Joan Plowright, famous actress, widow of Laurence Olivier, deceased

Dame Joan Plowright, one of the great English actors of stage and screen, died on Thursday January 16. The guardian reports. She was 95 years old.

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

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

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

Plowright rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, gaining acclaim for her work with the English Stage Company and later with the National Theater when it was managed by her second husband, Laurence Olivier. She won the Tony for Best Actress in a Play in 1961 for her performance in Shelagh Delaney’s A taste of honey. Decades later, she received an Oscar 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 won 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 October 28, 1929, grew up in the northeast of England and was drawn to acting from a young age thanks to her mother, who managed a local theater group. She eventually won a scholarship to the Old Vic Theater School in London, and Orson Welles gave her one of her first breaks with the only female role in his 1955 production, Moby Dick — Repeated. A real breakthrough came the following year, with a performance in The country womanwhich caught the attention of Olivier who, in 1957, called on Plowright to appear alongside him in a John Osborne production. The artist.

In 1960, Plowright and Olivier starred in a film adaptation of The artistas well as a stage production of Rhinocerosdirected by Welles. The same year, Plowright and Olivier also divorced their respective spouses; they married a year later. Olivier will direct Plowright in Chekhov productions Three sisters and that of Shakespeare 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 following her Tony Award-winning performance in A taste of honeyshe only returned to Broadway once more, when a production of Filumene (also known as The best hour in Naples) crossed the Atlantic in 1980. She also tried her hand at directing in 1988 with the play, Married lovewhile in 1990, she appeared on stage alongside her daughters, Julie-Kate and Tamsin Olivier, in a production of Time and the Conwaysdirected by his son, Richard.

In the 1980s, Plowright’s film and television work expanded significantly. 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 comedy-drama, Tea With Mussolini. In 2003, she appeared in I am Davidthe directorial debut of Paul Feig, who paid tribute to Plowright on I was amazed by every take she did and learned so much from her.

Plowright made his final film appearance in the 2009 thriller Knife edgealthough in 2018 she participated in the documentary, Tea with ladiesin which she discusses her career alongside fellow luminaries Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Eileen Atkins.