Maggie Smith

Maggie Smith
Dame Maggie Smith.jpg
Smith in Kensington Gardens starring in 'Capturing Mary', March 2007
Born Margaret Natalie Smith
28 December 1934 (1934-12-28) (age 74)
Ilford Borough, Essex, England
Years active 1952 - present
Spouse(s) Robert Stephens
(1967-1974)
Beverley Cross
(1975-1998)

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE (born 28 December 1934), better known as Maggie Smith, is a British film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 56 years. She has been acclaimed throughout her career and has won numerous awards for acting, including five BAFTA Awards, two Oscars, two Golden Globes, an Emmy Award and a Tony Award.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Smith was born in Ilford, then Essex, the daughter of Margaret (née Hutton), a Glasgow-born secretary, and Nathaniel Smith, a Newcastle upon Tyne-born public health pathologist who worked at Oxford University.[1][2][3][4][5] She has older twin brothers, Alistair and Ian. Smith studied at Oxford High School, although she has been quoted as not having enjoyed her school experience.

Career

Smith has had an extensive career both on screen and in live theatre, and is known as one of Britain's pre-eminent actresses. She began her career at the Oxford Playhouse with Frank Shelley and made her first film in 1956. She became a fixture at the Royal National Theatre in the 1960s, most notably for playing Desdemona in Othello opposite Laurence Olivier and winning her first Oscar nomination for her performance in the 1965 film version. In 1969 she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as an unorthodox Scottish schoolteacher in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, a role originally created on stage by Vanessa Redgrave in 1966. She was also awarded the 1978 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the brittle actress Diana Barrie in California Suite, acting opposite Michael Caine. Afterwards, on hearing that Michael Palin was about to embark on a film (The Missionary) with Smith, Caine is supposed to have humorously telephoned Palin, warning him that she would steal the film. She also starred with Palin in the dark but hilarious film A Private Function in 1984.

Smith appeared in Sister Act in 1992 and had a major role in the 1999 film Tea With Mussolini, where she appeared as the formidable Lady Hester. Indeed, many of her more mature roles have centred on what Smith refers to as her "gallery of grotesques", playing waspish, sarcastic or plain rude characters. Recent examples of this would include the judgemental sister in Ladies in Lavender and the cantankerous snob Constance Trentham in Gosford Park, for which she received another Oscar nomination.

Other notable roles include the querulous Charlotte Bartlett in the Merchant-Ivory production of A Room with a View, a vivid supporting turn as the aged Duchess of York in Ian McKellen's film of Richard III, and a little known but powerful performance as Lila Fisher in the 1973 film Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing opposite Timothy Bottoms. Due to the international success of the Harry Potter movies, she is now widely known for playing the role of Professor Minerva McGonagall. She also plays an older Wendy in the Peter Pan movie, Hook.

She appeared in numerous productions at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, to extraordinary acclaim from 1976 through 1980. These roles included Queen Elizabeth in Richard III, Virginia Woolf in Virginia, and countless lead roles opposite long-time Stratford icon Brian Bedford including the comedy Private Lives.

On stage, her many roles include the title character in the stage production of Alan Bennett's The Lady in the Van and starring as Amanda in a revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives. She won a Tony Award in 1990 for Best Actress in a Play for Lettice and Lovage, in which she starred as an eccentric tour guide in an English stately home. She was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1970, and was raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1990.

Personal life

Smith has been married twice. She married Robert Stephens on 29 June 1967 at the Greenwich Registry office and had two sons with him: actors Chris Larkin (born in 1967) and Toby Stephens (born in 1969).[4] They divorced on 6 May 1974.[4] Smith is a grandmother via both her sons.[6][7]

She married playwright Beverley Cross on 23 August 1975 at the Guildford Registry Office, and the marriage ended with his death on 20 March 1998.

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
1958 Nowhere to Go Bridget Howard Nominated - BAFTA Award
1962 Go to Blazes Chantal
1963 The V.I.P.s Miss Mead Nominated - Golden Globe
1964 The Pumpkin Eater Philpot
1965 Othello Desdemona Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role;
Nominated - Golden Globe
Young Cassidy Nora Nominated - BAFTA Award
1967 The Honey Pot Sarah Watkins
1968 Hot Millions Patty Terwilliger Smith
1969 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Jean Brodie Academy Award for Best Actress; BAFTA Award;
Nominated - Golden Globe
Oh! What a Lovely War Music Hall Star
1972 Travels with My Aunt Aunt Augusta Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress; Nominated - Golden Globe
1973 Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing Lila Fisher
1976 Murder by Death Dora Charleston
1978 Death on the Nile Miss Bowers Nominated - BAFTA Award
California Suite Diana Barrie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role;
Golden Globe; Nominated - BAFTA Award
1981 Quartet Lois Heidler Nominated - BAFTA Award
Clash of the Titans Thetis Saturn Award
1982 Evil Under the Sun Daphne Castle
The Missionary Lady Isabel Ames
Better Late Than Never Miss Anderson
1984 A Private Function Joyce Chilvers BAFTA Award
Lily in Love Lily Wynn
1985 A Room with a View Charlotte Bartlett BAFTA Award; Golden Globe; Nominated -
Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1987 The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne Judith Hearne Nominated - BAFTA Award
Talking Heads Susan
1991 Hook Wendy Darling
1992 Sister Act Mother Superior
1993 Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
The Secret Garden Mrs. Medlock Nominated - BAFTA Award
1995 Richard III Duchess of York
1996 The First Wives Club Gunilla Garson Goldberg
1997 Washington Square Aunt Lavinia Penniman
1999 The Last September Lady Myra Naylor
Tea With Mussolini Lady Hester Random BAFTA Award
Curtain Call Lily Gale
David Copperfield Betsey Trotwood Nominated - BAFTA TV Award; Nominated Emmy Award
2001 Gosford Park Constance, Countess of Trentham Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role;
Nominated - BAFTA Award; Nominated - Golden Globe
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Minerva McGonagall Nominated - Saturn Award
2002 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Caro Eliza Bennett
2003 My House in Umbria Emily Delahunty Emmy Award; Nominated - Golden Globe
Skin Mother
2004 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Minerva McGonagall
Ladies in Lavender Janet Widdington
2005 Keeping Mum Grace Hawkins
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Minerva McGonagall
2007 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Becoming Jane Lady Gresham
2009 From Time to Time pre-production
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Minerva McGonagall post-production
2010 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I pre-production
2011 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II pre-production

