Award-Winning Actress Passes Away At 95


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Dame Joan Plowright, the award-winning actress married to legendary actor and director Lord Laurence Olivier, passed away this week. She was 95.

News of the British actress’s death came from her family, who, in a statement, praised her seven decades of work in U.S. and U.K. cinema and said Plowright was surrounded by loved ones when she passed.

“She enjoyed a long and illustrious career across theatre, film and TV over seven decades until blindness made her retire,” a family statement said.

“She cherished her last 10 years in Sussex with constant visits from friends and family, filled with much laughter and fond memories.”

“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 statement to the New York Post went on.

“The family ask you to please respect their requ

est 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.”

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Born in 1929 in Lincolnshire, England, Plowright earned a Tony Award and two Golden Globes after nearly 70 years on the big screen. She was also nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy and was bestowed with the title of dame by Queen Elizabeth II.

Among her most prominent roles came starring in the 1990 comedy “Love You To Death” alongside the late River Phoenix, but long before then held an admirable career in the West End and on Broadway. One year later, she earned her Oscar nomination for best supporting actress in “Enchanted April.”

Plowright’s career took off after she appeared in the 1950s films Chekhov’s “The Seagull” and Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” She was tapped by director Eugene Ionesco for his 1952 play “The Chairs” before securing leading roles in two of George Bernard Shaw’s plays, titled “Major Barbara” and “Saint Joan.”

Her loved ones concluded, “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…”

She gave her final performance in 2013, returning to her homeland and reprising her role in the play “Saint Joan” to celebrate the 50th anniversary of London’s National Theater.

One year later, Plowright declared she had become legally blind.

“I’ve been very privileged to have such a life,” Plowright said in a 2010 interview with The Actor’s Work. “I mean it’s magic and I still feel, when a curtain goes up or the lights come on if there’s no curtain, the magic of a beginning of what is going to unfold in front of me.”

Plowright is survived by her children Tamsin, Julie-Kate, and Richard, along with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.


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