Phyllida Law, an actress of the stage and screen, has died at the age of 94. In addition to a long and illustrious career, Law is also known as the mother of actresses Emma and Sophie Thompson.
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Law’s personal manager, Jacky Leggo, confirmed the actress’s death in a statement shared by Deadline. According to Leggo, Law “died supremely peacefully at home, surrounded by all her family” on July 27. A cause and location of death weren’t given.
She was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1932, and studied at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in the 1950s. It was there that she met fellow actor Eric Thompson. The two married in 1957.
After getting her start on British television shows in the late 1950s, Law worked mostly on TV and in theater for the next three decades. Her two most notable stage roles were in A Voyage Round My Father with Alec Guinness in 1971, and the original West End production of La Cage aux Folles in 1986.
In the 90s, Law starred alongside her daughters in several projects. First was 1992’s Peter’s Friends, starring Emma Thompson and directed by Thompson’s then-husband Kenneth Branagh. The following year, Law played a supporting role in another Branagh-helmed film, Much Ado About Nothing, also starring Emma.
She co-starred with Sophie in 1996’s Emma adaptation, starring Gwyneth Paltrow. In 1997, she again worked with Emma, starring in the mother-daughter drama The Winter Guest. The film was directed by Alan Rickman.
Law’s last on-screen role was in the 2020 American movie Then Came You.
In 2014, Law was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.