Joan Plowright

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox person Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> (Template:Nee; 28 October 1929 – 16 January 2025), commonly known as Dame Joan Plowright, was an English actress whose career spanned over six decades. She received several accolades including two Golden Globe Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004.

Plowright studied at the Old Vic Theatre School<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> before acting onstage at the Royal National Theatre where she met her husband Laurence Olivier. She acted opposite him in the John Osborne play The Entertainer on the West End in 1957 and on Broadway in 1958. She earned the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her A Taste of Honey (1961). She won the Laurence Olivier Award for Filumena (1978).

She made her film debut in an uncredited role in Moby Dick (1956). She later won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Enchanted April (1991). She was BAFTA-nominated for her roles in The Entertainer (1960) and Equus (1977). She also acted in the films Uncle Vanya (1963), Three Sisters (1970), Avalon (1990), Dennis the Menace (1993), A Place for Annie (1994), 101 Dalmatians (1996), Jane Eyre (1996), Tea with Mussolini (1999), Bringing Down the House (2003) and Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005). She also voiced roles for the children's films Dinosaur (2000) and Curious George (2006).

On television she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for her role in the HBO television film Stalin (1992). She retired from acting due to macular degeneration in 2014. She made her final filmed appearance in the documentary Nothing Like a Dame (2018).

Early life and education

Plowright was born on 28 October 1929 in Brigg, Lincolnshire, the daughter of Daisy Margaret (née Burton) and William Ernest Plowright, who was a journalist and newspaper editor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She attended Scunthorpe Grammar School<ref name=ST>Star Pupils Revealed at Scunthorpe Telegraph Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 9 July 2016</ref> and then trained at The Old Vic Theatre School.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="gdn-obit"/>

Career

File:Angela Lansbury Joan Plowright A Taste of Honey Broadway.jpg

Plowright as Jo (right) with Angela Lansbury as Helen, in the 1961 Broadway production of A Taste of Honey

Plowright made her stage debut at Croydon in 1948<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and her London debut in 1954. In 1956 she joined the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre and was cast as Margery Pinchwife in The Country Wife. She appeared with George Devine in the Eugène Ionesco play The Chairs, and Shaw's Major Barbara and Saint Joan.

Plowright made her film debut in an uncredited role in Moby Dick (1956). In 1957, Plowright co-starred with Sir Laurence Olivier in the original London production of John Osborne's The Entertainer, taking over the role of Jean Rice from Dorothy Tutin when the play transferred from the Royal Court to the Palace Theatre. She continued to appear on stage and in films such as The Entertainer (1960). In 1961, she received a Tony Award for her role in A Taste of Honey on Broadway.

Through her marriage to Olivier, Plowright became closely associated with his work at the National Theatre from 1963 onwards. She also acted in the films Uncle Vanya (1963), Three Sisters (1970), and Equus (1977). In the 1990s, she began to appear more regularly in films, including I Love You to Death (1990); Avalon (1990); Enchanted April (1992), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination; Dennis the Menace (1993), where she played Martha Wilson; A Place for Annie (1994); The Scarlet Letter (1995); Jane Eyre (1996); 101 Dalmatians (1996), where she played the dog nanny; Dance with Me (1998); and Tea With Mussolini (1999). Among her television roles, she won another Golden Globe Award and earned an Emmy Award nomination for the HBO film Stalin in 1992 as the Soviet dictator's mother-in-law. Her pair of 1992 performances (Enchanted April and Stalin) marked only the second time an actress (after Sigourney Weaver, for performances in 1988) won two Golden Globes in the same year; as of the January 2023 presentation, only Helen Mirren (for performances in 2006) and Kate Winslet (for performances in 2008) have duplicated this feat. In 1994, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award.<ref name=WIF>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2003, Plowright performed in the stage production Absolutely! (Perhaps) in London. She was appointed honorary president of the English Stage Company in March 2009, succeeding John Mortimer who died in January 2009. She was previously vice-president of the company.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her later films included Bringing Down the House (2003), Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005), and The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), as well as voiced roles for the children's films Dinosaur (2000) and Curious George (2006). She made her final filmed appearance in the British documentary Nothing Like a Dame (2018) with her acting Dame friends Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Eileen Atkins.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

