Cinema legend dies at 95

Dame Joan Plowright, one of Britain’s most famous stars of stage and screen and widow of Sir Laurence Olivier, has died aged 95.

His career spanned 60 years and included an Academy Award nomination for the 1991 film Enchanted April.

She married Olivier in 1961 after starring alongside him as his daughter in The Entertainer and became a leading member of the National Theater which he established.

In a statement, her family said they were “very proud of everything Joan did and who she was as a loving and deeply inclusive human being.”

Her family said: “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 enjoyed a long and illustrious career in theatre, film and television spanning seven decades until blindness caused her to retire.

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

They added: “She survived her many challenges with Plowright courage and courageous determination to make the most of them, and she certainly did.

“Rest in peace, Jeanne…”

Born in Scunthorpe, Plowright became a leading actress in London’s West End in the 1950s and first appeared alongside 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, released in 1960.

That year, Plowright also made her American breakthrough in A Taste of Honey on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for her performance.

Her other honors included a Society of West End Theater Award – later renamed the Olivier Awards in honor of her husband – in 1978 for Filumena.

She received another Bafta nomination the same year for her performance in the film version of Equus alongside Richard Burton.

In 2014, she retired from performing after losing her sight and being registered blind.

Dame Joan was part of a generation of leading acting ladies, and in recent years she has been seen reminiscing and enjoying repartee with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Eileen Atkins in the 2018 BBC documentary Nothing Like A Dame.

In a clip from the show, which has gone viral online, a slightly disgruntled Dame Maggie is seen telling Dame Judi that she was “always asked first” when she was offered acting roles.

The exchange was initially missed by Dame Joan because one of her hearing aids had fallen off, but she later joined in on the joke, also telling a similar story. The deceased then gave him a replacement hearing aid. Dame Maggie, died September 2024.