Joan Plowright, the English actor whose decades-long career included an Oscar nomination for “Enchanted April” and the films “The Entertainer” and “Stalin,” has died.
The actress died Thursday at Denville Hall, a retirement home for actors in southern England, her family said Friday in a statement to the Associated Press. She was 95 years old.
“She enjoyed a long and illustrious career in theater, film and television for seven decades until blindness forced her to retire,” her family said. “We are so proud of everything Joan did and who she was as a loving and deeply inclusive human being.”
Plowright may be remembered as the third and last wife of British acting legend Laurence Olivier, but she leaves behind an impressive legacy of her own that spanned theatre, film and television.
In the first year of her marriage to Olivier, Plowright was a Tony-winning actress (she won for “A Taste of Honey” in 1961) who had appeared on Broadway and London stages, including as a member of the English Stage Company in the Royal Court Theater. He was also a BAFTA-nominated star who earned critical acclaim for his performance in Tony Richardson's 1960 film, “The Entertainer,” which also starred Olivier as his father.
Plowright, however, had even greater professional success after Olivier's death in 1989, as he turned in memorable performances in films of the '90s and early '90s, including “Enchanted April,” “Stalin,” The Scarlet Letter ” and “The Spiderwick Chronicles.” “
Joan Plowright and actor Laurence Olivier married in 1961 and had three children.
(Associated Press)
In director Mike Newell's “Enchanted April,” Plowright shared the screen with Alfred Molina, Miranda Richardson and Polly Walker as the elderly Mrs. Fisher, one of four women seeking respite on a vacation in Italy. Plowright's performance in “Enchanted April” earned her her first and only Academy Award nomination, for supporting actress. At the 1993 Golden Globes, Plowright won two awards: a supporting actress in a motion picture award for “Enchanted April” and a supporting actress in a series, miniseries or television movie award for “Stalin.”
Plowright often played the grandmother type in a variety of films, including family-friendly titles like “101 Dalmatians” and “Dennis the Menace.” In a 1996 interview with The Times, Plowright said he didn't care.
“When you get such interesting and fun movie roles, it doesn't seem tremendously exciting to be in the 257th revival of 'The Rivals,'” he said. “And it's fun to travel all over the world and be very well paid.”
Joan Plowright earned an Oscar nomination for her work in the film “Enchanted April.”
(Nick Ut/Associated Press)
In film, Plowright's credits include “Tea With Mussolini,” “Surviving Picasso,” “I Love You to Death,” “Avalon” and “Drowning by Numbers.” His television appearances include “Encore! Encore!” and the films “In the Promised Land”, “A Place for Annie” and “Return to the Secret Garden”.
The actor was also one of the four protagonists of Roger Michell's documentary “Nothing Like a Dame.” The 2018 project celebrated the careers of Plowright and fellow actresses Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.
Plowright was born on October 28, 1929 in Brigg, North Lincolnshire, England, the son of journalist and editor William Ernest Plowright and his wife, Daisy Margaret. He began acting in plays put on by his mother. At 15 he won a theater cup and with it the opportunity to spend a week in a minor role with the Harry Hanson Players. After she was rejected for the role (Hanson told her: “Go home, dear, go home”), she received a scholarship to study at the Bristol Old Vic Theater School.
Her first marriage was to Roger Gage in 1953; They divorced in 1960. Plowright first came to Olivier's attention in a Royal Court production of “The Country Wife.” In 1957, they shared the stage in the original production of John Osborne's “The Entertainer” in London.
“I realized Larry was falling in love with me,” she told The Times in 1996, when he called her a nickname while they were rehearsing.
Olivier and “Gone with the Wind” star Vivien Leigh ended their marriage after 20 years in 1960 amid the former's affair with Plowright. A year later, Plowright and Olivier married. After marriage, Plowright's acting career became secondary to that of wife and mother: she and Olivier had three children together.
“He was a world-famous figure and I felt the responsibility I had in helping him sustain his life in a hugely important and very stressful job,” he recalled to The Times. “Larry didn't want us to be ships passing in the night.”
Plowright also published “And That's Not All: The Memoirs of Joan Plowright” in 2002. The memoir chronicles her upbringing, her romance with Olivier (portrayed through her love letters), and the rumors surrounding her husband's sexuality.
In 2004, a few years before her final film appearances, Plowright was appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Plowright said the award was “a kind of coronation to a lifetime of achievement.”
“It's a little confusing. “I have many names: Dame Olivier and Lady Plowright,” he joked, according to the BBC. “I'm just saying call me Joan.”
Plowright was preceded in death by Gage and Olivier. She is survived by her children Julie Kate Olivier, Tamsin Olivier and Richard Olivier, and three grandchildren.