File:President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan with Laurence Olivier and Lady Olivier.jpg

Plowright with Laurence Olivier, President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan, 1983

Marriages and family

Plowright was first married to the actor Roger Gage in September 1953. She later divorced him and in 1961 married Laurence Olivier shortly after the end of Olivier's twenty-year marriage to the actress Vivien Leigh. Plowright and Olivier had three children together,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> all three of whom have worked in the theatre.<ref name="variety-obit"/> The couple remained married until Olivier's death in 1989. Plowright's younger brother, David Plowright (1930–2006), was an executive at Granada Television.<ref name="gdn-obit"/>

She published her memoirs, And That's Not All, in 2001.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Illness and death

Plowright's vision declined steadily during the late 2000s and early 2010s due to macular degeneration. In 2014, she officially announced her retirement from acting because she had become legally blind.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

Plowright died at Denville Hall in Northwood, London, on 16 January 2025, aged 95.<ref name="auto"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Legacy

The Plowright Theatre in Scunthorpe is named in Plowright's honour.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In her obituary, Variety described Plowright as "perhaps the greatest Anglophone actor of the 20th century".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="variety-obit">Template:Cite web</ref>

Honours

Plowright was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1970 New Year Honours<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2004 New Year Honours.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

She received an honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) from the University of Hull in 2001.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Acting credits

Film

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Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	Moby Dick<ref name="gdn-obit">Template:Cite news</ref>	Starbuck's wife	Uncredited
1957	Time Without Pity<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Agnes Cole
1960	The Entertainer<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Jean Rice
1963	Uncle Vanya<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Sonya
1970	Three Sisters<ref name="bbc-obit">Template:Cite news</ref>	Masha Kulighina
1977	Equus<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Dora Strang
1982	Britannia Hospital<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Phyllis Grimshaw
	Brimstone and Treacle<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Norma Bates
1985	Revolution<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mrs. Daisy McConnahay
1988	Drowning by Numbers<ref name="wiegand"/>	Cissie Colpitts 1
	The Dressmaker<ref name="wiegand"/>	Nellie
1990	I Love You to Death<ref name="bbc-obit"/>	Nadja
	Avalon<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Eva Krichinsky
1991	Enchanted April<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Mrs. Jane Fisher
1993	Dennis the Menace<ref name="bbc-obit"/>	Mrs. Martha Wilson
	Last Action Hero<ref name="bbc-obit"/>	Teacher
1994	A Pin for the Butterfly<ref>A Pin for the Butterfly (1994): at the BFI</ref>	Grandma
	Widows' Peak<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mrs. Dawn Doyle-Counihan
1995	The Scarlet Letter<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Harriet Hibbons
	A Pyromaniac's Love Story<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mrs. Wendy Linzer
	Hotel Sorrento<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Marge Morrisey
1996	101 Dalmatians<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Nanny
	Surviving Picasso<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Françoise's Grandmother
	Mr. Wrong<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mrs. Jessica Crawford
	Jane Eyre<ref name="bbc-obit"/>	Mrs. Maddie Fairfax
1997	The Assistant<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mrs. Ida Bober
1998	Dance with Me<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Bea Johnson
1999	Tom's Midnight Garden<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mrs. Ortensia Bartholomew
	Tea with Mussolini<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Mary Wallace
2000	Dinosaur<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Baylene	Voice
	Back to the Secret Garden<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Martha Sowerby
2002	Global Heresy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Lady Foxley
	Callas Forever<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Sarah Keller
2003	Bringing Down the House<ref name="bbc-obit"/>	Virginia Arness
	I Am David<ref name="bbc-obit"/>	Sophie
2004	George and the Dragon<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mother Superior
2005	Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Mrs. Sarah Palfrey
2006	Goose on the Loose<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Beatrice Fairfield
	Curious George<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Victoria Plushbottom	Voice
2008	The Spiderwick Chronicles<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Aunt Lucinda Spiderwick
2009	Knife Edge<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Marjorie
2018	Nothing Like a Dame<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Herself	Documentary