Theatre

Awards

Main article: List of Maggie Smith awards and nominations

BAFTA/Academy Awards

Besides the acting awards Smith has won, she has received two other BAFTA Award honors. In 1993, she received a BAFTA Special Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 1996, she received an Academy Fellowship. She has also won two Academy Awards.

Stage awards

References

  1. ↑ Mackenzie, Suzie (2004-11-20). "You have to laugh", Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  2. ↑ Maggie Smith Biography (1934-)
  3. ↑ Maggies Smith at Yahoo Movies.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Maggie Smith biography. Tiscali.film & TV.
  5. ↑ Maggie Smith. Film Reference.com.
  6. ↑ Michael Coveney, "I'm Very Scared of Being Back on Stage", thisislondon.co.uk, 3 February 2007 [1]
  7. ↑ Mark Lawson, "Prodigal Son", The Guardian, 31 May 2007 [2]

See also

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Katharine Hepburn
for The Lion in Winter; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner		 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1969
for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie		 Succeeded by
Katharine Ross
for Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here ; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Preceded by
Diane Keaton
for Annie Hall
Marsha Mason
for The Goodbye Girl		 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1979
for California Suite
with Ellen Burstyn for Same Time, Next Year		 Succeeded by
Bette Midler
for The Rose
Preceded by
Julie Walters
for Educating Rita		 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1984
for A Private Function		 Succeeded by
Peggy Ashcroft
for A Passage to India
Preceded by
Peggy Ashcroft
for A Passage to India		 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1986
for A Room with a View		 Succeeded by
Anne Bancroft
for 84 Charing Cross Road
Preceded by
Meg Tilly
for Agnes of God		 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1987
for A Room with a View		 Succeeded by
Olympia Dukakis
for Moonstruck
Preceded by
Anne Bancroft
for 84 Charing Cross Road		 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1988
for The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne		 Succeeded by
Pauline Collins
for Shirley Valentine
Preceded by
Judi Dench
for Shakespeare in Love		 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1999
for Tea with Mussolini		 Succeeded by
Julie Walters
for Billy Elliot
Academy Award for Best Actress

Sophia Loren (1961) · Anne Bancroft (1962) · Patricia Neal (1963) · Julie Andrews (1964) · Julie Christie (1965) · Elizabeth Taylor (1966) · Katharine Hepburn (1967) · Katharine Hepburn / Barbra Streisand (1968) · Maggie Smith (1969) · Glenda Jackson (1970) · Jane Fonda (1971)  · Liza Minnelli (1972) · Glenda Jackson (1973) · Ellen Burstyn (1974) · Louise Fletcher (1975) · Faye Dunaway (1976) · Diane Keaton (1977) · Jane Fonda (1978) · Sally Field (1979) · Sissy Spacek (1980)

 · (1928–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Rita Moreno (1961) · Patty Duke (1962) · Margaret Rutherford (1963) · Lila Kedrova (1964) · Shelley Winters (1965) · Sandy Dennis (1966) · Estelle Parsons (1967) · Ruth Gordon (1968) · Goldie Hawn (1969) · Helen Hayes (1970) · Cloris Leachman (1971) · Eileen Heckart (1972) · Tatum O'Neal (1973) · Ingrid Bergman (1974) · Lee Grant (1975) · Beatrice Straight (1976) · Vanessa Redgrave (1977) · Maggie Smith (1978) · Meryl Streep (1979) · Mary Steenburgen (1980)

 · (1928–1940) ·  · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie

Judy Davis (2001) · Laura Linney (2002) · Maggie Smith (2003) · Meryl Streep (2004) · S. Epatha Merkerson (2005) · Helen Mirren (2006) · Helen Mirren (2007) · Laura Linney (2008)

(1954-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Irene Worth (1976) · Julie Harris (1977) · Jessica Tandy (1978) · Constance Cummings / Carole Shelley (1979) · Phyllis Frelich (1980) · Jane Lapotaire (1981) · Zoe Caldwell (1982) · Jessica Tandy (1983) · Glenn Close (1984) · Stockard Channing (1985) · Lily Tomlin (1986) · Linda Lavin (1987) · Joan Allen (1988) · Pauline Collins (1989) · Maggie Smith (1990) · Mercedes Ruehl (1991) · Glenn Close (1992) · Madeline Kahn (1993) · Diana Rigg (1994) · Cherry Jones (1995) · Zoe Caldwell (1996) · Janet McTeer (1997) · Marie Mullen (1998) · Judi Dench (1999) · Jennifer Ehle (2000)

(1947–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–present)
Persondata
NAME Smith, Margaret Natalie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION English actress
DATE OF BIRTH 28 December 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Ilford, Essex, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH