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Phyllida Law, the Scottish actress and mother of Emma and Sophie Thompson, has died. 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,” her manager, Jacky Leggo, reportedly told the BBC. “We had worked together for over fifty years and she was a beautiful person inside and out.”
Her granddaughter posted a tribute on Instagram, writing: “Rest well my Queen.”
Law was born in Glasgow in 1932. She attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School where she studied acting, going on to appear in the Gwyneth Paltrow-fronted adaptation of Jane Austen novel “Emma” as Mrs Bates alongside her daughter Sophie, who played Miss Bates.
She also starred alongside her other daughter Emma in a number of productions, including her former son-in-law Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 film adaptation of “Much Ado About Nothing, which also starred Branagh, Keanu Reeves and Kate Beckinsale, as well as another Branagh production, 1992’s “Peter’s Friends.”
Law and Thompson also played together in “Nanny McPhee,” which Thompson co-wrote and which also featured Colin Firth and Angela Lansbury, and played mother and daughter in Alan Rickman’s 1997 directorial debut, “The Winter Guest.”
She also frequently appeared in the West End, including the London Palladium, where she was part of the original London cast of “La Cage Aux Folles.” In 2014 she was awarded an OBE for her services to drama and charity.
In 1957 Law married Eric Thompson, an actor who co-created beloved British children’s show “The Magic Roundabout.” He died in 1982 following a heart attack. He was 53.
Law is survived by her two daughters and her three grandchildren.
