108 Facts About Maggie Smith

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith was a British actress.

Maggie Smith 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 Olivier Awards.

Maggie Smith is one of the few performers to earn the Triple Crown of Acting.

Maggie 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.

Maggie Smith was Tony-nominated for Noel Coward's Private Lives and Tom Stoppard's Night and Day.

Maggie Smith won Academy Awards for Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite.

Maggie Smith was Oscar-nominated for Othello, Travels with My Aunt, A Room with a View and Gosford Park.

Maggie Smith portrayed Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series.

Maggie Smith acted in Death on the Nile, Hook, Sister Act, The Secret Garden, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Quartet and The Lady in the Van.

Maggie Smith received newfound attention and international fame for her role as Violet Crawley in the British period drama Downton Abbey.

Maggie Smith was made a dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.

Margaret Natalie Maggie Smith was born on 28 December 1934 in Ilford, Essex.

Maggie Smith's mother, Margaret Hutton, was a Scottish secretary from Glasgow, and her father, Nathaniel Smith, was a public-health pathologist from Newcastle upon Tyne, who worked at the University of Oxford.

The family moved to Oxford when Maggie Smith was four years old.

Maggie Smith was educated at Oxford High School until the age of 16, when she left to study acting at the Oxford Playhouse.

In 1952, aged 17, under the auspices of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, Maggie Smith began her career as Viola in Twelfth Night at the Oxford Playhouse.

Maggie Smith continued to act in productions at the Oxford Playhouse, including Cinderella, Rookery Nook, Cakes and Ale and The Government Inspector.

In 1956 Maggie Smith made her Broadway debut playing several roles in the review New Faces of '56, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre from June to December 1956.

In 1962 Maggie Smith won the first of a record six Best Actress Evening Standard Awards for her roles in Peter Shaffer's plays The Private Ear and The Public Eye, again opposite Kenneth Williams.

Maggie Smith caught the eye of Laurence Olivier, who, after seeing her in The Double Dealer at The Old Vic, invited her to become part of his new National Theatre Company soon after it was formed at The Old Vic in 1962.

Maggie Smith said that anyone who can play comedy that well can play tragedy and he offered her the likes of Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello.

Maggie Smith later recalled the incident on a 2015 edition of The Graham Norton Show and in the 2018 documentary Nothing Like a Dame.

Maggie Smith appeared in her first film in 1956, in an uncredited role of a party guest in the British drama Child in the House.

Maggie Smith earned her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Desdemona in the film adaptation of Othello, acting alongside Olivier, Jacobi and Gambon.

Maggie Smith appeared in Joseph L Mankiewicz's crime comedy The Honey Pot starring Rex Harrison and Hot Millions opposite Peter Ustinov.

Maggie Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the title role of the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Maggie Smith was singled out for her performance in the film.

In 1970 Maggie Smith played the title role in Ingmar Bergman's London production of the Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabler, winning her second Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress.

In 1975 Maggie Smith starred as Amanda Prynne in the Noel Coward comedy Private Lives at the 46th Street Theatre on Broadway.

The effect, because Noel Coward's situation is funny and because Miss Maggie Smith sends off that one little extra signal that spells extravagance, is hilarious, explosively so.

In 1972 Maggie Smith starred as the eccentric Augusta Bertram in George Cukor's film Travels with My Aunt.

Maggie Smith received her third Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance.

Maggie Smith appeared in the film Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing directed by Alan J Pakula.

In 1978 Maggie Smith played opposite Michael Caine in Neil Simon's California Suite, playing an Oscar loser, for which she received the 1978 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Maggie Smith is the only person to have won an Oscar for portraying a fictional Oscar nominee.

From 1976 to 1980 Maggie Smith appeared to acclaim in numerous productions at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario; her roles included: Cleopatra in Anthony and Cleopatra, Titania and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Queen Elizabeth in Richard III, Rosalind in As You Like It and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth.

In 1981 Maggie Smith starred in the Merchant Ivory film Quartet alongside Alan Bates and Isabelle Adjani.

Maggie Smith received her sixth BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance as Lois Heidler.

