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Maggie Smith

Maggie Smith

Birthday: 1934-12-28 | Place of Birth: Ilford, Essex, England, UK

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.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2025
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

as    Minerva McGonagall

2024
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story

as    Self (archive footage)

2024
Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration

as    Self / Various Roles (archive footage)

2023
The Miracle Club

as    Lily Fox

2022
Downton Abbey: A New Era

as    Violet Crawley

2021
A Boy Called Christmas

as    Aunt Ruth

2019
Quartet

as    Lois Heidler

2018
Nothing Like a Dame

as    Self

2017
2016
The Lady in the Van

as    Miss Shepherd

2016
2015
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

as    Muriel Donnelly

2015
Dames of Classic Drama at the BBC

as    Self (archive material)

2014
My Old Lady

as    Mathilde Girard

2013
Quartet

as    Jean Horton

2012
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

as    Muriel Donnelly

2011
Gnomeo & Juliet

as    Lady Bluebury (voice)

2010
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang

as    Agatha Rose Doherty

2010
Downton Abbey

as    Violet Crawley

2009
From Time to Time

as    Linnet