Phyllida Law, celebrated actress and Emma Thompson's mother, dies aged 94

Acclaimed Scottish actress Phyllida Law, mother to Emma and Sophie Thompson, has died aged 94.

The news was confirmed by her manager, Jacky Leggo, who said the star “died supremely peacefully at home, surrounded by all of her family”.

Born in Glasgow in 1932, the prolific film, TV and stage performer trained at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre school - initially intending to be a stage designer. There, she met her future husband, Eric Thompson. The pair married in 1957 and remained together until his death from a heart attack, aged 53, in 1982.

Law is best known for her theatre work (A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, A Voyage Round My Father starring opposite Alec Guinness, and the first London run of the English-language musical version of La Cage aux Folles) and her film credits include several roles in which she played opposite her two daughters.

These include Peter’s Friends (1992), Much Ado About Nothing (1993) and The Winter Guest (1997). She also starred in 1996’s Jane Austen adaptation Emma, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Toni Collette, Ewan McGregor and her daughter Sophie.

Law’s other film roles included The Time Machine (2002), Danny The Dog (2005), Miss Potter (2006) and Albert Nobbs (2011), as well as A Little Chaos (2014) - her second project directed by Alan Rickman after The Winter Guest.

Law received an OBE for services to drama and charitable causes in 2014.

Her final screen role was in the 2020 romantic comedy Then Came You, written by and starring Kathie Lee Gifford.

RIP Phyllida Law 1932 - 2026