Maggie Smith played the goddess Thetis in Clash of the Titans.

Maggie Smith won her second Best Actress BAFTA Film Awards for her role as Joyce Chilvers in the 1984 black comedy A Private Function with Michael Palin.

Maggie Smith won her third and fourth Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress, for her role as Virginia Woolf in Edna O'Brien's play, Virginia and as Millament in The Way of the World.

Maggie Smith starred in the 1987 London production of Lettice and Lovage alongside Margaret Tyzack, receiving an Olivier Award nomination.

Maggie Smith reprised the role in 1990, when it transferred to Broadway, and won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

Maggie Smith portrayed Charlotte Bartlett in the Merchant Ivory Production of A Room with a View.

Maggie Smith earned her fifth Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and won her second Golden Globe Award and her third British Academy Film Award for Best Actress.

Maggie Smith won her fourth BAFTA Film Awards for Best Actress for the title role in the 1987 film The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, directed by Jack Clayton.

In 1991 Maggie Smith appeared as Granny Wendy in Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook, a fantasy adventure film based on the Peter Pan character.

In 1992 Maggie Smith appeared as Mother Superior in the Whoopi Goldberg comedy film Sister Act and its sequel, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.

Maggie Smith received a third British Academy Television Award nomination for her role as Mrs Mabel Pettigrew in the 1992 TV film Memento Mori, and her first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her role as Violet Venable in the 1993 PBS television film Suddenly, Last Summer.

Maggie Smith acted in the film adaptation of The Secret Garden directed by Agnieszka Holland.

In 1995 Maggie Smith portrayed the Duchess of York in another film adaptation this time of William Shakespeare's Richard III starring Ian McKellen in the titular role.

Maggie Smith starred in another film by Holland titled Washington Square, playing the incurably foolish Aunt Lavinia Penniman.

Maggie Smith won her fifth BAFTA Film Awards, this time for Best Supporting Actress, for the 1999 film Tea with Mussolini, in which she played Lady Hester Random opposite Cher, Joan Plowright and Judi Dench.

In 1996 Maggie Smith appeared in the comedy film The First Wives Club alongside Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton and Bette Midler.

In 1997 Maggie Smith starred in another Albee play, A Delicate Balance, opposite Eileen Atkins.

Maggie Smith received her fifth Olivier Award nomination for her performance as the witty, alcoholic Claire.

That same year, Maggie Smith starred in the BBC television adaptation of the Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield alongside Daniel Radcliffe.

Maggie Smith portrayed Betsey Trotwood for which she received a British Academy Television Awards and her second Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

From 2001 to 2011, Maggie Smith played Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series.

Maggie Smith reunited with Radcliffe, who played the titular role of Harry Potter.

In 2016 while promoting The Lady in the Van, Maggie Smith shared her experiences working on the Harry Potter films and working with Alan Rickman.

In 2001, Maggie Smith appeared in the British ensemble murder mystery Gosford Park, which was directed by Robert Altman.

That same year, Maggie Smith reunited with Dame Judi Dench for David Hare's stage play The Breath of Life.

In 2003, Maggie Smith received her first Primetime Emmy Award in the Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie category for her role as Mrs Emily Delahunty in the HBO television film My House in Umbria.

Maggie Smith received her 8th Golden Globe nomination for her performance in the television film.

Maggie Smith acted with Judi Dench in the film Ladies in Lavender directed by Charles Dance.

Maggie Smith toured Australia in Alan Bennett's Talking Heads in 2004.

Maggie Smith appeared in the British costume drama Becoming Jane, a film that depicts the early life of Jane Austen, played by Anne Hathaway.

Yet even the magnetically watchable Maggie Smith cannot save the evening as a whole.

Maggie Smith appeared in Julian Fellowes's fantasy drama film From Time to Time in 2009.

From 2010 to 2015 Maggie Smith appeared as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in the British period drama Downton Abbey.

Maggie Smith received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for the role.

Also in 2012 Maggie Smith starred in Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut, Quartet, based on Ronald Harwood's play.

Maggie Smith participated in the filmed event National Theatre Live: 50 Years On Stage, along with many actors of the stage, including Michael Gambon and Judi Dench.

