'The Crown' and 'Downton Abbey' star Jane Lapotaire dead at 81

Jane Lapotaire, the Tony Award-winning actress known for roles in The Crown and Downton Abbey, has died at 81. She passed away on March 5, and a spokesperson for the Royal Shakespeare Company confirmed the news; no cause of death has been released. “We are saddened to hear of the death of Jane Lapotaire,” the statement began.

“A truly brilliant actress, her RSC credits include Piaf, winning her TONY & Olivier awards, & Gertrude opposite Kenneth Branagh in Adrian Noble’s Hamlet.” Born Jane Burgess in Ipswich in December 1944, Lapotaire was put up for adoption and lived with a foster mother for 12 years.

Her birth mother returned when Lapotaire was 13 and a custody battle followed; her foster mother was ultimately awarded custody, though Lapotaire had to spend holidays with her birth mother. Her stage career began in 1965 at the Bristol Old Vic as Ruby Birtle in When We Are Married.

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