Maggie Smith

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performers to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having received highest achievement for film, television and theatre, winning two Academy Awards, a Tony Award and four Primetime Emmy Awards. Hailed as one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actresses, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990 for contributions to the Arts, and a Companion of Honour in 2014 for services to Drama.

Smith began her career on stage 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 Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. On the Broadway stage she received Tony Award nominations for '' Private Lives'' (1975) and '' Night and Day'' (1979), winning Best Actress in a Play for '' Lettice and Lovage'' (1990).

Smith's breakout film role was in '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1969) for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. For her comedic role as an Oscar loser in '' California Suite'' (1978) she received her second Academy Award this time for Best Supporting Actress. Her other Oscar-nominated roles were in ''Othello'' (1965), '' Travels with My Aunt'' (1972), ''A Room with a View'' (1985), and '' Gosford Park'' (2001). She rose to popular fame portraying Minerva McGonagall in the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2001–2011). Other notable films include '' 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).

On television she gained newfound attention and international fame for her role as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, on Julian Fellowes's period series '' Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015) as well as the 2019 film and the 2022 film. The role earned her three Primetime Emmy Awards. She also won for the HBO film ''My House in Umbria'' (2003). She is the recipient of several honorary awards including the Society of London Theatre Special Award, the BAFTA Fellowship and the British Film Institute Fellowship.

Early life

Margaret Natalie Smith was born on 28 December 1934 in Ilford, Essex. Her mother, Margaret Hutton (née Little; 1896–1977), was a Scottish secretary from Glasgow, and her father, Nathaniel Smith (1902–1991), was a public-health pathologist from Newcastle upon Tyne, who worked at the University of Oxford. During childhood, her parents told Smith the romantic story of how they had met on a train from Glasgow to London via Newcastle. She moved with her family to Oxford when she was four years old. She had older twin brothers, Alistair (died 1981) and Ian. The latter went to architecture school. Smith attended Oxford High School until age sixteen, when she left to study acting at the Oxford Playhouse.

Career

Theatre

1952–1969: Theatre debut and National Theatre

In 1952, aged 17, under the auspices of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, Smith began her career as Viola in ''Twelfth Night'' at the Oxford Playhouse. She continued to act in productions at the Oxford Playhouse including, ''Cinderella'' (1952), '' Rookery Nook'' (1953), ''Cakes and Ale'' (1953), and ''The Government Inspector'' (1954). In 1956 Smith made her Broadway debut playing several roles in the review ''New Faces of '56'', at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre from June to December 1956. In 1957, she starred opposite Kenneth Williams in the musical comedy ''Share My Lettuce'', written by Bamber Gascoigne.

In 1962, Smith won the first of a record six Best Actress ''Evening Standard ''Awards for her roles in Peter Shaffer's plays ''The Private Ear'' and ''The Public Eye'', again opposite Kenneth Williams. After seeing Smith in ''The Double-Dealer'' at The Old Vic, she caught the eye of Laurence Olivier, who invited her to become part of his new National Theatre Company soon after it was formed at The Old Vic in 1962. She soon became a fixture at the Royal National Theatre in the 1960s. British theatre critic Michael Coveney wrote that during her eight years in the company, Smith developed a fierce rivalry with Olivier writing, "He knew immediately he’d met his match – that she was extraordinary. He said that anyone who can play comedy that well can also play tragedy and he offered her the likes of Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello. But having got her into the company they became not enemies, but professional rivals. Never before had anyone on stage been quicker than him and now, it seemed, there was a contest." On ''The Graham Norton Show'' in 2015 Smith admitted that Olivier had slapped Smith across the face during a production of ''Othello'' in 1964. She appeared opposite Olivier in Ibsen's ''The Master Builder'', and played comedic roles in '' The Recruiting Officer'' and ''Much Ado About Nothing'' all in 1964. Smith started with the company at its inception in 1962 with Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon and continued acting with the company for eight years.

1970–1979: International acclaim and awards success

In 1970, Smith played the title role in Ingmar Bergman's London production of the Henrik Ibsen play ''Hedda Gabler'', winning her second Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress.

From 1976 to 1980, Smith appeared in numerous productions at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, to acclaim; her roles included: Cleopatra in '' Anthony and Cleopatra'' (1976), Queen Elizabeth in ''Richard III'' (1977), and Lady Macbeth in ''Macbeth'' (1978).

In 1975, Smith starred in the Noël Coward comedy '' Private Lives'' as Amanda Prynne on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre. The play directed by John Gielgud received positive reviews. ''The New York Times'' theatre critic praised Smith's physical comedic skills writing, "Miss Smith's body spins, lurches, misses yards at a time before another foot comes down, ends in a paralysis that will require hypnosis to undo. The effect, because Noel Coward's situation is funny and because Miss Smith sends off that one little extra signal that spells extravagance, is hilarious, explosively so." Smith received her first Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award nomination.

