Joan Plowright

Children3RelativesDavid Plowright (brother) Emily Eaton-Plowright (great-niece)

Joan Ann Plowright, Baroness Olivier, DBE^[1] (born 28 October 1929), professionally known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English retired actress whose career spanned over six decades. She has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award and has been nominated for an Academy Award, an Emmy and two BAFTA Awards. She was the second of only four actresses (as of 2023) to have won two Golden Globes in the same year. She won the Laurence Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a New Play in 1978 for Filumena.

Early life

Plowright was born on 28 October 1929 in Brigg, Lincolnshire, the daughter of Daisy Margaret (née Burton) and William Ernest Plowright, who was a journalist and newspaper editor.^[2][3] She attended Scunthorpe Grammar School^[4] and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.^[5]

Career

Plowright made her stage debut at Croydon in 1948^[6] and her London debut in 1954. In 1956 she joined the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre and was cast as Margery Pinchwife in The Country Wife. She appeared with George Devine in the Eugène Ionesco play, The Chairs, Shaw's Major Barbara and Saint Joan.

In 1957, Plowright co-starred with Sir Laurence Olivier in the original London production of John Osborne's The Entertainer, taking over the role of Jean Rice from Dorothy Tutin when the play transferred from the Royal Court to the Palace Theatre. She continued to appear on stage and in films such as The Entertainer (1960). In 1961, she received a Tony Award for her role in A Taste of Honey on Broadway.

Through her marriage to Laurence Olivier, she became closely associated with his work at the National Theatre from 1963 onwards. In the 1990s she began to appear more regularly in films, including Enchanted April (1992), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination, Dennis the Menace (1993), The Scarlet Letter (1995), 101 Dalmatians (1996), playing Nanny, and Tea With Mussolini (1999). Among her television roles, she won another Golden Globe Award and earned an Emmy Award nomination for the HBO film Stalin in 1992 as the Soviet dictator's mother-in-law. Her pair of 1992 performances (Enchanted April and Stalin) marked only the second time an actress (after Sigourney Weaver, for performances in 1988) won two Golden Globes in the same year; as of the January 2023 presentation, only Helen Mirren (for performances in 2006) and Kate Winslet (for performances in 2008) have duplicated this feat. In 1994, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award.^[7]

In 2003, Plowright performed in the stage production Absolutely! (Perhaps) in London. She was appointed honorary president of the English Stage Company in March 2009, succeeding John Mortimer, who died in January 2009. She was previously vice-president of the company.^[8]

Plowright was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1970 New Year Honours^[9] and was promoted to Dame Commander (DBE) in the 2004 New Year Honours.^[10]

Plowright's vision declined steadily during the late 2000s and early 2010s due to macular degeneration. In 2014, she officially announced her retirement from acting because she had become legally blind.^[11]

Personal life

Plowright was first married to Roger Gage, an actor, in September 1953. She later divorced him and, in 1961, married Laurence Olivier shortly after the end of his twenty-year marriage to the actress Vivien Leigh. Plowright and Olivier had three children, son Richard (born 1961), daughter Tamsin Agnes Margaret (born 1963) and daughter Julie-Kate (born 1966).^[12] Both daughters became actresses.^[13] The couple remained married until Olivier's death in 1989.

Her younger brother, David Plowright (1930–2006), was an executive at Granada Television.

Legacy

The Plowright Theatre in Scunthorpe is named in Plowright's honour.

Styles

Upon her second marriage she became Lady Olivier. In 1970, her husband was made a life peer as Baron Olivier, of Brighton in the County of Sussex, and Plowright, as previously the wife and now the widow of a life peer, is entitled to be styled The Right Honourable The Lady Olivier.

