Maggie Smith

Maggie Smith Actress - Born 28 December 1934 Ilford, Essex, England, UK

Died September 27, 2024 · London, England, UK (undisclosed)

Birth Name Margaret Natalie Smith

Height 5' 5" (1.65 m)

Mini Bio (1) One of the world's most famous and distinguished actresses, Dame Maggie Smith was born Margaret Natalie Smith in Essex. Her Scottish mother, Margaret (Hutton), worked as a secretary, and her English father, Nathaniel Smith, was a teacher at Oxford University. Smith has been married twice: to actor Robert Stephens and to playwright Beverley Cross. Her marriage to Stephens ended in divorce in 1974. She was married to Cross until his death in 1999. She had two sons with Stephens, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens who are also actors.

Maggie Smith's career began at the Oxford Playhouse in the 1950s. She made her film debut in 1956 as one of the party guests in Child in the House (1956). She has since performed in over sixty films and television series with some of the most prominent actors and actresses in the world. These include: Othello (1965) with Laurence Olivier, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), California Suite (1978) with Michael Caine and Jane Fonda, A Room with a View (1985), Richard III (1995) with Ian McKellen and Jim Broadbent, Franco Zeffirelli's Tea with Mussolini (1999) with Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Cher and Gosford Park (2001) with Kristin Scott Thomas and Clive Owen, directed by Robert Altman. Maggie Smith has also been nominated for an Oscar six times and won twice, for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and California Suite (1978).

Smith later appeared in the very successful 'Harry Potter' franchise as the formidable Professor McGonagall as well as in Julian Fellowes' ITV drama series, Downton Abbey (2010) (2010-2011) as the Dowager Countess of Grantham.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Beverley Cross (23 June 1975 - 20 March 1998) his death

Robert Stephens (29 June 1967 - 6 April 1975) divorced 2 children

Chris Larkin

Toby Stephens

Hutton, Margaret

Smith, Nathaniel

Smith, Ian (sibling)

Smith, Alastair (sibling)

Trade Mark (2) 1. Has often played grumpy, acid-witted ladies in the second half of her career. 2. Her cheekbones.

Director Agnieszka Holland admired Maggie Smith for years before making The Secret Garden (1993). She knew of Smith's talents and immediately offered her the role of Mrs. Medlock.

She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1970 Queen's New Years Honours List and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1990 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to drama.

Received honorary degrees as Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) from the Universities of St Andrews, Bath and Cambridge in 1971, 1986 and 1994 respectively.

She ranked tenth in the 2001 Orange Film Survey of greatest British film actresses.

Mother-in-law of actress Anna-Louise Plowman.

She was nominated for a 2000 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award (1999 season) for Best Actress for her performance in "The Lady in the Van" at the Queen's Theatre.

She was nominated for a 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress (1997 season) for her performance in "A Delicate Balance" at the Haymarket Theatre.

She was awarded the 1984 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in "The Way of the World".

She was awarded the 1981 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?".

She was awarded the 1994 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in "Three Tall Women".

Portrayed by Ian McKellen on Saturday Night Live (1975).

In 2003, she became the seventeenth performer to win the Triple Crown of acting. Oscars: Best Actress, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) & Best Supporting Actress, California Suite (1978), Tony: Best Actress - Play, "Lettice and Lovage" (1990), and Emmy: Best Actress - Miniseries/Movie, My House in Umbria (2003).

Good friends with Judi Dench and Kenneth Williams.

Worked with Sir Laurence Olivier in the 1960s at the National Theatre.

Her father Nathaniel was a Geordie and a pathologist. Her mother Margaret was a Glaswegian and a secretary.

Her twin brothers Ian and Alistair are six years older than she is. They were both architects until Alastair passed away in 1981.

Won Broadway's 1990 Tony Award as Best Actress (Play) for "Lettice and Lovage". She was also nominated twice before in the same category: for a revival of Noël Coward's "Private Lives" in 1975, and for "Night and Day" in 1980.

Educated at the High School for Girls in Oxford, she started out in the theater as a prompt girl and understudy at the Oxford Repertory. She claims she never went on as no one ever fell sick.

Made her stage debut with the Oxford University Dramatic Society as Viola in Shakespare's "Twelfth Night". Bird-dogged by an American theatrical impresario, the role led to her being cast in her Broadway debut in "New Faces of 1956".

Had to change her stage name to "Maggie Smith" as there already was an actress named "Margaret Smith" at the time she started in the profession.

She appeared with Sir Laurence Olivier in "Rhinoceros" in the English Stage Company's 1960 London production. Olivier pronounced her acting "Marvelous".

