On January 16, local time in the UK, actress Joan Plowright passed away at the age of 95. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, she was an active actress on both the Hollywood big screen and the British theater stage, performing side by side with her husband Laurence Olivier and leaving behind many masterpieces. In 2004, Plowright was awarded the Order of the Order of the Lord, becoming one of the few female dames in the British entertainment industry.
Joan Plowright
Plowright's family announced the news of her death on social media on January 17: "She had a long and brilliant career, spanning seven decades in theatre, film and television, until she had to retire due to blindness." Subsequently, the Society of London Theatre announced that all theatres in London's West End would dim their lights for two minutes at 7pm local time on January 21 as a sign of mourning. The Society said: "Ms. Joan Plowright was a highly respected iconic figure in our theatre world. With her talent and dedication, she left an indelible mark on the British theatre world."
Joan Plowright was born on October 28, 1929 in an intellectual family in Brig, Lincolnshire, England. Her father was a journalist and was keen on participating in folk stage plays in his spare time; her mother was also very interested in drama, opera and dance, which made Plowright dream of becoming an actor since she was a child. After graduating from high school, she came to London and received professional training at the famous Old Vic Theatre School. However, she officially stepped onto the London stage in 1954 when she was 25 years old. A year earlier, she married Roger Gage, a young actor who also worked at the Old Vic.
Plowright with Oliver and their eldest son Richard
In the late 1950s, the so-called "Kitchen sink realism" movement emerged in the British theater world. The themes of the works that emerged were mostly about the difficult life of working-class families, and the protagonists were young people who were extremely angry about the reality. The representative of this movement was the London-born playwright John Osborne. His play "Look Back in Anger" was the pioneering work of this realistic literary and artistic movement. In 1956, after watching the performance of "Look Back in Anger", the British "stage play emperor" Laurence Olivier invited John Osborne to cooperate with him, which led to the play "The Entertainer" performed in 1957.
Plowright in The Entertainer
The Entertainer is set in a British seaside town. Through the traditional song and dance show that is going from bad to worse, it reflects the sad situation of the British Empire after World War II. Laurence Olivier plays a middle-aged entertainer named Archie, and Joan Plowright plays his daughter. In 1960, Tony Richardson, who originally directed the stage play, personally brought it to the screen, and the two continued to play father and daughter. In the play, Archie falls in love with a girl younger than his daughter and plans to break up with his old mistress; outside the play, Oliver develops feelings for Plowright, who is 22 years younger than him, and both of them cheat. In December 1960, Oliver ended his 20-year marriage with Vivien Leigh. In March of the following year, Plowright, who had completed the divorce procedures earlier, married Oliver and became his third and last wife. The two have three children together.
Plowright in Enchanted April
After marriage, Plowright continued to perform with Olivier. They collaborated on many works such as The Merchant of Venice, The Rhinoceros and Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre of England. In July 1989, Laurence Olivier passed away. In the years that followed, Plowright began to appear in various films more frequently, and gradually became the so-called golden supporting actor.
In 1992, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Enchanted April. She also starred in famous films such as The Scarlet Letter, 101 Dogs, and Tea with Mussolini.
Plowright in 101 Real Dogs
Plowright (right) in Tea with Mussolini
It is worth mentioning that in 1992, Joan Plowright also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the former Soviet leader's mother-in-law in the HBO TV movie "Stalin". In history, there are only a few actresses who have won two Golden Globe Awards in the same year, including Sigourney Weaver, Helen Mirren and Kate Winslet.