Plowright, Joan (1929-…), is a leading British actress. She established herself as an outstanding actress in the late 1950’s with fine performances in such plays as The Entertainer (1957). She began her professional career in 1948, at the Croydon Repertory Theatre. Later, she performed at the Nottingham Playhouse and, beginning in 1956, at the Royal Court Theatre in London. She joined the National Theatre company for its first season in 1963. Plowright made her motion-picture debut in 1956. She has also been a theater producer and director.
Joan Anne Plowright was born on Oct. 28, 1929, in Brigg, Humberside, England. She was trained at the Old Vic Theatre School. In 1961, she married Sir Laurence Olivier, later Lord Olivier (see Olivier, Laurence ). The two appeared together in several productions at the Royal Court Theatre as well as in the motion-picture versions of the plays The Entertainer (1960) and Three Sisters (1970). Her other films include Equus (1977), The Dressmaker (1988), Avalon (1990), Enchanted April (1992), 101 Dalmatians (1996), Tea with Mussolini (1999), Bringing Down the House (2003), and Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005). In 2004, Plowright was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and became known as Dame Joan Plowright.
