Louise Plowright (1 June 1956 – 1 March 2016) was a British actress who trained at the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

Theatre School. She first came to prominence playing abrasive hairdresser Julie Cooper in the television soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' from 1989 to 1990. Subsequent major roles on TV include Linda Harvey in ''

Families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

'' and Michelle Thorn in '' Footballers' Wives: Extra Time''. The

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

-born singer-actress appeared in a number of regional and touring productions of musicals, where her roles included: April in ''

Hot Shoe Shuffle ''Hot Shoe Shuffle'' is a 1992 Australian musical produced by David Atkins. A jukebox musical, the score mostly includes American big band and popular songs of the 1920s to 1940s. The musical concerns seven Tap Brothers, Spring, Slap, Buck, Wing ...

'', Julie Johnston in ''Bad Girls – The Musical'', and, Phyllis Rogers Stone in ''

Follies ''Follies'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on t ...

'', and most recently ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 musical-fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes with a screenplay co-written by Roald Dahl and Hughes, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel '' Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car'' (1964). The film stars ...

'' amongst others. Numerous West End Concert Performances including ''Living On An Island'' at The Talk Of London. She appeared in various regional theatre pantomimes. In the summer of 2009 she appeared in ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

'' at the

Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya John Hidalgo Moya (5 May 1920 – 3 August 1994), ...

as Aunt Eller, and the following autumn in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in '' White Christmas''. In 2010 she returned to the Chichester Festival Theatre to star in the revival of '' 42nd Street''. She made her West End theatre debut in 1999, originating the role of Tanya in the hit musical '' Mamma Mia!'', the following year she was promoted to the leading role of Donna, which she played for four years. On 29 October 2012, she replaced

Julie Legrand Julie Legrand (born in Pitlochry, Scotland) is a British television, film, and stage actress best known for her role as Jeanette Dunkley on ''Footballers' Wives''. She has also guest starred in a wide variety of British television shows, as we ...

as Madame Morrible in the hit musical ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * '' Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' s ...

'' in the West End. Due to ill health, Plowright withdrew from the production, and was replaced by Harriet Thorpe on 22 April 2013.

Death

Plowright died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

on 1 March 2016, aged 59. She had raised funds for experimental treatment in

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, which proved unsuccessful.Louise Plowright dies aged 59
whatsonstage.com; accessed 1 March 2016.

References

External links

* British television actresses English soap opera actresses Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School 1956 births 2016 deaths People from Congleton Actors from Cheshire Expatriates in Germany Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from pancreatic cancer {{UK-tv-actor-1950s-stub