Joan Plowright, Star of Stage & Screen and Laurence Olivier’s Widow, Dies at 95

Veteran actress Joan Plowright, a two-time Golden Globe and Tony award winner who was married to Laurence Olivier, has died. She was 95.

Plowright’s passing was confirmed by her family in a statement to The Guardian on Friday (January 17), who wrote, “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.”

The statement continued, “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.”

Born on October 28, 1929, in Brigg, Lincolnshire, England, Plowright made her stage debut in 1948 and went on to join the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre in 1956. She co-starred with Olivier in the London production of John Osborne’s The Entertainer in 1957 and married him in 1961. She also received a Tony Award for her role in A Taste of Honey on Broadway.

Tea With the Dames; Sundance Selects/courtesy Everett Collection

While the majority of her early career took place on stage, she started appearing in films more regularly in the 1990s, starring in Enchanted April (1992), for which she won a Golden Globe and earned an Oscar nomination. She also starred in Dennis the Menace (1993), The Scarlet Letter (1995), 101 Dalmations (1996), and Tea With Mussolini (1999).

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On television, she won her second Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for the 1992 HBO film Stalin, where she played the Soviet dictator’s mother-in-law. Her other TV credits included The Return of the Native (1994), A Place for Annie (1994), and NBC’s Encore! Encore! (1998-1999).

Her last on-screen acting role came in 2009 in the British thriller movie Knife Edge. She retired in 2014 after going blind due to macular degeneration. However, she appeared on-screen again in 2018 as herself in the documentary film Nothing Like a Dame.

Plowright was bestowed the honor of a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1970 New Year Honours by Queen Elizabeth II and was promoted to Dame Commander (DBE) in the 2004 New Year Honours.

She is survived by her son, Richard Olivier, and two daughters, actresses Tamsin Olivier and Julie Kate Olivier, as well as several grandchildren.