Maggie Smith

Biography

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith CH DBE (December 28, 1934 − September 27, 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in comedic roles, she had an extensive career on stage and screen over seven decades and was one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actresses. She received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award as well as nominations for six Laurence Olivier Awards. Smith was one of the few performers to earn the Triple Crown of Acting. Smith began her stage career as a student, performing at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952, and made her professional debut on Broadway in New Faces of '56. Over the following decades Smith established herself alongside Judi Dench as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. On Broadway, she received Tony Award nominations for Noël Coward's Private Lives (1975) and Tom Stoppard's Night and Day (1979), and won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Lettice and Lovage (1990). She won Academy Awards for Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite (1978). She was Oscar-nominated for Othello (1965), Travels with My Aunt (1972), A Room with a View (1985) and Gosford Park (2001). She portrayed Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series (2001–2011). She also acted in Death on the Nile (1978), Hook (1991), Sister Act (1992), The Secret Garden (1993), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), Quartet (2012) and The Lady in the Van (2015). Smith received newfound attention and international fame for her role as Violet Crawley in the British period drama Downton Abbey (2010–2015). The role earned her three Primetime Emmy Awards; she had previously won one for the HBO film My House in Umbria (2003). Over the course of her career she was the recipient of numerous honorary awards including the British Film Institute Fellowship in 1993, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1996 and the Society of London Theatre Special Award in 2010. Smith was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990. Description above from the Wikipedia article Maggie Smith, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

Granny Wendy
Brunhilde Pomsel
Mother Superior
Lady Hester Random
Daphne Castle
Gunilla Garson Goldberg
Lady Gresham
Constance Trentham
Music Hall Star
Mrs. Medlock
Augusta Bertram
Charlotte Bartlett
Dora Charleston
Duchess of York
Diana Barrie
Patty Terwilliger Smith
Grace Hawkins
Mrs. Emily Delahunty
Sarah Watkins
Miss Mead
Desdemona
Aunt Lavinia Penniman
Lady Bluebury (voice)
Lois Heidler
Lady Myra Naylor
Lily Marlowe
Bridget Howard
Lady Isabel Ames
Joyce Chilvers
Jean Horton
Mrs Silly
Lily Wynn
Mary Gilbert
Violet Venable
Mathilde Girard
Miss Shepherd
Queen Alexandra
Self (archive material)
Reading (voice)
Party Guest (uncredited)
Lady Bluebury (voice)
Violet Crawley
Rosaline (voice)
Lettice Douffet (segment "Lettice and Lovage")
Mrs Mabel Pettigrew
Self / Various Roles (archive footage)