Margaret Natalie Smith was born on December 28 1934 in Ilford, Essex. Her father was a medical laboratory technician. She had two older twin brothers, both of who became architects. She attended the Oxford Playhouse School. She was 17 when she made her stage debut in Twelfth Night at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952.
It was in 1952 that she also appeared on stage in He Who Gets Slapped at Clarendon Press and Rookery Nook at the Oxford Playhouse. In the Fifties she appeared on stage at various venues in the United Kingdom in productions of The Stepmother, The Double Dealer, As You Like It, Richard II, The Merry Wives of Windsor, What Every Woman Knows, Rhinoceros, and Strip the Willow. She made her Broadway debut in New Faces of 1956. She made her movie debut 1956 in Child in the House. She appeared in the movie Nowhere to Go (1958). Maggie Smith made her television debut an episode of BBC Sunday-Night Theatre in 1955. In the late Fifties she guest starred on the shows Theatre Royal, The Adventures of Aggie, Kraft Television Theatre, and ITV Play of the Week.
In the Sixties Maggie Smith appeared in the movies Go to the Blazes (1962), The V.I.P.s (1963), The Pumpkin Eater (1964), Young Cassidy (1965), Othello (1965), The Honey Pot (1967), Hot Millions (1968), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), and Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). She was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Othello and won the Oscar for Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She guest starred on the TV show ITV Play of the Week, Play of the Month, and ITV Playhouse. She appeared on stage in The Rehearsal; The Private Ear & Public Eye; Mary, Mary; The Recruiting Officer; Othello; The Music Builder; Hay Fever; Much Ado About Nothing; Trelawny of the 'Wells', Miss Julie; Black Comedy; A Bond Honored; The Country Wife; The Beaux' Stratagem; Hedda Gaber; and Three Sisters.
In the Seventies Maggie Smith appeared in the movies Travels with My Aunt (1972), Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (1973), Murder by Death (1976), Death on the Nile (1978), and California Suite (1978). She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for California Suite. She was nominated for Best Actress for Travels with My Aunt. On television she guest starred on Play of he Month andThe Carol Burnett Show. She appeared on Broadway in Private Lives and Night and Day. In the United Kingdom she appeared on stage in Design for Living, Private Lives, Peter Pan, Snap, The Way of the World, Antony and Cleopatra, Three Sisters, Measure for Measure, The Guardsman, A Midsummer's Night Dream, Richard III, As You Like It, Hay Fever, Macbeth, Night and Day, Much Ado About Nothing, The Seagull, and Virginia.
In the Eighties Maggie Smith appeared in the movies Quartet (1981), Clash of the Titans (1981), Evil Under the Sun (1982), The Missionary (1982), Better Late Than Never (1983), Lily in Love (1984), A Private Function (1984), A Room with a View (1985), and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987). She guest starred on the shows All for Love and Talking Heads. She appeared on Broadway in Lettice and Lovage. In the UK she appeared in the plays The Way of the World, Interpreters, The Infernal Machine, Coming into Land, and Lettice and Lovage.
In the Nineties she appeared in the movies Hook (1991), Sister Act (1992), The Secret Garden (1993), Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), Richard III (1995), The First Wives Club (1996), Washington Square (1997), Curtain Call (1999), Tea with Mussolini (1999), and The Last September (1999). On television she guest starred in Screen Two and Great Performances. She played Betsey Trotwood in the mini-series David Copperfield. On stage she appeared in The Importance of Being Ernest, Three Tall Women, Talking Heads, A Delicate Balance, and The Lady in the Van.
It was in 2001 that she first appeared as Professor Minerva McGonagall in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. She appeared as Professor McGonagall in all of the subsequent "Harry Potter" movies, as well as the video game Harry Potter; Hogwart's Mystery. She also appeared in the movies Gosford Park (2001), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), Ladies in Lavender (2004), Keeping Mum (2005), Becoming Jane (2007), From Time to Time (2009), and Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010). It was in 2010 that she began playing Violet Crawley, Dowager Duchess of Grantham on Downton Abbey. She appeared on Broadway in The Breath of Life, Talking Heads, and The Lady form Dubuque
In the Teens Dame Maggie Smith reprised her role as Professor McGonagall in the final "Harry Potter" movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow--Part 2 (2011),. She appeared in the movies The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2012), Quartet (2012), My Old Lady (2014), The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015), The Lady in the Van (2015), and Downton Abbey (2019). She provided a voice for the animated movie Sherlock Gnomes (2018). She continued to appear on the TV series Downton Abbey. She appeared on stage in A German Life.
In th Twenties she appeared in the movies Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) and The Miracle Club (2023).
Words are not adequate to describe the talent of Dame Maggie Smith. She was genuine in every role and she played, and she was nothing if not versatile. Younger people may be most familiar with her in two somewhat different roles: the firm, yet sympathetic Minerva McGonagall in the "Harry Potter" movies and the witty, strong-willed Violet Crawley on Downton Abbey. The title character in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, another one of her most famous roles, is still more different. Jean Brodie was a passionate,independent teacher. In Travels with My Aunt she played Augusta Bertram, the eccentric aunt of the title. In Death on the Nile she played Miss Bowers, the dutiful nurse of Marie Van Schuyler. She was Desdemona in Othello, an Oscar nominated actress with no hope of winning in California Suite, the sophisticated wife of a detective in Murder by Death, and the sea goddess Thetis in Clash of the Titans (1981). Dame Maggie Smith leaves behind a wealth of great performances, so many that it is impossible to list them all briefly.
No comments:
Post a Comment