Maggie Smith

QUICK FACTS
NAME
Maggie Smith
OCCUPATION
Actress
BIRTH DATE
December 28, 1934 (age 83)
EDUCATION
Oxford Playhouse School, Oxford High School for Girls
PLACE OF BIRTH
Ilford, England
ZODIAC SIGN
Capricorn

Biography of Maggie Smith
Actress (1934-)
The famous British actress Maggie Smith starred with Laurence Olivier in 'Othello' and won her first Oscar for 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'. Since then, he has won accolades for his roles in the films of 'Harry Potter' and 'Downton Abbey'.
Synopsis
Born on December 28, 1934 in Ilford, Essex, England, Dame Maggie Smith has led a distinguished and varied career on stage, in film and television for the past six decades. Her achievements range from starring as Desdemona in Othello with Laurence Olivier, to winning an Academy Award for her performance in Miss Jean Brodie's The Prime, to memorable roles in the acclaimed television series Downton Abbey and the popular Harry Potter films .

Early age and education
Maggie Smith was born Margaret Natalie Smith in Ilford, Essex, England, to Margaret (Hutton) and Nathaniel Smith. When he was 4 years old, his family moved to Oxford, where his father worked as a pathologist at the University of Oxford.

After graduating from high school, Smith attended the Oxford Playhouse School from 1951 to 1953. He made his professional debut in theater in 1952, playing Viola in a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Oxford University Dramatics Society.

Early career in theater and cinema
After a brief detour to Broadway in New York, where he appeared in the comedy magazine New Faces of 1956, Smith also began acting in the cinema. His first role was a brief uncredited appearance in Child in the House in 1956, followed by a larger part in the criminal drama Nowhere to Go in 1959.

In the 1960s, Smith was active in the National Theater of Great Britain. He played from Desdemona to Otelio by Laurence Olivier in 1964; both returned to interpret their papers in a cinematographic version of Othello the following year. While at the National Theater, he acted in classic dramas of important authors such as Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekhov.

Photo by Maggie Smith by Jim Spellman / WireImage
Maggie Smith during the New York premiere of Gosford Park at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City. (Photo: Jim Spellman / WireImage)

Outstanding careers
Smith has received two Academy Awards. She received the first (best actress) in 1969, for her portrayal of an idealistic and unorthodox school teacher in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She won the second (for best supporting actress) in 1978, in honor of her performance in the California Suite of Neil Simon. He has also received the British Film Academy Awards for his work, including for his roles in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, A Private Function in 1984, A Room with a View in 1985 and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne in 1987. In addition, he received several awards for his performances on stage, including a Variety Club Award for his performance in Private Lives by Noël Coward in 1972, and a Tony Award for Lettice and Lovage in 1990.

Throughout the 1990s, Smith performed on a wide range of projects, from the 1993 comedy Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit with Whoopi Goldberg, to the literary adaptation of Washington Square in 1997 and the 1999 drama Tea with Mussolini. His appearance as a snobby aristocrat in Gosford Park (2001) by Robert Altman received an especially positive notice.

Maggie Smith and Daniel Radcliffe Photo by 7831 / Gamma-Rapho through Getty Images
Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall and Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". (Photo: 7831 / Gamma-Rapho through Getty Images)

Smith caught the attention of a new generation when she played the strict witchcraft teacher Minerva McGonagall in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). The film was a great success, and Smith repeated the role for six of the seven sequels of Harry Potter.

Since 2010, Smith has been acclaimed for her performance as the highly irrepressible Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in the Downton Abbey drama. She has received three Emmy awards for the role in 2011, 2012 and 2016.

The esteemed and busy actress has also continued her prolific film career. In 2012, he joined the cast of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and appeared in the Quartet directed by Dustin Hoffman. In 2015, he returned to The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and starred in the dramatic comedy The Lady in the Van, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination.

Abbey Center Maggie Smith Season 5 Photo
Maggie Smith as Lady Violet in Downton Abbey. (Photo: Nick Briggs)


Personal life
Smith has been married twice. His first marriage, with actor Robert Stephens in 1967, ended in divorce in 1974. His two sons with Stephens, Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin, are both actors. In 1975, Smith married writer Beverley Cross, who died of cancer in 1998.

Smith was named Commander