Was a member of the Old Vic Company from 1959 to 1963, when the company was dissolved. It served as the basis for the new National Theatre being organized by Sir Laurence Olivier, whom invited her to join. She gave a memorable performance as Desdemona opposite Olivier's Othello at The National Theatre's temporary home at the Old Vic theater building in 1964. Repeating the performance in the 1965 film made of that production, she won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination, her first of six Oscar nods.

Is one of only a few actresses to win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar after winning a Best Actress Oscar.

While filming Death on the Nile (1978), aboard ship, no one was allowed his or her own dressing room, so she shared a dressing room with Bette Davis and Angela Lansbury.

Was the first of four consecutive winners of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar to have the initials 'M.S.', the others being: Meryl Streep - Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Mary Steenburgen - Melvin and Howard (1980), and Maureen Stapleton - Reds (1981).

Is a vice-president of Chichester Cinema at New Park. Anita Roddick and Kenneth Branagh are also vice-presidents.

One of the first people to have a star on the Avenue of Stars - a British version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Seven other Harry Potter actors also have one.

She and her first husband, Robert Stephens, appeared together in "Much Ado About Nothing". In 1993, Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, who were also married at the time, played the same roles. Smith later worked with both Branagh and Thompson in the Harry Potter films.

Has been in three films that have the word "secret" in their titles: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), The Secret Garden (1993) and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002).

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

Devoted to author Jane Austen and her work.

Has played fictional fascists twice: first Jean Brodie in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and then Lady Hester Random in Tea with Mussolini (1999).

In 2008, it was reported that she was fighting breast cancer. She has had a tumor removed and undergone chemotherapy.

At the 2002 Academy Awards, Whoopi Goldberg introduced her, Will Smith, and Jada Pinkett Smith as "The Smith Family".

She appeared in "The Master Builder" with Michael Redgrave and Celia Johnson (who had replaced the recently deceased Diana Wynyard) as part of the new National Theatre Company in 1964. She and Johnson would later appear together in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969).

Not only does she frequently work with Judi Dench, but they have also both worked with each other's children. Maggie worked with Finty Williams in Gosford Park (2001), while Dench worked with Toby Stephens in Die Another Day (2002).

Is one of 17 actresses to have won the Triple Crown of Acting (an Oscar, Emmy, and Tony); the others in chronological order are: Helen Hayes, Ingrid Bergman, Shirley Booth, Liza Minnelli, Rita Moreno, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Audrey Hepburn, Anne Bancroft, Vanessa Redgrave, Ellen Burstyn, Helen Mirren, Frances McDormand, Jessica Lange, Viola Davis and Glenda Jackson.

During the time she was cast in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), producers approached her for further film roles in Cactus Flower (1969) and Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) but she turned them down as she wanted to limit her film work and focus more on theater.

Grandmother to Daisy (b. July 2006) and Nathaniel (b. December 2008) via son Chris Larkin, and to Eli (b. May 2007), Tallulah (b. May 2009), and Kura (b. September 2010) via son Toby Stephens.

Gave birth to her first child at age 32, a son Christopher Stephens (aka Chris Larkin), on June 19, 1967. Child's father is her boyfriend (now late ex-first husband), Robert Stephens.

Gave birth to her second child at age 34, a son Toby Stephens on April 21, 1969. Child's father is her now late ex-first husband, Robert Stephens.

She appeared in two movies by the same title: Quartet (1981) and Quartet (2012).

The fight scene between her and Alan Rickman in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) was almost scrapped during the script process of the film. Her character was to be written out of the scene and replaced by another character. However, author J.K. Rowling insisted that the fight should involve the same characters as those in the novel, as she saw it as a key moment for Smith's character. The scene was filmed when Smith was 76 years old.

Is one of 14 Best Actress Oscar winners to have not accepted their Academy Award in person, Smith's being for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969). The others are Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Joan Crawford, Judy Holliday, Vivien Leigh, Anna Magnani, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren, Anne Bancroft, Patricia Neal, Elizabeth Taylor, Glenda Jackson and Ellen Burstyn.

Was the 68th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) at The 42nd Annual Academy Awards (1970) on April 7, 1970.

She was awarded the CH (Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour) in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to Drama.

Completed filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) whilst undergoing radio-therapy as treatment for breast cancer.

Although she played Nigel Hawthorne, John Wood and Ian McKellen's mother in Richard III (1995), she was more than five years younger than Hawthorne, four years younger than Wood and less than five years older than McKellen.

