Dame

Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (28 December 1934 – 27 September 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had List of Maggie Smith performances, an extensive career on stage and screen for over seve ...

was a British actress who worked in theatre, television and film. She made her professional theatre debut in 1956 playing Viola in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

'' at the

Oxford Playhouse The Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F. G. M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road (Oxford), W ...

. She made her Broadway debut in musical revue ''New Faces of 1956'' (1956). Smith excelled in both comedy and drama performing in various works of Shakespeare,

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...

and

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

. She received three

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nominations for ''

Private Lives ''Private Lives'' is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It concerns a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetuall ...

'' (1975) and '' Night and Day'' (1980) before winning in 1990 for '' Lettice and Lovage''. Smith was also known for her film roles and started acting in films in the late 1950s before gaining her breakthrough film role in ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'' (1965) in which she acted alongside

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

and

Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; 19 October 1940 – 27 September 2023) was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career ...

. She won her first

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for her performance in '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1969). She received her second win for her role as an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

loser in

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

's '' California Suite'' (1978). Other notable roles include '' Travels with My Aunt'' (1972), ''

Death on the Nile ''Death on the Nile'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 1 November 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at ...

'' (1978), '' A Room with a View'' (1986), ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

'' (1995), ''

Gosford Park ''Gosford Park'' is a 2001 satirical black comedy mystery film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. The film, which is influenced by Jean Renoir's French classic '' The Rules of the Game'', follows a party of wealthy Brito ...

'' (2001) and ''

Quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

'' (2012). Smith also starred in the commercially successful films ''

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

'' (1991), ''

Sister Act ''Sister Act'' is a 1992 American musical crime comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino and written by Paul Rudnick (billed as Joseph Howard). It stars Whoopi Goldberg as a lounge singer forced to hide in a convent after being placed in a witn ...

'' (1992), ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is seen as a classic of English c ...

'' (1993) and ''

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ''The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'' is a 2011 British comedy-drama film directed by John Madden. The screenplay, written by Ol Parker, is based on the 2004 novel ''These Foolish Things'' by novelist Deborah Moggach, and features an ensemble c ...

'' (2011) and its sequel. Additionally, she gained worldwide attention and acclaim for her role as

Minerva McGonagall Professor Minerva McGonagall is a fictional character in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. McGonagall is a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she is also the head of Gryffindor House and the d ...

in the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2001–2011). Smith was also known for her roles on television appearing in various programmes including, '' BBC Sunday Night Theatre'', '' Theatre Royal'', ''

Play of the Week Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

'', ''

Armchair Theatre ''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Ca ...

'', ''

Play of the Month ''Play of the Month'' is a BBC television anthology series, which ran from 1965 to 1983 featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays (or adaptations) which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different wor ...

'' and ''

Screen Two ''Screen Two'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1985 to 1998 (not to be confused with a run of films shown on BBC2 under the billing ''Screen 2'' between April 1977 and March 1978 ...

''. She also guest starred in ''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harv ...

''. Smith received

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

nominations for her work in ''Suddenly, Last Summer'' (1992), ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...

'' (1999) and '' Capturing Mary'' (2010). Smith won for '' My House in Umbria'' (2003). Smith gained international acclaim for her performance in ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. It first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV (TV network), ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United St ...

'' (2010–2015) as the Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham. She received five

nominations winning three times.

Filmography

Film

Source:

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Video games

See also

References

External links