Dame Maggie Smith was a British actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. She made her professional theatre debut in 1956 playing Viola in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Oxford Playhouse. 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 Chekov, Noël Coward, Edward Albee, and Tom Stoppard. She has received three Tony Award nominations for Private Lives (1975), and Night and Day (1980) before winning in 1990 for Lettice and Lovage.[1]
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Smith was also known for her film roles, started acting in the late 1950s before gaining her breakthrough film role in Othello (1965) where she acted alongside Laurence Olivier and Michael Gambon. She won her first Academy Award for her performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969). She received her second win for her role as an Oscar loser in Neil Simon's California Suite (1978). Other notable roles include Travels with My Aunt (1972), Death on the Nile (1978), A Room with a View (1986), Richard III (1995), Gosford Park (2001), and Quartet (2012). Smith also starred in the commercially successful films Hook (1991), Sister Act (1992), The Secret Garden (1993), and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) and its sequel. Additionally, she gained worldwide attention and acclaim for her role as Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter series (2001–2011).[2]
Smith was also known for her roles on television appearing in various programmes including, BBC Sunday Night Theatre, Theatre Royal, Play of the Week, Armchair Theatre, Play of the Month and Screen Two. She also guest starred in The Carol Burnett Show. Smith received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her work in Suddenly, Last Summer (1992), David Copperfield (1999), and Capturing Mary (2010). Smith won for My House in Umbria (2003). Smith gained international acclaim for her performance in Downton Abbey (2010–2015) as the Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham. She received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations winning three times.[3]
Filmography
editFilm
editSource: IMDb and Turner Classic Movies
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | BBC Sunday-Night Theatre | Performer | Episode: "The Makepeace Story #3: Family Business" |
| 1956 | Theatre Royal | Paula Benson | Episode: "Death Under the City" |
| The Adventures of Aggie | Fiona Frobisher-Smith | Episode: "Cobalt Blue" | |
| 1957 | Sing for Your Supper | Ann Carter | Television film |
| Kraft Television Theatre | Performer | Episode: "Night of the Plague" | |
| ITV Play of the Week | Various roles | 6 episodes: 1957–1960 | |
| On Stage – London | Performer | Episode: "Episode #1.3" | |
| 1958 | Armchair Theatre | Julie, The Girl, Anna Carnot | 3 episodes: 1958–1960 |
| 1959 | ITV Television Playhouse | Doto, Elaine | 2 episodes |
| 1966 | ITV Play of the Week | Victoria | Episode: "Home and Beauty" |
| 1967 | Much Ado About Nothing | Beatrice | Television film |
| 1968 | Play of the Month | Ann Whitefield | Episode: "Man and Superman" |
| ITV Playhouse | Mrs Wislack | Episode: "On Approval" | |
| 1972 | Play of the Month | Portia | Episode: "The Merchant of Venice" |
| Epifania | Episode: "The Millionairess" | ||
| 1974–75 | The Carol Burnett Show | Various roles | American TV debut; 3 episodes |
| 1983 | All for Love | Mrs Silly | Episode: "Mrs Silly" |
| 1988 | Talking Heads | Susan | Episode: "A Bed Among the Lentils" |
| 1992 | Screen Two | Mrs Mabel Pettigrew | Episode: "Memento Mori" |
| 1993 | Great Performances | Violet Venable | Episode: "Suddenly, Last Summer" |
| 1999 | All the King's Men | Queen Alexandra | Television film, BBC |
| David Copperfield | Betsey Trotwood | Miniseries – 2 episodes | |
| 2003 | My House in Umbria | Emily Delahunty | Television film, HBO |
| 2007 | Capturing Mary | Mary Gilbert | |
| 2010–16 | Downton Abbey | Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham |
Series – 52 episodes |
| 2014 | National Theatre Live: 50 Years On Stage | Mrs Sullen | Television special, PBS |
Source: Internet Movie Database
Theatre
edit| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Twelfth Night | Viola | Oxford Playhouse |
| He Who Gets Slapped | Performer | Clarendon Press | |
| Cinderella | Oxford Playhouse | ||
| 1953 | Rookery Nook | ||
| Housemaster | |||
| Cakes and Ale | revue, Edinburgh Festival | ||
| The Love of Four Colonels | Oxford Playhouse | ||
| 1954 | The Ortolan | Maxton Hall | |
| Don't Listen Ladies | Oxford Playhouse | ||
| The Government Inspector | |||
| The Letter | |||
| A Man About The House | |||