In 2004 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), and, despite being entitled now to be styled The Right Honourable The Lady Olivier DBE, is professionally known as Dame Joan Plowright.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	Moby Dick	Starbuck's wife	Uncredited
1957	Time Without Pity	Agnes Cole
1960	The Entertainer	Jean Rice
1963	Uncle Vanya	Sonya
1970	Three Sisters	Masha Kulighina
1977	Equus	Dora Strang
1982	Britannia Hospital	Phyllis Grimshaw
	Brimstone & Treacle	Norma Bates
1985	Revolution	Mrs. Daisy McConnahay
1988	Drowning by Numbers	Cissie Colpitts 1
	The Dressmaker	Nellie
1990	I Love You to Death	Nadja
	Avalon	Eva Krichinsky
1991	Enchanted April	Mrs. Jane Fisher
1993	Dennis the Menace	Mrs. Martha Wilson
	Last Action Hero	Teacher
	The Summer House	Mrs. Evelyn Munro
1994	A Pin for the Butterfly	Grandma
	Widows' Peak	Mrs. Dawn Doyle-Counihan
1995	The Scarlet Letter	Harriet Hibbons
	A Pyromaniac's Love Story	Mrs. Wendy Linzer
	Hotel Sorrento	Marge Morrisey
1996	101 Dalmatians	Nanny
	Surviving Picasso	Françoise's Grandmother
	Mr. Wrong	Mrs. Jessica Crawford
	Jane Eyre	Mrs. Maddie Fairfax
1997	The Assistant	Mrs. Ida Bober
1998	Dance with Me	Bea Johnson
1999	Tom's Midnight Garden	Mrs. Ortensia Bartholomew
	Tea with Mussolini	Mary Wallace
2000	Dinosaur	Baylene (voice)
	Back to the Secret Garden	Martha Sowerby
2002	Global Heresy	Lady Foxley
	Callas Forever	Sarah Keller
2003	Bringing Down the House	Virginia Arness
	I am David	Sophie
2004	George and the Dragon	Mother Superior
2005	Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont	Mrs. Sarah Palfrey
2006	Goose on the Loose	Beatrice Fairfield
	Curious George	Victoria Plushbottom (voice)
2008	The Spiderwick Chronicles	Aunt Lucinda Spiderwick
2009	Knife Edge	Marjorie
2018	Nothing Like a Dame	Herself	Documentary

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	Sara Crewe	Winnie	4 episodes
1954	BBC Sunday-Night Theatre	Adriana	3 episodes
1955	Moby Dick—Rehearsed	A Young Actress/Pip	Uncompleted and lost Orson Welles film
1957	Sword of Freedom	Lisa Giocondo	Episode: "The Woman in the Picture"
1959	Theatre Night	Arlette Le Boeuf	Episode: Hook, Line, and Sinker
	World Theatre	Lady Teazle	Episode: The School for Scandal
	ITV Play of the Week	Viola	Episode: The Secret Agent
	ITV Television Playhouse	Jane Maxwell	Episode: Odd Man In
1967	NET Playhouse	Sonya	Episode: Uncle Vanya
1970	ITV Playhouse	Lisa	Episode: "The Plastic People"
	ITV Sunday Night Theatre	Viola/Sebastian	Episode: Twelfth Night
1973	The Merchant of Venice	Portia	Film
1978	Saturday, Sunday, Monday	Rosa	Film
	Daphne Laureola	Lady Pitts	Film
1980	The Diary of Anne Frank	Mrs. Frank	US film
1982	All for Love	Edith	Episode: "A Dedicated Man"
1983	Wagner	Mrs. Taylor	Episode: "1.2"
1986	The Importance of Being Earnest	Lady Bracknell	Film
1987	Theatre Night	Meg Bowles	Episode: "The Birthday Party"
1989	And a Nightingale Sang	Mam	Film
1990	Sophie	Sophie	Film
1991	The House of Bernarda Alba	La Poncia	Film
1992	Stalin	Olga	Film
	Driving Miss Daisy	Daisy Werthan	Film
1993	Screen Two	Mrs. Monro	Episode: "The Clothes in the Wardrobe"
1994	The Return of the Native	Mrs. Yeobright	Film
	A Place for Annie	Dorothy	Film
	On Promised Land	Mrs. Appletree	Film
1998–1999	Encore!	Marie Pinoni	12 episodes
1998	Aldrich Ames: Traitor Within	Jeanne Vertefeuille	Film
	This Could Be the Last Time	Rosemary	Film
2000	Frankie & Hazel	Phoebe Harkness	Film
2001	Bailey's Mistake	Aunt Angie	Film
	Scrooge and Marley	Narrator	Film

