Joan Plowright, Dame and Tony Award winner, dies at 95

Joan Plowright, an era-defining English actress, is dead at 95.

Plowright died Jan. 16 surrounded by her family, according to a family statement reported by the BBC and other British media outlets such as The Independent.

Plowright, who was also a British Dame, debuted as an actress in the beloved 1956 film "Moby Dick" before breaking out in the movie industry for the 1960 film adaptation of "The Entertainer" alongside Laurence Olivier, whom she later married. Olivier died in 1989.

During her career, which spanned generations, Plowright garnered two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. She also nabbed nominations for an Academy Award, an Emmy Award and two BAFTA Awards, the British equivalent of the Oscar.

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"She enjoyed a long and illustrious career across theatre, film and TV over seven decades until blindness made her retire," the statement said of the actress, who retired from acting a decade ago in 2014.

She also starred in "Enchanted April," "Tea with Mussolini," "101 Dalmatians" and "Drowning by Numbers."

"We are so proud of all Joan did and who she was as a loving and deeply inclusive human being," the statement said.

A BBC documentary that premiered in 2018 showed Plowright recalling her portrayal of the character Beatie Bryant in the 1959 groundbreaking stage production "Roots" and the rarity of women in lead roles in the early aughts.

"Beatie is the center of attention, the center of the story instead of being on the side, the decoration bit, the support," Plowright told BBC at the time.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joan Plowright, Dame and Tony-Award winner, dead at 95