| On the Mile | revue, Edinburgh Festival | ||
| Oxford Accents | Watergate Theatre, London | ||
| Theatre 1900 | Oxford Playhouse | ||
| Listen to the Wind | |||
| 1955 | The Magistrate | ||
| The School for Scandal | |||
| 1956 | New Faces of '56 | Various roles | Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway |
| 1957 | Share My Lettuce | Performer | Lyric Theatre Comedy Theatre Garrick Theatre |
| 1958 | The Stepmother | Vera Dane | St. Martin's Theatre |
| 1959 | The Double Dealer | Lady Plyant | The Old Vic |
| As You Like It | Celia | ||
| Richard II | The Queen | ||
| The Merry Wives of Windsor | Mistress Ford | ||
| 1960 | What Every Woman Knows | Maggie Wylie | |
| Rhinoceros | Daisy | Strand Theatre | |
| Strip the Willow | Performer | UK tour | |
| 1961 | The Rehearsal | Lucile | Bristol Old Vic Globe Theatre Queen's Theatre |
| 1962 | The Private Ear & The Public Eye | Belinda/Doreen | Globe Theatre |
| 1963 | Mary, Mary | Mary | Queen's Theatre |
| The Recruiting Officer | Silvia | National Theatre | |
| 1964 | Othello | Desdemona | |
| The Master Builder | Hilda Wangel | ||
| Hay Fever | Myra Arundel | ||
| 1965 | Much Ado About Nothing | Beatrice | |
| Trelawny of the 'Wells' | Avonia Bunn | ||
| 1966 | Miss Julie | Miss Julie | |
| Black Comedy | Clea | ||
| A Bond Honoured | Marcela | ||
| 1969 | The Country Wife | Margery Pinchwife | Chichester Festival Theatre |
| 1970 | The Beaux' Stratagem | Mrs Sullen | National Theatre Ahmanson Theatre The Old Vic |
| Hedda Gabler | Hedda Tesman | National Theatre Cambridge Theatre The Old Vic | |
| Three Sisters | Masha | Ahmanson Theatre | |
| 1971 | Design for Living | Gilda | |
| 1972 | Private Lives | Amanda Prynne | Queen's Theatre |
| 1973 | Peter Pan | Peter Pan | London Coliseum |
| 1974 | Snap | Connie Hudson | Vaudeville Theatre |
| 1975 | Private Lives | Amanda Prynne | US tour and 46th Street Theatre |
| 1976 | The Way of the World | Millamant | Stratford Shakespeare Festival |
| Antony and Cleopatra | Cleopatra | ||
| Three Sisters | Masha | ||
| Measure for Measure | Mistress Overdone | ||
| The Guardsman | The Actress | Stratford Shakespeare Festival/Ahmanson | |
| 1977 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Titania/Hippolyta | |
| Richard III | Queen Elizabeth | Stratford Shakespeare Festival | |
| As You Like It | Rosalind | ||
| Hay Fever | Judith Bliss | ||
| 1978 | Macbeth | Lady Macbeth | |
| Private Lives | Amanda Prynne | ||
| 1979 | Night and Day | Ruth Carson | Phoenix Theatre ANTA Playhouse, Broadway |
| 1980 | Much Ado About Nothing | Beatrice | Stratford Shakespeare Festival |
| The Seagull | Arkadina | ||
| Virginia | Virginia Woolf | SSF/Haymarket Theatre | |
| 1984 | The Way of the World | Millament | Chichester/Haymarket Theatre |
| 1985 | Interpreters | Nadia Ogilvy-Smith | Queen's Theatre |
| 1986 | The Infernal Machine | Jocasta | Lyric Theatre |
| 1987 | Coming into Land | Halina Rodziewiczowna | Royal National Theatre Lyttelton Theatre |
| Lettice and Lovage | Lettice Doucett | Globe Theatre | |
| 1990 | Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway | ||
| 1993 | The Importance of Being Earnest | Lady Bracknell | Aldwych Theatre |
| 1994 | Three Tall Women | A | Wyndham's Theatre |
| 1996 | Talking Heads | Susan | Chichester/Comedy Theatre |
| 1997 | A Delicate Balance | Claire | Haymarket Theatre |
| 1999 | The Lady in the Van | Miss Mary Shepherd | Queen's Theatre |
| 2002 | The Breath of Life | Madeleiane Palmer | Haymarket Theatre |
| 2004 | Talking Heads | Susan | Australia/New Zealand tour |
| 2007 | The Lady from Dubuque | Elizabeth | Haymarket Theatre |
| 2019 | A German Life | Brunhilde Pomsel | Bridge Theatre |
Video games
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery | Minerva McGonagall | Voice |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Top 10 Maggie Smith Performances". IMDb. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ "The Arguably Ten Best Maggie Smith Performances". IMDb. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ Sulcas, Roslyn (8 January 2016). "Maggie Smith Shifts From Dowager to Down and Out for 'The Lady in the Van'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ "Where to watch Dame Maggie Smith's final film, 'The Miracle Club'". Spoiler US. 27 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
- ^ McNamara, Mary (27 September 2024). "Maggie Smith helped redefine what it means to grow old, particularly for women". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
- ^ Lammers, Tim. "10 Maggie Smith Movies To Watch: 'Harry Potter', 'Sister Act' And More". Forbes. Retrieved 30 September 2024.