Jane Lapotaire, the Tony and Olivier Award-winning actress celebrated for her roles in The Crown and Downton Abbey, has died at the age of 81.
The performer passed away on March 5, though news of her death emerged only a week afterwards.
The Royal Shakespeare Company paid tribute to the star, stating: “We are saddened to hear of the death of Jane Lapotaire.
A truly brilliant actress her RSC credits include Piaf, winning her TONY & Olivier awards, & Gertrude opposite Kenneth Branagh in Adrian Noble’s Hamlet.”
Throughout a career spanning more than six decades, Ms Lapotaire established herself as one of Britain’s most versatile performers, earning acclaim for her work across theatre, television and film.
Her theatrical journey began in 1965 when she made her stage debut as Ruby Birtle in When We Are Married at the Bristol Old Vic, having trained at the institution’s school.
She became a founding member of The Young Vic Theatre in 1970 before joining the RSC four years later, where her first role was Viola in Twelfth Night.
The 1977 BBC mini-series Marie Curie brought her widespread public recognition, with her portrayal of the pioneering scientist making her a household name.
Jane Lapotaire has died at 81
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Her critically acclaimed turn as Édith Piaf followed in 1978, a role for which she spent six months learning to sing.
After a lengthy West End run, she claimed the Laurence Olivier Award for actress of the year in 1979, before the production transferred to Broadway in 1980, where she secured the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
Her screen work proved equally distinguished, beginning with an appearance in Sherlock Holmes in 1968.
Notable television credits included Casualty, Midsomer Murders and Lucan, while her film roles saw her portray Queen Mary in the 1980 production Lady Jane.
Jane Lapotaire in 1970
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In 2014, she appeared in Downton Abbey as Princess Kuragin, the former romantic rival of Violet Crawley.
Five years later, she took on the role of Princess Alice of Battenberg in The Crown, a performance that drew particular praise from admirers.
Her final appearance on screen came in 2023 with The Burning Girls, bringing her remarkable career in front of the camera to a close.
Ms Lapotaire was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, in 1944 to Louise Elise Burgess, an orphaned French teenager who had been sent to England for fostering.
Jane Lapotaire as Mrs Alving in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Ghosts at the Barbican in 1994
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She grew up with her birth mother’s foster parent, widowed pensioner Grace Chisnall, only learning the truth about her origins as a teenager.
Her passion for performing emerged at 17 through school productions, with the actress once declaring: “I knew then that I wanted to act. I wanted it more than walking or breathing.”
In early 2000, while teaching Shakespeare in Paris, she suffered a cerebral haemorrhage requiring two major operations and nearly four weeks in intensive care, an experience she documented in her bestselling memoir Time Out of Mind.
Last month, she received a CBE at Windsor Castle, marking one of her final public appearances.
She is survived by her son Rowan Joffe, a screenwriter and director from her marriage to Roland Joffé.