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.
Known For
Granny Wendy
Hook
Brunhilde Pomsel
A German Life
Minerva McGonagall
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Minerva McGonagall
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Minerva McGonagall
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Minerva McGonagall
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Minerva McGonagall
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Minerva McGonagall
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Thetis
Clash of the Titans
Mother Superior
Sister Act
Lady Hester Random
Tea with Mussolini
Miss Bowers
Death on the Nile
Daphne Castle
Evil Under the Sun
Gunilla Garson Goldberg
The First Wives Club
Lady Gresham
Becoming Jane
Constance Trentham
Gosford Park
Music Hall Star
Oh! What a Lovely War
Jean Brodie
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Augusta Bertram
Travels with My Aunt
Mrs. Medlock
The Secret Garden
Charlotte Bartlett
A Room with a View
Dora Charleston
Murder by Death
Self / Daphne Castle
The Making of Agatha Christie's 'Evil Under the Sun'
Duchess of York
Richard III
Mother Superior
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
Janet
Ladies in Lavender
Minerva McGonagall
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Caro Bennett
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Diana Barrie
California Suite
Patty Terwilliger Smith
Hot Millions
Grace Hawkins
Keeping Mum
Agatha Rose Doherty
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Judith Hearne
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
Mrs. Emily Delahunty
My House in Umbria
Sarah Watkins
The Honey Pot
Miss Mead
The V.I.P.s
Desdemona
Othello
Aunt Lavinia Penniman
Washington Square
Lady Bluebury (voice)
Gnomeo & Juliet
Lois Heidler
Quartet
Lila Fisher
Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing
Lady Myra Naylor
The Last September
Linnet
From Time to Time
Lily Marlowe
Curtain Call
Bridget Howard
Nowhere to Go
Philpot
The Pumpkin Eater
Self (archive footage)
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
Lady Isabel Ames
The Missionary
Muriel Donnelly
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Joyce Chilvers
A Private Function
Jean Horton
Quartet
Epifania
The Millionairess
Mrs Silly
Mrs. Silly
Lily Wynn
Lily in Love
Nora
Young Cassidy
Mary Gilbert
Capturing Mary
Violet Venable
Suddenly, Last Summer
Self
The Magic Touch of Harry Potter
Chantal
Go to Blazes
Muriel Donnelly
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Self
The Marvellous Maggie Smith: A Celebration
Mathilde Girard
My Old Lady
Self (archival footage)
Maggie Smith at the BBC: a portrait
Beatrice
Much Ado About Nothing
Miss Anderson
Better Late Than Never
Miss Shepherd
The Lady in the Van
Queen Alexandra
All the King's Men
Talking Heads
Portia
The Merchant of Venice
Self (archive material)
Dames of Classic Drama at the BBC
Mrs. Sullen
National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage
Reading (voice)
Woolf Works
Party Guest (uncredited)
Child in the House
Self
Rod Taylor: Pulling No Punches
Lady Bluebury (voice)
Sherlock Gnomes
Self
Nothing Like a Dame
Violet Crawley
Downton Abbey
Rosaline (voice)
Romeo.Juliet
Self
Robin And Mark And Richard III
Lettice Douffet (segment "Lettice and Lovage")
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Mrs Mabel Pettigrew
Memento Mori
Aunt Ruth
A Boy Called Christmas
Self
Return to Downton Abbey: A Grand Event
(archive footage)
Olivier Talks About Othello
Self (uncredited)
The Making of 'Gosford Park'
Violet Crawley
Downton Abbey: A New Era
Lily Fox
The Miracle Club
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
87
Gender
Female
Birthday
1934-12-28
Place of Birth
Ilford, Essex, England, UK
Also Known As
Margaret Natalie Smith