A few years later, Smith would return to Broadway in Tom Stoppard original play '' Night and Day'' as Ruth Carson in 1979. The play concerns a confrontation between British diplomat and an African leader over a local uprising that has attracted much media coverage. The diplomat's wife observes everyone else's behaviour throughout. The play received mixed reviews with Walter Kerr of ''The New York Times'' praising Smith's performance while critiquing the characters writing, "Which leaves us, theatrically and dramatically, where we began, with Miss Smith. The actress can, and does, do wonders. But she can't single‐handedly turn night into day." Smith received her second Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play nomination.

1980–1999: Tony win and further acclaim on stage

She won her third and fourth Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress, for her role as Virginia Woolf in ''Virginia'' (1981) and as Millament in '' The Way of the World'' (1984). She starred in the 1987 London production of '' Lettice and Lovage'' alongside Margaret Tyzack, receiving an Olivier Award nomination. She reprised the role in 1990, when it transferred to Broadway, and won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The play was written specifically for her by the playwright Peter Shaffer. "There is only one Maggie Smith, but audiences get at least three of her in ''Lettice and Lovage,'' the Peter Shaffer comedy that has brought this spellbinding actress back to Broadway after an indecently long absence and that has the shrewd sense to keep her glued to center stage."

In 1993, she portrayed Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde's comic play ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' at the Aldwych Theatre in the West End, receiving her fourth Olivier Award nomination. The following year she starred in Edward Albee's ''Three Tall Women'' for which she garnered critical acclaim. Theatre critic Paul Taylor for ''The Independent'' wrote, "Maggie Smith has to be seen to be believed. The sudden subsidings into wretched senile tears; the frustrated, dismissive flappings of her arm as her mind gropes impotently for a mislaid fact; the comic cunning with which she tries to cover over her patches of blankness; the beadily aggressive suspicion and the moments of alert cackling triumph - Smith's performance which, at the moment, is firmly on the right side of caricature, captures all this and more. She received her record fifth Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance.

In 1997 Smith starred in another Albee play '' A Delicate Balance'' opposite Eileen Atkins. She received her fifth Olivier Award nomination for her performance as the witty, alcoholic Claire. Matt Wolf of ''Variety'' wrote, "This actress mithcontinues to get laughs where no one else ever would...but she can be as revealing when quiet: admitting, sad-eyed, that "time happens" or sending the audience out for the first intermission on a note of doomy suspense." In 1999 she gained critical acclaim for her performance as Miss Mary Shepherd in Alan Bennett's drama '' The Lady in the Van''. For her performance, she received her sixth Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress nomination.

2002–2019: Return to theatre

In 2002, Smith reunited with Dame Judi Dench for David Hare's stage play '' The Breath of Life''. She toured Australia in Alan Bennett's ''Talking Heads'' in 2004. During 2007, Smith had a productive year appearing in films, television, and the stage. In March she starred in a revival of Edward Albee's stage play '' The Lady from Dubuque'' which ran at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in the West End. David Benedict of ''Variety'' criticised the production with however praising Smith writing, "The exception is Maggie Smith, who arrives in the last minute of the first act and then dominates the second. Yet even the magnetically watchable Smith cannot save the evening as a whole."

In April 2019, after an eleven-year absence from theatre, Smith returned to the stage in Christopher Hampton's play ''A German Life'' as Brunhilde Pomsel at the Bridge Theatre in London. The new play by Christopher Hampton is a one-woman solo play consisting of Smith giving an extended monologue as Pomsel, an elderly German woman who, in her youth, wound up working as a secretary for Joseph Goebbels at the Ministry of Propaganda. Jonathan Kent took the directorial role. ''Variety'' theatre critic praised Smith's performance writing, "It’s a performance that combines the knowingness of hindsight with the naivety of youth, blasé enough to catch you off-guard when the magnitude of events suddenly cuts through". Matt Wolf of ''The New York Times'' wrote, " mith's performancerepresents a new high in a six-decade career with no shortage of peaks", and added "The audience knows it is witnessing something special". Her performance won her a record sixth Best Actress ''Evening Standard'' award.

Television

1954–1993: Television debut and early roles

In 1954, she appeared in the television programme ''Oxford Accents'' produced by Ned Sherrin. In the mid-1970s, she made several guest appearances on ''The Carol Burnett Show''. For her role on television as Mrs Silly in ''All is Love'' (1983) she received the first of her four Best Actress BAFTA TV Award nominations. In 1987, she starred as Susan in ''A Bed Among the Lentils'', part of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads series, receiving a second BAFTA TV nomination. Smith also received a third British Academy Television Award nomination for her role as Mrs. Mabel Pettigrew in the 1992 TV film ''Memento Mori

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