by I had seen Joan on stage before I joined her in the National Theater company at the Old Vic in the 1960s. That’s why I had admired her from afar: this kind of acting, this kind of theater when she was at the royal court. Realism was more of a leap forward than a fantasy land. I came from newsreels, where there wasn’t much time to get into character, the roles weren’t very emotional, and you were lucky if you could remember the lines of that week’s play. So it was quite a change of pace.
How lucky I was to be part of it all at the Vic with Derek Jacobi, Louise Purnell and other close friends from that time. We have experienced many wonderful things together. Joan was fun and funny, great to play with. And Laurence Olivier was this great leader of British theater who brought us all together and awakened the right feeling in us. Of course, we got to know each other better on the tour because we were all together.
There was no rigidity with Joan, she was completely approachable. She could be mischievous, with a wicked sense of humor, and she somehow radiated with this enormous warmth. She was never great.
I really admired her as a woman and as an actress. Her absolute honesty was remarkable. She hit the nail right in the head because she was such a very honest person. You could never point a finger and say, ‘That wasn’t true.’ I loved that about her. It’s easy to get carried away when acting – you can lose sight of the truth if you’re not careful. But when I saw her at the royal court, I was swept away by this amazing woman. I looked at her and thought: That’s the kind of actress I want to be. Otherwise, what is it about? You have to tell your whole truth, and Joan did.
I miss her dearly already and many others will too – people who have watched and worked with her over the years. An extraordinary woman with an amazing spirit.