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue
1948	If Four Walls Told	Hope (stage debut)	Croydon Repertory Theatre, England
1954	The Merry Gentlemen	Allison	Bristol Old Vic, England
	The Duenna	Donna Clara	Westminster Theatre, London
1955	Moby Dick	Pip	Duke of York's Theatre, London
1956	The Crucible	Mary Warren	Royal Court Theatre, London
	Dom Juan	Baptista	Royal Court Theatre, London
	The Death of Satan	Receptionist	Royal Court Theatre, London
	Cards of Identity	Miss Tray	Royal Court Theatre, London
	The Good Woman of Setzuan	Mrs. Shin	Royal Court Theatre, London
	The Country Wife	Margery Pinchwife	Royal Court Theatre Adelphi Theatre, London
1957	The Making of Moo	Elizabeth Compton	Royal Court Theatre, London
1958	The Entertainer	Jean Rice	Palace Theatre, London
	Major Barbara	Major Barbara	Royal Court Theatre, London
	Hook, Line and Sinker	Arlette	Piccadilly Theatre, London
	The Lesson	The Student	Phoenix Theatre, Off-Broadway
	The Chairs	Old Woman
	The Entertainer	Jean Rice	Royale Theatre, Broadway
1959	Roots	Beatie Bryant	Belgrade Theatre, Coventry Royal Court Theatre, London Duke of York's Theatre
1960	Rhinoceros	Daisy	Royal Court Theatre, London
	A Taste of Honey	Josephine	Booth Theatre, Broadway
1962	The Chances	Another Constatia	Chichester Festival Theatre, England
1962–1963	Uncle Vanya	Sonya	Chichester Festival Theatre Old Vic Theatre, London
1963	Saint Joan	Saint Joan	Old Vic Theatre, London
1964	Hobson's Choice	Maggie Hobson	Old Vic Theatre, London
	The Master Builder	Hilda Wangel	Old Vic Theatre, London
1967–68	Much Ado about Nothing	Beatrice	Old Vic Theatre, London
	Three Sisters	Masha	Old Vic Theatre, London
	Tartuffe	Dorine	Old Vic Theatre, London
1968	The Advertisement	Teresa	Old Vic Theatre, London Royal Theatre, London
	Love's Labour's Lost	Rosaline	Old Vic Theatre, London
1969	Back to Methuselah, Part II	Voice of Lilith	Old Vic Theatre, London
1970	The Merchant of Venice	Portia	New Theatre, London
1971	A Woman Killed with Kindness	Mistress Anne Frankford	New Theatre, London
	The Rules of the Game	Silla	New Theatre, London
1972	The Doctor's Dilemma	Jennifer Dubedat	Chichester Festival Theatre, England
	The Taming of the Shrew	Katharina	Chichester Festival Theatre, England
1973	Rosmersholm	Rebecca West	Greenwich Theatre, London
1973 1974–75	Saturday, Sunday, Monday	Rosa	Old Vic Theatre, London Queen's Theatre, London
1974	Eden's End	Stella Kirby	Old Vic Theatre, London National Theatre, London
1975	The Seagull	Irena Arkadina	Lyric Theatre Company, London
	The Bed before Yesterday	Alma	Lyric Theatre Company, London
1978	Filumena	Filumena Marturano	Lyric Theatre, London
1980	Enjoy	Mam	Vaudeville Theatre, London,
	The Best House in Naples	Filumena Marturano	St. James Theatre, Broadway
1981	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Martha	Royal National Theatre, London
1982	Cavell	Performer	Royal National Theatre, London
1983	The Cherry Orchard	Madame Ranevskaya	Haymarket Theatre, London
1984	The Way of the World	Lady Wishfort	Haymarket Theatre, London
1985	Mrs. Warren's Profession	Mrs. Warren	Lyttelton Theatre, London
1986–87	The House of Bernarda Alba	La Poncia	Lyric Theatre, London Globe Theatre, London
1990	Time and the Conways	Mrs. Conway	Old Vic Theatre, London

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1961	Tony Awards	Best Actress in a Play	A Taste of Honey	Won	[14]
	British Academy Film Awards	Most Promising Newcomer	The Entertainer	Nominated	[15]
1977		Best Supporting Actress	Equus	Nominated
1993	Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Enchanted April	Nominated
1993	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture		Won
		Best Supporting Actress - Television	Stalin	Won
1993	Primetime Emmy Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Limited Series or TV Movie		Nominated

References

External links

• Joan Plowright at IMDb
• Joan Plowright at the Internet Broadway Database
• Joan Plowright at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Performances listed in Theatre Archive University of Bristol
• Joan Plowright at the BFI's Screenonline
• Portraits of Joan Plowright at the National Portrait Gallery, London