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 English actress whose marriage to celebrated actor-director Laurence Olivier conferred on her instant rank among the theatrical nobility and who carved her own considerable and singular place on the British stage,

Joan Plowright, who has died aged 95, was one of Britain's finest stage actresses - and later found fame on the cinema screen, although she largely preferred stage work. The Tony and Golden Globe-winning actress once said movies were a fall-back to pay the bills,