Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier, DBE (born 28 October 1929), better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress. She was awarded a CBE in 1970 and was made a Dame (DBE) in the New Year's Honours of 2004.
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 T...
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Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier, DBE (born 28 October 1929), better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress. She was awarded a CBE in 1970 and was made a Dame (DBE) in the New Year's Honours of 2004.
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.
Plowright made her stage debut in 1951 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, Les Chaises, Shaw's Major Barbara and Saint Joan. In 1957 she co-starred with future husband 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...
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