Home / Arts and Entertainment / Jane Lapotaire: Stage Icon's Brave Second Act
Jane Lapotaire: Stage Icon's Brave Second Act
12 Mar
Summary
- Award-winning actor Jane Lapotaire embraced life after a cerebral hemorrhage.
- She transformed personal challenges into powerful writing.
- Lapotaire celebrated a distinguished career with the RSC and National Theatre.
Acclaimed actor Jane Lapotaire, known for her work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and her portrayal of Marie Curie, passed away at 81. Her distinguished career saw her grace the stages of the National Theatre under Laurence Olivier and achieve acclaim for roles in television dramas, including playing Cleopatra. Her breakthrough performance as Marie Curie in 1977 was followed by a critically lauded turn as Edith Piaf in 1978, earning her Olivier and Tony awards.
Following a cerebral hemorrhage in 2000, which significantly altered her personality, Lapotaire embarked on a journey of recovery. She channeled this experience into writing, releasing two memoirs that explored her life and illness. Despite a planned stage comeback being aborted, she returned to the RSC in 2013 and continued to appear in television productions like Downton Abbey and The Crown.
Born in Ipswich, Lapotaire's early life was shaped by her unconventional upbringing and her eventual discovery of the theatre. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic school and made her debut in 1965. Her subsequent years saw her join the National Theatre and later the RSC, taking on a variety of iconic roles across classic and contemporary plays. She was appointed CBE in 2025.