Is one of 25 actresses to have won an Academy Award for their performance in a comedy; hers being for California Suite (1978). The others, in chronological order, are: Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night (1934)), Loretta Young (The Farmer's Daughter (1947)), Josephine Hull (Harvey (1950)), Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday (1950)), Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday (1953)), Goldie Hawn (Cactus Flower (1969)), Glenda Jackson (A Touch of Class (1973)), Lee Grant (Shampoo (1975)), Diane Keaton (Annie Hall (1977)), Mary Steenburgen (Melvin and Howard (1980)), Jessica Lange (Tootsie (1982)), Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck (1987)), Cher (Moonstruck (1987)), Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy (1989)), Mercedes Ruehl (The Fisher King (1991)), Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny (1992)), Dianne Wiest (Bullets Over Broadway (1994)) Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite (1995)), Frances McDormand (Fargo (1996)), Helen Hunt (As Good as It Gets (1997)), Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love (1998)), Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love (1998)), Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)), and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook (2012)).

Her guest appearance on The Graham Norton Show: Bradley Cooper/Sienna Miller/Dame Maggie Smith/Alex Jennings (2015) marked her first appearance on a TV talk show since she guested on Parkinson: Episode #2.33 (1973) 42 years earlier.

She was not present to collect her first Oscar, for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969); it was accepted on her behalf by Alice Ghostley, who inadvertently credited the direction of the film to its producer, Robert Fryer.

Delivered her sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens via Caesarean section as they were both in the breech position.

Daughter of Nathaniel (1902-1991) and Margaret Hutton (née Little) Smith (1896-1977).

Pictured on one of a set of eight British commemorative postage stamps celebrating the 200th anniversary of The Old Vic Theatre, issued 30 August 2018. The stamp shows Smith in a 1970 performance of Hedda Gabler. Other performers appearing on stamps in this set are Laurence Olivier, Glenda Jackson, Albert Finney, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Sharon Benson, Judi Dench, John Stride, and Richard Burton.

Dame Maggie has won the most BAFTA best film actress awards, winning four in total. She won three years running for "A Private Function", "A Room with a View", and "The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne". Her first best actress win was for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", and she also won best supporting actress for "Tea with Mussolini".

Won Actress of the Year Award at the Variety Club Awards in 1972 for her performance in "Private Lives".

With her Evening Standard Best Actress win in November 2019 for "A German Life", Dame Maggie now holds the record for the most Evening Standard acting wins with six in total.

She replaced Liselotte Pulver in The V.I.P.s (1963) which became her first big success as a movie actress (She earned a Golden Globe nomination for her fine performance.).

One went to school, one wanted to act, one started to act, and one's still acting.

"Jude is the most incredibly level person. Generous, understanding. All the things I'd have to work very hard at, Jude is like that all the time. I would love to be like that. And working with Jude you have to try to remember that you ought to be like that" [on her friend Judi Dench].

I love it, I'm privileged to do it and I don't know where I'd be without it. [on acting]

The performances you have in your head are always much better than the performances on stage.

"I still miss him so much it's ridiculous. People say it gets better but it doesn't. It just gets different, that's all. Even in my dream I kept saying to him, 'You are dead. You can't be here'" [on her second husband, Beverley Cross].

I like the ephemeral thing about theatre, every performance is like a ghost - it's there and then it's gone.

I longed to be bright and most certainly never was. I was rather hopeless, I suspect.

But there was an incredible nervousness about him. You couldn't do this, couldn't do that. Mustn't ride a bike, you'd be bound to fall off. Couldn't swim, you'd most certainly drown. [on her father]

I wanted to be a serious actress, but of course that didn't really happen. I did Desdemona [at the National, opposite Olivier] with great discomfort and was terrified all the time. But then everyone was terrified of Larry.

My career is chequered. Then I think I got pigeon-holed in humour; Shakespeare is not my thing.

I tend to head for what's amusing because a lot of things aren't happy. But usually you can find a funny side to practically anything.

[on roles] "When you get into the granny era, you're lucky to get anything."

It's true I don't tolerate fools, but then they don't tolerate me, so I am spiky. Maybe that's why I'm quite good at playing spiky elderly ladies.

I've won two Oscars and I still don't begin to understand film acting.

[on whether she will miss filming Harry Potter now that the series is completed] No, it was 10 years, and that's a lot.

Glenn Close isn't an actress - she's an address.

One kid once said to me, he said "Were you... were you really a cat?" And I heard myself say "Just pull yourself together."

If I could attend Hogwarts as a student, I would be most excited to attend the potions class taught by Severus because it is the most exotic.