Maggie Smith
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1934-12-28
Day of Death
2024-09-27 (89 years old)
Place of Birth
Ilford, Essex, England, UK
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.
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Known For
Acting
(2023)
The Miracle Club
as Lily Fox
(2023)
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
as Self (archive footage)
(2022)
Downton Abbey: A New Era
as Violet Crawley
(2022)
(2022)
A German Life
as Brunhilde Pomsel
(2021)
A Boy Called Christmas
as Aunt Ruth
(2019)
Downton Abbey
as Violet Crawley
(2019)
(2018)
Sherlock Gnomes
as Lady Bluebury (voice)
(2018)
Nothing Like a Dame
as Self
(2017)
Woolf Works
as Reading (voice)
(2017)
(2016)
(2015)
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
as Muriel Donnelly
(2015)
The Lady in the Van
as Miss Shepherd
(2015)
Dames of Classic Drama at the BBC
as Self (archive material)
(2014)
My Old Lady
as Mathilde Girard
(2013)
National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage
as Mrs. Sullen
(2012)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
as Muriel Donnelly
(2012)
Quartet
as Jean Horton
(2011)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
as Minerva McGonagall
(2011)
Gnomeo & Juliet
as Lady Bluebury (voice)
(2010)
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
as Agatha Rose Doherty
(2009)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
as Minerva McGonagall
(2009)
From Time to Time
as Linnet
(2008)
Maggie Smith at the BBC: a portrait
as Self (archival footage)
(2007)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
as Minerva McGonagall
(2007)
Becoming Jane
as Lady Gresham
(2007)
Capturing Mary
as Mary Gilbert
(2006)
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
as Lettice Douffet (segment "Lettice and Lovage")
(2005)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
as Minerva McGonagall
(2005)
Keeping Mum
as Grace Hawkins
(2004)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
as Minerva McGonagall
(2004)
(2004)
Ladies in Lavender
as Janet
(2003)
My House in Umbria
as Mrs. Emily Delahunty
(2002)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
as Minerva McGonagall
(2002)
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
as Caro Bennett
(2002)
The Making of 'Gosford Park'
as Self (uncredited)
(2001)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
as Minerva McGonagall
(2001)
Gosford Park
as Constance Trentham
(2000)
The Last September
as Lady Myra Naylor
(1999)
Tea with Mussolini
as Lady Hester Random
(1999)
All the King's Men
as Queen Alexandra
(1998)
Curtain Call
as Lily Marlowe
(1997)
Washington Square
as Aunt Lavinia Penniman
(1996)
The First Wives Club
as Gunilla Garson Goldberg
(1995)
Richard III
as Duchess of York
(1993)
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
as Mother Superior
(1993)
The Secret Garden
as Mrs. Medlock
(1993)
Suddenly, Last Summer
as Violet Venable
(1992)
Sister Act
as Mother Superior
(1992)
Memento Mori
as Mrs Mabel Pettigrew
(1991)
Hook
as Granny Wendy
(1990)
Romeo.Juliet
as Rosaline (voice)
(1988)
(1987)
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
as Judith Hearne
(1986)
A Room with a View
as Charlotte Bartlett
(1984)
A Private Function
as Joyce Chilvers
(1984)
Lily in Love
as Lily Wynn
(1983)
Better Late Than Never
as Miss Anderson
(1983)
Mrs. Silly
as Mrs Silly
(1982)
Evil Under the Sun
as Daphne Castle
(1982)
The Missionary
as Lady Isabel Ames
(1982)
The Making of Agatha Christie's 'Evil Under the Sun'
as Self / Daphne Castle
(1981)
Clash of the Titans
as Thetis
(1981)
Quartet
as Lois Heidler
(1978)
Death on the Nile
as Miss Bowers
(1978)
California Suite
as Diana Barrie
(1976)
Murder by Death
as Dora Charleston
(1973)
Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing
as Lila Fisher
(1972)
Travels with My Aunt
as Augusta Bertram
(1972)
The Millionairess
as Epifania
(1972)
The Merchant of Venice
as Portia
(1969)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
as Jean Brodie
(1969)
Oh! What a Lovely War
as Music Hall Star
(1968)
Hot Millions
as Patty Terwilliger Smith
(1967)
The Honey Pot
as Sarah Watkins
(1967)
Much Ado About Nothing
as Beatrice
(1965)
Othello
as Desdemona
(1965)
Young Cassidy
as Nora
(1965)
Olivier Talks About Othello
as (archive footage)
(1964)
The Pumpkin Eater
as Philpot
(1963)
The V.I.P.s
as Miss Mead
(1962)
Go to Blazes
as Chantal
(1958)
Nowhere to Go
as Bridget Howard
(1956)
Child in the House
as Party Guest (uncredited)