Early life

Plowright was born in Brigg, Lincolnshire, the daughter of Daisy Margaret (née Burton) and William Ernest Plowright, who was a journalist and newspaper editor. She attended Scunthorpe Grammar School and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Career

Plowright made her stage debut at Croydon in 1948 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, she 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. From the 1980s 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), a cameo in Last Action Hero (also 1993), and Tea With Mussolini (1999). She was also Nanny in 101 Dalmatians (1996). 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. In 1994, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award.

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.

Plowright was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1970 Queen's New Year Honours and was promoted to Dame Commander (DBE) in the 2004 Queen's New Year Honours.

In 2014, she officially announced her retirement from acting, citing her declining eyesight due to macular degeneration.

Personal life

Plowright was first married to Roger Gage, an actor, in September 1953. She divorced him and, in 1961, married Laurence Olivier after the ending of his 20-year marriage with the actress Vivien Leigh. The couple had three children, Richard Kerr, Tamsin Agnes Margaret and Julie-Kate. Both daughters are actresses. The couple remained married until Lord Olivier's death in 1989.

Joan Plowright's brother, David Plowright, CBE (1930-2006), was an executive at Granada Television.

Legacy

The Plowright Theatre in Scunthorpe (some nine miles from her home town of Brigg) is named in Plowright's honour. Upon her marriage to Sir Laurence Olivier, her formal title became "Lady Olivier"; however, she never used it in her professional career. Her husband was made a life peer in 1970 and so she became Baroness Olivier.

Styles

Over the years Joan Plowright has had many titles as a result of honours awarded, and the appointment of her husband as a peer in 1970. As of 2004 her full and official title, as the widow of a peer and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, is:

• The Right Honourable The Baroness Olivier DBE

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	Sara Crewe	Winnie	4 episodes
1954	Sunday Night Theatre	Adriana	Episode: "The Comedy of Errors"
1955	Moby Dick—Rehearsed	A Young Actress/Pip	Uncompleted and lost Orson Welles film
1956	Moby Dick	Starbuck's wife	Uncredited
1957	Sword of Freedom	Lisa Giocondo	Episode: "The Woman in the Picture"
	Time Without Pity	Agnes Cole
1959	The School for Scandal	Lady Teazle	TV drama
1960	The Entertainer	Jean Rice	Nominated—BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles
1963	Uncle Vanya	Sonya
1969	ITV Saturday Night Theatre: Twelfth Night	Viola	UK videotaped TV drama
1970	ITV Playhouse	Lisa	Episode: "The Plastic People"
	Three Sisters	Masha
1973	The Merchant of Venice	Portia	UK Videotaped TV drama
1977	Equus	Dora Strang	Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1978	Daphne Laureola	Lady Pitts	UK Videotaped TV drama
	Saturday, Sunday, Monday	Rosa	UK Videotaped TV drama
1980	The Diary of Anne Frank	Mrs. Frank	US Television movie
1982	Brimstone & Treacle	Norma Bates
	All for Love	Edith	Episode: "A Dedicated Man"
	Britannia Hospital	Phyllis Grimshaw
1983	Wagner	Mrs. Taylor	Episode: "1.2"
1985	Revolution	Mrs. McConnahay
1986	The Importance of Being Earnest	Lady Bracknell	UK videotaped TV drama
1987	Theatre Night	Meg Bowles	Episode: "The Birthday Party"
1988	Drowning by Numbers	Cissie Colpitts 1
	The Dressmaker	Nellie
1989	And a Nightingale Sang	Mam	Television movie
1990	Avalon	Eva Krichinsky	Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
	I Love You to Death	Nadja
	Sophie	Sophie	Television movie
1991	The House of Bernarda Alba	La Poncia	Television movie
1992	Stalin	Olga	Television movie Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
	Driving Miss Daisy	Daisy Wethan	Television movie
	Enchanted April	Mrs. Fisher	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1993	Dennis the Menace	Mrs. Martha Wilson
	Last Action Hero	Teacher
	Screen Two	Mrs. Monro	Episode: "The Clothes in the Wardrobe"
1994	The Return of the Native	Mrs. Yeobright	Television movie
	A Pin for the Butterfly	Grandma
	A Place for Annie	Dorothy	Television movie
	On Promised Land	Mrs. Appletree	Television movie Nominated—CableACE Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
	Widows' Peak'	Mrs. Doyle-Counihan
1995	The Scarlet Letter	Harriet Hibbons
	A Pyromaniac's Love Story	Mrs. Linzer
	Hotel Sorrento	Marge Morrisey
1996	101 Dalmatians	Nanny
	Surviving Picasso	Françoise's Grandmother
	Mr. Wrong	Mrs. Crawford
	Jane Eyre	Mrs. Fairfax
1997	The Assistant	Mrs. Ida Bober
1998-1999	Encore! Encore!	Marie Pinoni	12 episodes
1998	Aldrich Ames: Traitor Within	Jeanne Vertefeuille	Television movie
	This Could Be the Last Time	Rosemary	Television movie
	Dance with Me	Bea Johnson	Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1999	Tom's Midnight Garden	Mrs. Bartholomew
	Tea with Mussolini	Mary Wallace
2000	Frankie & Hazel	Phoebe Harkness	Television movie
	Dinosaur	Baylene	Voice
2001	Bailey's Mistake	Aunt Angie	Television movie
	Back to the Secret Garden	Martha Sowerby
	Scrooge and Marley	Narrator	Television movie
2002	Global Heresy	Lady Foxley
	Callas Forever	Sarah Keller
2003	Bringing Down the House	Virginia Arness
	I am David	Sophie	Monaco Film Festival Award for Best Actress
2004	George and the Dragon	Mother Superior
2005	Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont	Mrs. Palfrey	Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2006	Goose on the Loose	Beatrice Fairfield
	Curious George	Ms. Plushbottom
2008	The Spiderwick Chronicles	Aunt Lucinda Spiderwick
2009	Knife Edge	Marjorie

[ Source: Wikipedia ]