stage and screen stars and the widow of Sir Laurence Olivier, has died at the age of 95.
Her career spanned 60 years and included an Oscar nomination for the 1991 film Enchanted April.
She married Olivier in 1961 after starring opposite him as his daughter in The Entertainer, and became a leading member of the National Theatre, which he set up.
In a statement, her family said they were “so proud of all Joan did and who she was as a loving and deeply inclusive human being”.
‘Grit and courage’
Her family said: “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.”
They added: “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…”
She had been retired for a decade, having lost her eyesight and been registered blind.
Born in Scunthorpe, Plowright became a leading lady in London’s West End in the 1950s, and first appeared opposite Olivier in John Osborne’s The Entertainer at the Royal Court in 1957.
He was still married to Gone With The Wind star Vivien Leigh at the time, and Plowright was married to her first husband Roger Gage.
Plowright and Olivier fell in love, and their acting partnership earned them both Bafta nominations for the film version of The Entertainer, which came out in 1960.
That year, Plowright also made her breakthrough in the US in A Taste of Honey on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for her performance.
Her other notable plays included George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan, about Joan of Arc, in 1963, which for which she was named best actress at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards.
And she won a Society of West End Theatre Award – later renamed the Olivier Awards after her husband – in 1978 for Filumena.
She received another Bafta nomination that same year for her performance in the film version of Equus alongside Richard Burton.
In Enchanted April, her role as the elegant but peevish Mrs Fisher earned her a Golden Globe as well as a nomination for the Oscar for best supporting actress in 1993.
Nothing Like A Dame
Dame Joan was one of a generation of great acting dames, and appeared opposite Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith in the 1999 film Tea with Mussolini.
More recently, she was famously seen reminiscing and enjoying repartee with Dame Judi, Dame Maggie and Dame Eileen Atkins in the 2018 BBC documentary Nothing Like A Dame.
In a clip from the show, which went viral online, a slightly disguntled Dame Maggie is seen telling Dame Judi she was “always asked first” when acting roles were offered.
The exchange was initially missed by Dame Joan because one of her hearing aids had fallen out, but she then joined in the joke, also recounting a similar story. She was then offered a spare hearing aid by the late Dame Maggie, who died in September 2024.
‘Incredibly wise and witty’
Dame Joan was part of an “extraordinary” acting company that her husband assembled when the National Theatre began life at the Old Vic theatre in the early 1960s, according to playwright David Hare.
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 told 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.”
Hare added: “I’ll also remember her as an incredibly wise and witty woman. She was very good fun, and she liked to laugh, and she used humour all the time to defuse some of the tensions that grew up around her husband.”
When he first worked with her at the age of 23, Hare said he was “totally out of my depth, and she never treated me with anything but friendliness, courtesy and wit”.
The National Theatre’s current director, Rufus Norris, said Dame Joan’s “contribution as one of the central pillars of the National Theatre cannot be overstated”.
She delivered “an extraordinary series of celebrated performances” in plays including Uncle Vanya, Saint Joan, The Master Builder, Much Ado About Nothing and Three Sisters, he said.
“In many of these she acted alongside Sir Laurence Olivier, her partner in art and life.
“Joan’s influence offstage on the nascent National Theatre was similarly profound, and her remarkable talent and dedication to her craft have left an enduring legacy as an actor.
“She remained a personal friend to and champion of the National Theatre throughout its history.”
‘Deeply respected’
West End theatres will dim their lights for two minutes in tribute to Dame Joan on Tuesday.
UK Theatre and Society Of London Theatre co-chief executive Hannah Essex said: “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.”
There was also a tribute from the operators of the Plowright Theatre in Scunthorpe, which was named after her in the 1990s.
“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,” a statement said.
“Born in Brigg she became one of the most distinguished actors of her generation.”
Plowright’s father Bill founded the Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club, which still performs at the venue.
