Dame Joan Plowright dead at 95

Dame Joan Plowright has died at the age 95, her family have announced.

Dame Joan Plowright has died at the age 95.

The veteran stage and screen actress – who was the widow of Sir Laurence Olivier – passed away on Thursday (16.01.25) surrounded by her family, her loved ones have announced.

They told The Guardian newspaper 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 – who retired in 2014 after going blind due to macular degeneration – is survived by son Richard, daughters Tamsin and Julie, and a number of grandchildren.

Joan was best known for her work in the theatre but also had dozens of screen roles over the years, coming to prominence in 1960’s ‘The Entertainer’, which earned her a BAFTA nomination for Most Promising Newcomer. It was while working on the stage version of the story, made before the film, that she began her affair with Olivier, leading to the end of his marriage to Vivien Leigh and hers to Roger Gage, and the pair went on to marry in March 1961.

Amid the scandal, the couple headed to New York for Broadway roles, where he appeared in ‘Becket’ and she took on her Tony Award-winning role in ‘A Taste of Honey’.

Joan eventually joined her husband at the National Theatre and appeared in many productions over the years, but largely took a break from acting to raise her children, before returning to her profession at the age of 60.

Her later roles included parts in ‘Dennise the Menace’, ‘101 Dalmatians’ and ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’ to please her grandchildren, as well as teaming with director Franco Zeffirelli for roles in ‘Jane Eyre’, ‘Tea with Mussolini’ and ‘Callas Forever’.

She was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for ‘Enchanted April’ in 1991, as well as receiving an Emmy Award nomination in 1993 for telemovie ‘Stalin’.