British actress Phyllida Law (C) wears her Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) medal with daughters British actresses Sophie (L) and Emma Thompson (R) as they pose after an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace in central London on November 11, 2014. Veteran actress Phyllida Law was accompanied by her film star daughters Emma and Sophie Thompson as she collected an OBE from the Queen for her services to drama and charity work. AFP PHOTO / POOL / JOHN STILLWELL (Photo by JOHN STILLWELL / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
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Phyllida Law, a veteran stage and screen actress whose credits include roles opposite her daughters Emma Thompson and Sophie Thompson, has died.
Law died on Monday, the actress’ longtime manager, Jacky Leggo, told the BBC. She was 94.
It is with great sadness we have to announce that Phyllida Law died supremely peacefully at home, surrounded by all of her family, on Monday 27th July,” Leggo said in a statement. “We had worked together for over fifty years and she was a beautiful person inside and out.”
Law starred opposite Emma Thompson in director Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, as well as the comedy-drama Peter’s Friends. The duo also played mother and daughter in the drama Winter Guest, which marked the directorial debut of actor Alan Rickman.
Law also appeared opposite Emma Thompson in a voice role in the family adventure Nanny McPhee and in an uncredited role in the comedy Junior, which also starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.
Sophie Thompson starred opposite Law in the big-screen adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, in which Gwyneth Paltrow played the title role.
In addition to her work as a prolific screen actress, Law appeared on stage.She attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre School with the intention of becoming a stage designer but switched to acting instead, according to the BBC. As such, Law over the years appeared in productions in London’s West End, the Oxford Playhouse and the London Palladium.
Phyllida Law the mother of British actress Emma Thompson arrives at the British premiere of her daughter’s latest film, Brideshead Revisited, in Chelsea, London, on September 29, 2008. AFP Photo/ Max Nash (Photo credit should read MAX NASH/AFP via Getty Images)
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Phyllida Law Appeared In More Than 140 Screen Roles
Born Phyllida Ann Law on July 6, 1932, in Glasgow, Scotland, Law made her screen debut in 1958 in an episode of the short-lived BBC TV series The Lost King.
Law appeared in dozens of TV guest roles throughout her career, appearing in such notable series as Upstairs, Downstairs, Rosemary & Thyme, Hell’s Bells, That’s Love, Kingdom, Doc Martin, Midsomer Murders and Poirot.
In addition to her films with her daughters Emma Thompson and Sophie Thompson, Law appeared in such features as The Time Machine, Anna Karenina, Miss Potter and Albert Nobbs.
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