Maggie Smith (1934-2024)
The Oscar-winning British actress Dame Maggie Smith, best known for her roles in the "Harry Potter" film series and "Downton Abbey" has died. She was 89 years old. Her sons, actors Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, announced her passing to the press.
Born on 28th December 1934 as Margaret Natalie Smith in Ilford, Essex, she was the daughter of a pathologist. The family moved to Oxford as war approached, and young Maggie attended the Oxford School for Girls. Smith began her theatrical career as a prompt girl and understudy at the Oxford Repertory. At one point, she suggested that no one in her company ever got sick, so Smith never went on stage during her time there. In 1955, her company relocated to a small theatre in London where she caught the attention of an American producer, Leonard Stillman, who cast her in a revue, New Faces, which opened on Broadway in June 1956. Between 1957 and 1958, Smith held the lead comedian role in the London revue "Share My Lettuce". She soon became a regular at London's Old Vic Theatre.
In 1956, Smith made her first film appearance in an uncredited part in "Child in the House". Two years later, she earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer for the 1958 melodrama "Nowhere to Go", in which she portrayed a girl who hides an escaped convict. In "The VIPs", Smith almost upstaged Richard Burton when sharing a pivotal scene with the Welsh actor. Subsequently, in 1963, she received an offer from actor Laurence Olivier to play Desdemona opposite his titular character in the stage version of Othello at the National Theatre. Two years later, the play became a film adaptation with the original cast, for which Smith received an Academy Award nomination. However, it was in 1969 that she played the role that catapulted her into international fame, that of the unconventional schoolteacher in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", for which she received an Oscar for Best Actress.
For two more years, the actress continued her association with the National Theatre, including a role as Mrs Sullen in the Restoration comedy "The Beaux' Stratagem" in Los Angeles. She received another Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance as Aunt Augusta in George Cukor's 1972 film "Travels with My Aunt". In 1978, she won a second Oscar, this time for Best Supporting Actress, for her performance in Neil Simon's "California Suite". She appeared in the ensemble murder mystery parody "Murder by Death" and the Agatha Christie adaptation "Death on the Nile", along with the sequel "Evil Under the Sun", both starring Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot. By the 1980s, she had a string of unforgettable film roles and more accolades, including BAFTAs for "A Private Function" and "A Room With A View", the latter of which earned her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. She also appeared in "Bed Among The Lentils", one of the episodes of Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads" series for the BBC.
In 1990, Smith became Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen and was known as Dame Maggie Smith. Afterwards, she appeared in Steven Spielberg's "Hook" as the elderly Wendy Darling to the dismissive Mother Superior opposite Whoopi Goldberg in the two "Sister Act" movies. She also appeared in "The Secret Garden", "Richard III", "The First Wives Club", "Washington Square" and "The Last September".
At the turn of the century, she played Betsey Trotwood in the BBC adaptation of "David Copperfield", for which she received a BAFTA and an Emmy nomination. In 2001, she achieved the peak of her worldwide fame when she played in what would become her most well-known role as Professor Minerva McGonagall, the shape-shifting Hogwarts teacher in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". Smith continued to bring her magic to the character in seven more films in the franchise. That same year, she starred in Robert Altman's English country house drama "Gosford Park", which earned her final Oscar nomination. During the shooting of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" in 2007, Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer but recovered after two years of treatment.
She again won acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic for her performance as the sharp-tongued Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in Julian Fellows's hit British period drama "Downton Abbey". The show ran for six seasons and won Smith three of her four Emmys and a Golden Globe. It spawned two films, the second of which came out in 2022 and was Smith's last appearance as the beloved character. Over the past several years, she has continued to work, appearing in films like "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", "Quartet" and "The Lady in the Van". Her last film role in 2023 was opposite Kathy Bates and Laura Linney in "The Miracle Club".
Smith was twice married, once to actor Robert Stephens, before divorcing in 1974 and again to playwright Beverley Cross, from 1975 until he died in 1998.