Television

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Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	Sara Crewe<ref name="dagan">Template:Cite web</ref>	Winnie	4 episodes
1954	BBC Sunday-Night Theatre<ref name="dagan"/>	Adriana	3 episodes
1955	Moby Dick—Rehearsed<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	A Young Actress/Pip	Uncompleted and lost Orson Welles film
1958	Sword of Freedom<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Lisa Giocondo	Episode: "The Woman in the Picture"
1959	Theatre NightTemplate:Cn	Arlette Le Boeuf	Episode: Hook, Line, and Sinker
	World Theatre<ref name="dagan"/>	Lady Teazle	Episode: The School for Scandal
	ITV Play of the WeekTemplate:Cn	Winnie Verloc	Episode: The Secret Agent
	ITV Television PlayhouseTemplate:Cn	Jane Maxwell	Episode: Odd Man In
1967	NET Playhouse<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	Sonya	Episode: Uncle Vanya
1970	ITV PlayhouseTemplate:Cn	Lisa	Episode: "The Plastic People"
	ITV Sunday Night Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Viola/Sebastian	Episode: "Twelfth Night"
1973	The Merchant of Venice<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	Portia	Film
1978	Saturday, Sunday, Monday<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Rosa
	Daphne Laureola<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Lady Pitts
1980	The Diary of Anne Frank<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mrs Frank	US film
1982	All for Love<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Edith	Episode: "A Dedicated Man"
1983	Wagner<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Mrs Taylor	Episode: "1.2"
1986	The Importance of Being Earnest<ref name="bbc-obit"/>	Lady Bracknell	Film
1987	Theatre Night<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Meg Bowles	Episode: "The Birthday Party"
1989	And a Nightingale Sang<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mam	Film
1990	Sophie<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Sophie
1991	The House of Bernarda Alba<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	La Poncia
1992	Stalin<ref name="bbc-obit"/>	Olga
	Driving Miss Daisy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Daisy Werthan
1993	Screen Two<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mrs Monro	Episode: "The Clothes in the Wardrobe"; released in the US as The Summer House
1994	The Return of the Native<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mrs Yeobright	Film
	A Place for Annie<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Dorothy
	On Promised Land<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mrs Appletree
1998–1999	Encore! Encore!<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Marie Pinoni	12 episodes
1998	Aldrich Ames: Traitor Within<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Jeanne Vertefeuille	Film
	This Could Be the Last Time<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Rosemary
2000	Frankie & Hazel<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Phoebe Harkness
2001	Bailey's Mistake<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Aunt Angie
	Scrooge and Marley<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Narrator

