JANE LAPOTAIRE (1944 – 2026)

Everyone at BADA was deeply saddened to learn of the recent passing of acclaimed classical actress — and regular BADA Massterclass guest — Jane Lapotaire CBE. An Olivier and Tony Award winner and multiple BAFTA television nominee, Jane studied at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and joined Laurence Olivier’s inaugural National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in 1967, playing Katherine in “The Taming of the Shrew” and Jessica to Laurence Olivier’s Shylock in “The Merchant of Venice”. She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1974, for which she played Viola in “Twelfth Night”, Sonya in “Uncle Vanya” and Rosalind in “As You Like It”. She starred in the RSC’s productions of “Piaf” for which she won Actress of the Year Award in Britain and a Tony Award on Broadway. She then rejoined the National to star in “Venice Preserved” and “Antigone”. She played Gertrude opposite Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet” for the RSC, starred in Katie Mitchell’s production of “Ghosts” for the RSC and played Catherine of Aragon in “Henry VIII “in Stratford, London and the US, for which she won the Helen Hayes Award.

Despite suffering a cerebral haemorrhage in the year 2000, Jane continued to act to perform up until recently, continuing to appear at the RSC and on television, including roles in “Downton Abbey”, “The Crown”, and most recently “The Burning Girls” in 2023. Jane also wrote a series of memoirs about her life and her recovery from the haemorrhage.

She is also known to many, many Midsummer in Oxford alumni for her regular visits to the programme for a Masterclass on sonnets with John Barton. Reflecting on those years, Jane wrote:

“John Barton took me under his wing after my brain haemorrhage, taking me along to his masterclasses for BADA at Balliol and Magdalen. I had the privilege of learning sonnets under John’s guidance to demonstrate to the students as either a shining example or a terrible warning.”