Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier, DBE, popularly known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress with a career spanning over six decades. Regarded as one of the most distinguished actresses of her generation, she is also recognized as the third wife and widow of one of the greatest Anglophone actors of the 20th Century, Laurence Olivier. She has had a distinguished career of her own both on the big screen and the stage. Plowright is known for appearing in a number of movies including ‘The Entertainer,’ ‘Equus,’ ‘Avalon,’ and ‘Enchanted April,’ the last of which earned her an Academy Award nomination. She is also known for her contribution to numerous television films, most notably to ‘Stalin,’ which garnered her a Golden Globe Award as well as an Emmy nomination. Born in Brigg, Lincolnshire, to a journalist and newspaper editor, Plowright is the elder sister of David Plowright, the former chairman of Granada TV Ltd.