Part of an astonishing generation of British actors, including Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Eileen Atkins and Maggie Smith, Plowright won a Tony Award, two Golden Globes and nominations for an Oscar and an Emmy.

Joan Plowright, an award-winning British actress and widow of Laurence Olivier, has died. She was 95. "She enjoyed a long and illustrious career across theatre, film and TV over seven decades until blindness made her retire,

Joan Plowright, perhaps the greatest Anglophone actor of the 20th century and the widow of Laurence Oliver, has died. She was 95.