Actress Joan Plowright, the widow of Sir Laurence Olivier, dies aged 95

A statement 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 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 is survived by her loving family: Tamsin and Wilf, Julie-Kate and Dan, Richard, Shelley, Troy, Ali, Jeremy, step-granddaughter and great granddaughter Kaya and Sophia, and great grand-daughter soon to arrive.

“The family ask you to please respect their request for privacy at this time. We are so proud of all Joan did and who she was as a loving and deeply inclusive human being. 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…”

Dame Joan had a long career in theatre, film and television. She won several awards, including the 1961 Best Actress in a Play Tony Award for her role as Jo in Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey, on Broadway, which saw her star opposite the late Dame Angela Lansbury playing her mother. She received Bafta nominations for Equus and The Entertainer. She was also nominated for the Oscars in 1993 in the Best Supporting Actress role for Enchanted April, for which she won a Golden Globe in the same category.

Her time on stage stretched from 1948 - If Four Walls Told at the Croydon Repertory Theatre - to 1990, and she also enjoyed a long and successful career in film and television.

Dame Joan was married to Roger Gage​​ from 1953 to 1960, and then to Laurence Olivier from 1961 to 1989. Her wedding to Lord Olivier was the sensation of 1961, and their marriage was an enduring one until the theatre great’s death in 2007 at the age of 86.

She became his carer through a series of chronic illnesses, including cancer, until he died in 1989.

Her role in the 1991 British comedy Enchanted April won her a Golden Globe for her waspish widow character, and she was also known for 101 Dalmatians in 1996 and Tea With Mussolini in 1999. She won a second Golden Globe for the TV biopic Stalin in 1993.

Born in Scunthorpe, Dame Joan was educated at the local grammar school before winning a scholarship to the Old Vic Theatre School at the age of 17. She later joined the English Theatre Company at the Royal Court.

She met Lord Olivier in 1957 when he was still married to Gone With The Wind star Vivien Leigh, and they fell in love while co-starring in the stage version of John Osborne’s The Entertainer.

She received a damehood in the 2004 new year honours. Dame Joan announced she was retiring from acting in 2014, after her losing her eyesight due to macular degeneration and becoming registered as blind. In 2021, her friend and contemporary Dame Judi Dench spoke about having the same condition.

Prior to that, in 2014, Dame Joan took part in the documentary film Nothing Like A Dame, alongside Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Judi and Dame Maggie Smith, which saw them discuss their careers and lives.