Edward Downes "serious health problems" suffered by the couple. A statement issued by the couple's children said that while Downes could have gone on living with his deafness and blindness, he did not want to do so after his wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In March 2010, Keir Starmer (director of public prosecutions) stated that Caractacus Downes would not be prosecuted for his involvement with his parents' assisted suicide because it was not in the public interest. Edward Downes Sir Edward Thomas ("Ted") Downes, CBE (17 June 1924 – 10 July 2009) was an English conductor, specialising in opera. He was
Joan Plowright Tamsin Agnes Margaret (born January 1963) and Julie-Kate (born July 1966). Both daughters are actresses. The couple remained married until Lord Olivier's death in 1989. Her brother, David Plowright (1930–2006), was an executive at Granada Television. The Plowright Theatre in Scunthorpe is named in Plowright's honour. Upon her marriage to Sir Laurence Olivier, her formal title became Lady Olivier; however, she never used it in her professional career. Her husband was made a life peer in 1970 and so she became Baroness Olivier. Professionally, she is known as Dame Joan Plowright. As of 2004 her full and official title, as