Iconic British actress Joan Plowright dies peacefully at age 95

Famed British actress Joan Plowright has died peacefully yesterday at age 95, her family announced in a statement.

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

Plowright is known for paving the way at the English Stage Company at the Royal Court and National Theatre, led by her second husband Laurence Oliver. She earned a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her 1961 performance as Jo in Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey, and won two Golden Globes.

“I felt more confident being somebody else on stage than I felt being myself in real life,” Plowright said in a 2010 interview with The Actor’s Work.

A coveted figure in England, the award-winning actress was made a dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004. Upon news of her death, theatres on the West End plan to dim their lights for two minutes at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in memory of her.

Plowright grew up performing in small plays as a child, garnering a reputation in her town as a renowned amateur actress. She went on to attend the Scunthorpe Grammar School, and earned a scholarship to the Old Vic Theatre School at 17. Her first professional performance was at the Croydon Repertory Theatre in 1948, in the production of Edward Percy’s If Four Walls Told.

“Joan Plowright was an iconic and deeply respected figure in the world of theatre, leaving an indelible mark on the industry she shaped with her talent and dedication,” said The Society Of London Theatre's Co-Chief Executive Hannah Essex.

Other acclaimed performances of hers include Bianca in Orson Welles’s stage production of Othello, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing and Hilda Wangel in The Master Builder. She appeared in films such as Enchanted April, Tea With Mussolini and 101 Dalmatians.

Plowright announced the end of her acting career in 2014, after macular degeneration caused her to go blind.

“I was in over my head directing such a legend but she made it all so easy,” director Paul Feig said in a post on X, formally known as Twitter. He worked with Plowright on his first film, I Am David in 2013. “I marvelled at every take she did and learned so much from her.”

I had the unbelievable honor of working with Dame Plowright on my first feature film, I Am David. I was in over my head directing such a legend but she made it all so easy. I marveled at every take she did and learned so much from her. Thank you, Joan.❤️🙏 https://t.co/GOH6mL3ORL

— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) January 17, 2025

“Oh Lord, I think I’ve been very privileged, yes, to have such a life,” Plowright said in 2010. “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. What experience I’m going to have and what emotional change there’s going to be because of what those people are doing up there together on stage.”