Having previously noted the
passing of Maggie Smith and Angela Lansbury, it is incumbent on me to also
speak of the passing of Joan Plowright, another great Dame of the British theatre.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say about her:
“Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness
Olivier (née Plowright; 28 October 1929 – 16
January 2025), commonly known as Dame Joan Plowright, was an
English actress whose career spanned over six decades. She received several
accolades including two Golden Globe Awards, an Olivier
Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for an Academy
Award, two BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004.
“Plowright studied at
the Old Vic Theatre School[2] before
acting onstage at the Royal National Theatre where she met
her husband Laurence Olivier. She acted opposite him in
the John Osborne play The Entertainer on the West End in
1957 and on Broadway in 1958. She earned the Tony Award for Best Actress in a
Play for her A
Taste of Honey (1961). She won the Laurence
Olivier Award for Filumena (1978).
“She made her film debut in
an uncredited role in Moby Dick (1956). She later won
the Golden
Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture and was
nominated for the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actress for Enchanted April (1991). She
was BAFTA-nominated for her roles in The Entertainer (1960) and Equus (1977).
She also acted in the films Uncle Vanya (1963), Three Sisters (1970), Avalon (1990), Dennis the Menace (1993), 101 Dalmatians (1996), Jane Eyre (1996), Tea with Mussolini (1999), Bringing Down the House (2003)
and Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005).
She also voiced roles for the children's films Dinosaur (2000) and Curious George (2006).
“On television she was
nominated for the Primetime
Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and
won the Golden
Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for
her role in the HBO television
film Stalin (1992). She retired from acting
due to macular degeneration in 2014. She made
her final filmed appearance in the documentary Nothing Like a Dame (2018).”
In short, we are running out of British actresses of a certain age, classy nature, and stern adorability. Joan Plowright’s first movie appearance was an uncredited role as Starbuck’s wife in Moby Dick,
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but the first place I ever saw her was as Viola in Twelfth Night.
She was appealing as the elderly widow Mrs. Fisher in Enchanted April, who finds a new life in making young friends.
She uplifted The Spiderwick Chronicles and was equally good in Tom’s Midnight Garden.
Come to think of it, she was equally good in these Fantasy films as a friend to the kids, a granny who hasn’t forgotten what it means to be young. I’m sure she’s equally good in more ‘serious’ roles, but this is how I mostly know her. I have Twelfth Night, Enchanted April, and The Spiderwick Chronicles on DVD, and I would really like to get Tom’s Midnight Garden (I’ve seen it on YouTube).
The 2018 BBC show, Nothing Like a Dame, sets up a conversation about acting and life between Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Eileen Atkins, all Dames of the British Empire.
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