On 30 October 2015, Maggie Smith appeared on BBC's The Graham Norton Show, her first appearance on a chat show in 42 years.

In 2018 Maggie Smith starred in a British documentary titled Nothing Like a Dame, directed by Roger Michell, which documents conversations between actresses Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins and Joan Plowright, which were interspersed with scenes from their careers on film and stage.

That same year, Maggie Smith reprised her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall by voicing the character in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, a role-playing video game.

Maggie Smith reprised her role as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in Simon Curtis's 2022 historical-drama Downton Abbey: A New Era alongside Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery.

Variety magazine's theatre critic praised Maggie Smith's performance, writing, "It's a performance that combines the knowingness of hindsight with the naivety of youth, blase enough to catch you off-guard when the magnitude of events suddenly cuts through".

Matt Wolf of The New York Times wrote, "[Maggie Smith's performance] represents a new high in a six-decade career with no shortage of peaks", and added "The audience knows it is witnessing something special".

Maggie Smith's performance won her a record sixth Best Actress Evening Standard award.

In 2021 Maggie Smith starred in the Netflix adaptation of the children's book by Matt Haig of the same name, A Boy Called Christmas.

In 2023 Maggie Smith starred as Lily Fox in an Irish drama film, The Miracle Club, with Kathy Bates and Laura Linney.

In October 2023 Maggie Smith was revealed as one of the faces for the Loewe's SS24 pre-collection.

Maggie Smith was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1970 New Year Honours, and promoted to Dame Commander in the 1990 New Year Honours.

Maggie Smith was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to drama in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours, becoming the third actress to receive the honour, after Sybil Thorndike and Judi Dench.

In 1971 Maggie Smith was conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of St Andrews.

In 1994 Maggie Smith received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Cambridge.

Over her career, Maggie Smith was recognised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:.

Maggie Smith received a Tony Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, five British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and five Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Maggie Smith was awarded the Shakespeare Prize by the Hamburg Alfred Toepfer Foundation in 1991.

Maggie Smith was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of her outstanding contribution to film culture in 1992.

Maggie Smith was elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1994.

On 10 April 1999, Maggie Smith received the William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre presented by the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC, in recognition of her significant contribution to classical theatre in the United States.

Maggie Smith had a star on the London Avenue of Stars until all of the stars were removed in 2006.

Maggie Smith accepted the award, presented to her by Christopher Plummer, in a ceremony at the Fairmont Royal York hotel.

In March 2016, Maggie Smith was awarded the Critics' Circle Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts.

Maggie Smith married playwright Beverley Cross on 23 June 1975, at the Guildford Register Office, and they remained married until his death on 20 March 1998.

In January 1988, Maggie Smith was diagnosed with Graves' disease, for which she underwent radiotherapy and optical surgery.

In 2016, Maggie Smith told NPR that as a character actor, rather than a "dish", she was able to age into roles as mothers and grandmothers while still developing her talents instead of losing them.

The interviewer noted that Maggie Smith had, in fact, been called "an undeniable dish" by a reviewer while starring on Broadway in the 1960s.

In September 2011, Maggie Smith offered her support for raising the NZ$4.6million needed to help rebuild the Court Theatre in Christchurch, New Zealand, after the earthquake in 2011 that caused severe damage to the area.

Maggie Smith was a patron of the Oxford Playhouse, where she first began her career.

Maggie Smith was a vice-president of the Chichester Cinema at New Park and a vice-president of the Royal Theatrical Fund, which provides support for members of the entertainment profession who are unable to work due to illness, injury or infirmity.

On 27 November 2012, Maggie Smith contributed a drawing of her own hand to the 2012 Celebrity Paw Auction, to raise funds for Cats Protection.

In May 2013, Maggie Smith contributed a gnome which she had decorated, for an auction to raise money for the Royal Horticultural Society Campaign for School Gardening.

In November 2020, Maggie Smith joined Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi and Ian McKellen for a conversation on Zoom entitled For One Knight Only, for the charity Acting for Others.

Maggie Smith died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, on 27 September 2024, aged 89.