Theatre

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Year	Title	Role	Venue
1948	If Four Walls Told<ref name="wiegand">Template:Cite web</ref>	Hope (stage debut)	Croydon Repertory Theatre, England
1954	The Merry Gentlemen<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Allison	Bristol Old Vic, England
	The Duenna<ref name="telegobit" />	Donna Clara	Westminster Theatre, London
1955	Moby Dick<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Pip	Duke of York's Theatre, London
1956	The Crucible<ref name="wiegand"/>	Mary Warren	Royal Court Theatre, London
	Don Juan<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Baptista	Royal Court Theatre
	The Death of Satan<ref name="telegobit">Template:Cite web</ref>	Receptionist	Royal Court Theatre
	Cards of Identity<ref name="telegobit" />	Miss Tray	Royal Court Theatre
	The Good Woman of Setzuan<ref name="telegobit" />	Mrs. Shin	Royal Court Theatre
1957	The Country Wife<ref name="wiegand"/>	Margery Pinchwife	Royal Court Theatre Adelphi Theatre, London
	The Making of Moo<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Elizabeth Compton	Royal Court Theatre
	The Entertainer<ref name="wiegand"/>	Jean Rice	Palace Theatre, London
1958	The Lesson<ref name=playbill/>	The Student	Phoenix Theatre, Off-Broadway
	The Chairs<ref name=playbill/>	Old Woman
	The Entertainer<ref name=playbill/>	Jean Rice	Royale Theatre, Broadway
	Major Barbara<ref name="wiegand"/>	Major Barbara	Royal Court Theatre
	Hook, Line and Sinker<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Arlette	Piccadilly Theatre, London
1959	Roots<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Beatie Bryant	Belgrade Theatre, Coventry Royal Court Theatre Duke of York's Theatre
1960	Rhinoceros<ref name="wiegand"/>	Daisy	Royal Court Theatre
	A Taste of Honey<ref name=playbill/>	Josephine	Booth Theatre, Broadway
1962	The Chances<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Another Constatia	Chichester Festival Theatre, England
1962–1963	Uncle Vanya<ref name="bbc-obit"/>	Sonya	Chichester Festival Theatre Old Vic Theatre, London
1963	Saint Joan<ref name="bbc-obit"/>	Saint Joan	Old Vic Theatre
1964	Hobson's Choice<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	Maggie Hobson	Old Vic Theatre
	The Master Builder<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Hilda Wangel	Old Vic Theatre
1967–1968	Much Ado About Nothing<ref name="wiegand"/>	Beatrice	Old Vic Theatre
	Three Sisters<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Masha	Old Vic Theatre
	Tartuffe<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Dorine	Old Vic Theatre
1968	The Advertisement<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Teresa	Old Vic Theatre
	Love's Labour's Lost<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Rosaline	Old Vic Theatre
1969	Back to Methuselah, Part II<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Voice of Lilith	Old Vic Theatre
1970	The Merchant of Venice<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Portia	Cambridge Theatre, London Old Vic Theatre
1971	A Woman Killed with Kindness<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Mistress Anne Frankford	New Theatre, London
	The Rules of the Game<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Silla	New Theatre
1972	The Doctor's Dilemma<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Jennifer Dubedat	Chichester Festival Theatre
	The Taming of the Shrew<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	Katharina	Chichester Festival Theatre
1973	Rosmersholm<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Rebecca West	Greenwich Theatre, London
1973–1975	Saturday, Sunday, Monday<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Rosa	Old Vic Theatre, London Queen's Theatre, London
1974	Eden End<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Stella Kirby	Old Vic Theatre
1975	The Seagull<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Irena Arkadina	Lyric Theatre, London
	The Bed before Yesterday<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Alma	Lyric Theatre
1977	Filumena<ref name="wiegand"/>	Filumena Marturano	Lyric Theatre
1980	Filumena<ref name=playbill/>	Filumena Marturano	St. James Theatre, Broadway
	Enjoy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mam	Vaudeville Theatre, London
1981	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Martha	Royal National Theatre, London
1982	Cavell<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Edith Cavell	Chichester Festival Theatre
1983	The Cherry Orchard<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Madame Ranevskaya	Haymarket Theatre, London
1984	The Way of the World<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Lady Wishfort	Chichester Festival Theatre Haymarket Theatre
1985	Mrs. Warren's Profession<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Mrs. Warren	Royal National Theatre
1986–1987	The House of Bernarda Alba<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	La Poncia	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London Globe Theatre, London
1990	Time and the Conways<ref name="gdn-obit"/>	Mrs. Conway	Old Vic Theatre

Awards and nominations

Plowright was nominated for all the Triple Crown of Acting awards (Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award), winning the Tony Award in 1961. In 1993, she also became the second of only four actresses (as of 2024) to have won two Golden Globe Awards in the same year.

Template:Screen reader-only

Award	Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Template:Abbr
Academy Awards	1993	Best Supporting Actress	Enchanted April	Template:Nom	<ref name="bbc-obit"/>
British Academy Film Awards	1961	Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles	The Entertainer	Template:Nom	<ref name="auto1">Template:Cite web</ref>
	1977	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Equus	Template:Nom
Golden Globe Awards	1993	Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture	Enchanted April	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
		Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Stalin	Template:Won
Primetime Emmy Awards	1993	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Special		Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Tony Awards	1961	Best Actress in a Play	A Taste of Honey	Template:Won	<ref name=playbill>Template:Cite web</ref>
Society of West End Theatre Awards	1976	Actress of the Year in a New Play	The Bed Before Yesterday	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	1978		Filumena	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	1980		Enjoy	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Book

• Template:Cite book

See also

• List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Great Britain
• List of actors with Academy Award nominations

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• Template:IBDB name
• Template:Playbill person
• Template:Iobdb name
• Performances – listed in Theatre Archive University of BristolTemplate:Fv
• Template:Screenonline name
• Template:NPG name
• Joan Plowright at rottentomatoes.com
• Template:Discogs artist