Phyllida Law, a prolific star of the stage and screen and Dame Emma Thompson and Sophie Thompson’s mother, has died at the age of 94.

The news was confirmed by her manager, Jacky Leggo, who shared that she "died supremely peacefully at home, surrounded by all her family".

Born in Glasgow in 1932, Law won a place at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where she initially wanted to be a stage designer but ended up discovering a love of acting.

She bagged roles in a number of Bristol Old Vic productions, where she met actor Eric Thompson, whom she married in 1957 and the couple had two children – Emma and Sophie.

It was in the 1960s and '70s that Law started to land significant stage roles, including in John Mortimer’s A Voyage Round My Father at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 1971, and Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus at the Oxford Playhouse in 1973.

She was also cast in Somerset Maugham’s For Services Rendered and JB Priestley’s When We Are Married at the National Theatre in 1979.

Her film roles began the following decade, with Law appearing alongside her daughter Emma in Peter’s Friends (1992), which was helmed by Emma’s then-husband Sir Kenneth Branagh, and Much Ado About Nothing (also directed by Branagh and starring Emma).

Elsewhere, Law appeared as Emma’s character’s on-screen mother in Alan Rickman’s directorial debut The Winter Guest.

She also appeared as Mrs Bates in the 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, in which Sophie played her daughter, and had a voice role in 2005’s Nanny McPhee, which was penned by and starred Emma.

Other film roles included Miss Potter (2006), Albert Nobbs (2011) and The Time Machine (2002).

Law also had a number of small TV roles over the years, including in Taggart, Rosemary & Thyme, Foyle's War, Doc Martin, Midsomer Murders and New Tricks.

The actress was married to Eric until his death in 1982 at the age of 53, and is survived by their two children, Emma and Sophie.