Jane Lapotaire, star of “The Crown” and “Downton Abbey,” has died. She was 81 years old.
The Tony Award-winning actress passed away on March 5, and a spokesperson for the Royal Shakespeare Company confirmed the sad news on Thursday. The cause of death has not been made public.
“We are saddened to hear of the passing of Jane Lapotaire,” the statement began, according to The Sun. “She is truly a wonderful actress. Her RSC credits include Piaf, for which she won a Tony and Olivier Award, and Gertrude, opposite Kenneth Branagh, in Adrian Noble’s Hamlet.”
Born Jane Burgess in December 1944 in Ipswich, England, Lapotaire was adopted and lived with her adoptive mother for 12 years.
However, the future actress’s biological mother returned to Ipswich when Lapotaire was 13, and a custody battle ensued.
Although her adoptive mother eventually won custody, Lapotaire had to spend her holidays with her birth mother.
Meanwhile, Lapotaire’s acting career began on stage in 1965 when she landed the role of Ruby Bartle in When We Are Wedding at the Bristol Old Vic.
According to The Sun, she said in an interview before her death, “At that time, I knew I wanted to act.” “I wanted that more than I could walk or breathe.”
She then became one of the founding members of the Young Vic Theater around 1970 and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1974.
However, Lapotaire’s popularity skyrocketed after she was cast as Marie Curie in the BBC miniseries Marie Curie in 1977.
Following Marie Curie, Lapotaire starred as Edith Piaf in the 1978 original Pam Gems’ Piaf. She remained on stage when the play moved to Broadway in 1980, winning a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the play that year.
Although Lapotaire was highly acclaimed for her stage work, she also had an extensive and impressive career in film and television beyond Marie Curie.
She starred as Queen Mary in Lady Jane (1980), Princess Irina Kuragin in Season 5 of Downton Abbey, and Princess Alice of Battenberg in Season 3 of The Crown.
Lapotaire’s career was interrupted in 2000 when he suffered a brain hemorrhage and underwent surgery.
After recovering in the ICU for four weeks, she wrote her award-winning memoir, Time Out of Mind, published in 2004.
Mr Lapotaire’s last public appearance was last month when he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire at Windsor Castle.
Lapotaire is survived by her son Rowan Joffe, whom she had with ex-husband Roland Joffe.
