THE Crown star Jane Lapotaire has died aged 81 as tributes pour in for the “magnificent” actress.
The Tony award winning actress rose to fame in the 1970s and enjoyed a stellar 60 year career both on stage and screen.
Actress Jane Lapotaire has died aged 81Credit: AP
Lapotaire sadly passed away on March 5, with the heartbreaking news confirmed by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
A spokesperson said: “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.”
The star broke into the industry as Ruby Birtle in When We Are Married at the Bristol Old Vic in 1965.
She became one of the founding members of The Young Vic Theatre in 1970 and joined the RSC in 1974.
Lapotaire reached new levels of fame when she starred in the 1977 show Marie Curie.
Her stage career was also soaring, after portraying Edith Piaf in a play about her life which saw her on Broadway.
Lapotaire was awarded the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 1980.
She also played Violet Crawley’s former romantic rival Princess Kuragin in Downtown Abbey and Princess Alice of Battenberg in The Crown.
In 2000 Lapotaire underwent major surgery after suffering with a cerebral haemorrhage.
The actress recovered after four weeks in intensive care and would go on to write an award-winning memoir.
Tributes have poured in for the icon on social media.
“Her Tony-winning Piaf was raw, vulnerable, devastating. What a remarkable artist we’ve lost,” one wrote.
Another added: “She was an extraordinary talent and have always admired her versatility in every role she took on.”
“She was magnificent as Alice of Battenberg in The Crown,” penned someone else.
One of Lapotaire’s final public appearances came last month when she collected her CBE at Windsor Castle.
The Tony award winning actress rose to fame in the 1970s
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