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Joan Plowright

Acknowledged as one of the finest stage actresses of her generation, Joan Plowright unexpectedly put her burgeoning career on hold in order to focus her young family and famous husband, Sir Laurence Olivier, prior to enjoying a sudden resurgence at the age of 60. Having honed her performance skills on the stages of London's Old Vic and Royal Court Theatres, Plowright impressed with supporting roles in films like "Time Without Pity" (1957) and "The Entertainer" (1960), the latter film starring future husband Olivier. Despite this early success, she spent much of the 1960s and '70s dividing her time between family duties and occasional stage work with Olivier. Eventually, Plowright made a tentative return to film in projects such as "Brimstone and Treacle" (1982) and "Drowning by Numbers" (1988), although it was in the years that followed the passing of Olivier that her own career experienced new life. Suddenly reinvigorated, the actress appeared in an astounding number of films and television programs throughout the next decade, including acclaimed turns in "Avalon" (1990), "Enchanted April" (1992), "Stalin" (HBO, 1992), "Widow's Peak" (1995) and "Tea With Mussolini" (1999). In 2004, she reached her late husband's vaunted status in the U.K. when she was awarded the title of Dame Joan Plowright by Queen Elizabeth II. Continuing to appear in such films as "The Spiderwick Chronicles" (2008), Plowright remained as vibrant on screen as she had 50 years earlier.