Maggie Smith
Acting
Born December 28, 1934, Ilford, Essex, England, UK
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
- 2023The Miracle Club — Lily Fox
- 2022Downton Abbey: A New Era — Violet Crawley
- 2021A Boy Called Christmas — Aunt Ruth
- 2019Downton Abbey — Violet Crawley
- 2018Sherlock Gnomes — Lady Bluebury (voice)
- 2017Woolf Works — Reading (voice)
- 2015The Lady in the Van — Miss Shepherd
- 2015The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel — Muriel Donnelly
- 2014My Old Lady — Mathilde Girard
- 2013National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage — Mrs. Sullen
- 2012Quartet — Jean Horton
- 2012The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel — Muriel Donnelly
- 2011Gnomeo & Juliet — Lady Bluebury (voice)
- 2011Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 — Minerva McGonagall
- Downton Abbey — Violet Crawley
- 2010Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang — Mrs. Docherty
- 2009From Time to Time — Linnet
- 2009Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince — Minerva McGonagall
- 2007Becoming Jane — Lady Gresham
- 2007Capturing Mary — Mary Gilbert
- 2007Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix — Minerva McGonagall
- 2006The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays — Lettice Douffet (segment "Lettice and Lovage")
- 2005Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire — Minerva McGonagall
- 2005Keeping Mum — Grace Hawkins
- 2004Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban — Minerva McGonagall
- 2004Ladies in Lavender — Janet
- 2003My House in Umbria — Mrs. Emily Delahunty
- 2002Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood — Caro
- 2002Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets — Minerva McGonagall
- 2001Gosford Park — Constance Trentham
- 2001Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone — Professor McGonagall
- 2000The Last September — Lady Myra Naylor
- 1999All the King's Men — Queen Alexandra
- David Copperfield — Betsey Trotwood
- 1999Tea with Mussolini — Lady Hester Random
- 1998Curtain Call — Lily Marlowe
- 1997Washington Square — Aunt Lavinia Penniman
- 1996The First Wives Club — Gunilla Garson Goldberg
- 1995Richard III — Duchess of York
- 1993Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit — Mother Superior
- 1993Suddenly, Last Summer — Violet Venable
- 1993The Secret Garden — Mrs. Medlock
- 1992Memento Mori — Mrs Mabel Pettigrew
- 1992Sister Act — Mother Superior
- 1991Hook — Granny Wendy
- Performance — Mrs Venable
- 1990Romeo.Juliet — Rosaline (voice)
- 1988Talking Heads
- Talking Heads — Susan
- 1987The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne — Judith Hearne
- 1986A Room with a View — Charlotte Bartlett
- Screen Two — Mrs. Mabel Pettigrew
- 1984A Private Function — Joyce Chilvers
- 1984Lily in Love — Lily Wynn
- 1983Better Late Than Never — Miss Anderson
- 1983Mrs. Silly — Mrs Silly
- All for Love — Mrs. Silly
- 1982Evil Under the Sun — Daphne Castle
- 1982The Missionary — Lady Isabel Ames
- 1981Clash of the Titans — Thetis
- 1981Quartet — Lois Heidler
- 1978California Suite — Diana Barrie
- 1978Death on the Nile — Miss Bowers
- 1976Murder by Death — Dora Charleston
- 1973Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing — Lila Fisher
- 1972The Merchant of Venice — Portia
- 1972The Millionairess — Epifania
- 1972Travels with My Aunt — Augusta Bertram
- Great Performances — Violet Venable
- 1969Oh! What a Lovely War — Music Hall Star
- 1969The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie — Jean Brodie
- 1968Hot Millions — Patty Terwilliger Smith
- ITV Playhouse — Mrs. Wislack
- 1967Much Ado About Nothing — Beatrice
- 1967The Honey Pot — Sarah Watkins
- BBC Play of the Month — Ann Whitefield, Portia, Epifana
- 1965Othello — Desdemona
- 1965Young Cassidy — Nora
- 1964The Pumpkin Eater — Philpot
- 1963The V.I.P.s — Miss Mead
- 1962Go to Blazes — Chantal
- 1958Nowhere to Go — Bridget Howard
- Armchair Theatre — Anna Carnot, Juliet Denise, The Girl
- 1956Child in the House — Party Guest (uncredited)
- Lilli Palmer Theatre — Paula Benson
- Sunday Night Theatre
- Kraft Television Theatre
Appearances as themselves (23)
- 2024Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration — Self / Various Roles (archive footage)
- 2023Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story — Self (archive footage)
- 2022The Marvellous Maggie Smith: A Celebration — Self
- 2019Return to Downton Abbey: A Grand Event — Self
- 2018Nothing Like a Dame — Self
- 2017Rod Taylor: Pulling No Punches — Self
- 2016Robin And Mark And Richard III — Self
- 2015Dames of Classic Drama at the BBC — Self (archive material)
- Talking Pictures — Self (archive footage)
- 2008Maggie Smith at the BBC: a portrait — Self (archival footage)
- The Graham Norton Show — Self
- Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe — Self
- 2004The Magic Touch of Harry Potter — Self
- 2002The Making of Gosford Park — Self (uncredited)
- 1982The Making of Agatha Christie's 'Evil Under the Sun' — Self / Daphne Castle
- Entertainment Tonight — Self
- Dinah! — Self
- Film '72 — Self
- The Carol Burnett Show — Self
- 1965Sean O'Casey: The Spirit of Ireland — self
- Tony Awards — Self - Presenter, Self - Nominee, Self - Performer / Winner, Self (archive footage)
- The Oscars — Self
- Golden Globe Awards — Self - Nominee