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Joan Plowright
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Spouse
Laurence Olivier (1961 - 1989) (his death); 3 children
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Trivia
Awarded CBE in 1970.
Mother of actresses Julie Kate Olivier, Tamsin Olivier.
Mother of director Richard Olivier.
The Lady Olivier since 1961, after Lord Laurence Olivier divorced Vivien Leigh.
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Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
Long considered one of Britain's finest stage actresses, it wasn't until the 1980s that Plowright came into her own as a character actress in films. She trained at the Old Vic Theatre School and made her stage debut in 1951, later appearing in such groundbreaking productions as John Osborne's "The Entertainer" and Ionesco's "Rhinoceros." She received acclaim for her title roles in "Major Barbara" and "Saint Joan" and won a Tony for her Broadway performance in "A Taste of Honey." She made her film debut in Moby Dick (1956), but received more attention when she recreated her stage role in the film adaptation of The Entertainer (1960), playing the daughter of Laurence Olivier, whom she later married in real life. While raising a family, she worked only sporadically, in films like Three Sisters (1970, directed by Olivier) and Equus (1977). Her output increased in the 1980s: Brimstone and Treacle, Britannia Hospital (both 1982), Wagner (1983), and Revolution (1985). She was excellent in starring roles in Drowning by Numbers (1987) and The Dressmaker (1988), then demonstrated her extraordinary range (and ability with accents) in the American films I Love You To Death (1990, as Tracey Ullman's Yugoslavian mom) and Avalon (1990, as Aidan Quinn's Jewish mom). She was wonderful as an uptight Victorian widow in Enchanted April (1992, Oscarnominated), costarred in the TV movie Stalin (1992), and, incredibly, played Mrs. Wilson in John Hughes' adaptation of Dennis the Menace (1993). She costarred in The Summer House (also 1993) and appeared in Widows' Peak (1994). She was married to Olivier from 1961 until his death in 1989; in 1993's Last Action Hero she made a cameo appearance as a schoolteacher gamely trying to interest her pupils in Shakespeare by showing them a film clip of his 1948 Hamlet |  |
