Phyllida Law, a TV, film and stage actor with more than 140 credits spanning 60-plus years who was the mother of Emma and Sophie Thompson, has died. She was 94.
Her personal manager Jacky Leggo confirmed the news in a statement, saying she “died supremely peacefully at home, surrounded by all her family” on July 27, but did not provide a cause or place of death.
Born on July 6, 1932, in Glasgow, Scotland, Law studied at Bristol Old Vic Theatre school in the 1950s and appeared in several of its stage productions. There she met fellow actor Eric Thompson, whom she would marry in 1957. Their two daughters are two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson and SAG Award winner and multi-Olivier Award nominee Sophie Thompson (Gosford Park).
Law began landing roles on British television in the late 1950s, guesting on such shows as The Lost King, Dr. Finlay’s Casebook and Dixon of Dock Green. She continued working mostly in theater and TV through the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s — guest-starring on dozens of series and telefilms — before co-starring opposite Helen Shaver, Lauren Bacall and Malcolm Stoddard in the 1989 feature Innocent Victim aka Tree of Hands.
Along the way was starred onstage with Alec Guinness in 1971’s A Voyage Round My Father in London and played Jacqueline in the original West End cast of La Cage aux Folles in 1986, among other stage productions.
Samuel Goldwyn Films/Everett Collection
In 1992, Law appeared alongside daughter Emma Thompson and others in Peter’s Friends, directed by and co-starring Thompson’s then-husband Kenneth Branagh. The following year, Law again teamed with her daughter in Branagh’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, playing Ursula. She would co-star along with daughter Sarah in the 1996 feature Emma, starring Gwyneth Paltrow. A year later, she again teamed with Emma for a star turn as Elspeth in mother-daughter drama The Winter Guest. The pic from first-time director Alan Rickman won several awards including three at the Venice Film Festival.
Law continued to work regularly through the 2010s, playing Mrs. Watchit in 2002’s The Time Machine starring Guy Pearce and appearing in such features as Albert Nobbs (2011), Miss Potter (2006) and The Waiting Room (2007). She also guested on numerous TV shows after the turn of the century.
Law was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2014.
