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Maggie Smith

Maggie SmithAKA Maggie Natalie Smith

Born: 28-Dec-1934
Birthplace: Ilford, Essex, England

Gender: Female
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor

Nationality: England
Executive summary: Prof. McGonagall in Harry Potter

Maggie Smith went from high school to the Oxford Playhouse School of Theatre, and first stepped on the professional stage in 1952, with the Oxford University Drama Society. At 21, she appeared on Broadway in a six-month run of collected bits written by then-newcomer talents like Neil Simon and Paul Lynde. She started her movie career with a series of now-forgotten films in the early 1960s, including Go to Blazes and The Pumpkin Eater. In 1969, she won an Oscar for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; she has also won a Tony, a second Oscar, three Golden Globes, and six BAFTAs (the British Academy Award).

Smith is also remembered for A Room with a View, The First Wives Club, Hook, and Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing. Additionally, she has starred in many British films, doing fine work that often doesn't translate well across the Atlantic (Quartet, The Missionary, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, etc.). Younger audiences know her as the witchy Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, the snooty Mother Superior in Whoopi Goldberg's Sister Act movies, the snobbish matron in Gosford Park, or the intimidating Dowager Countess on Downton Abbey.

Father: Nathaniel Smith
Mother: Margaret Hutton Little
Brother: Ian Smith (b. 8-Dec-1928)
Brother: Alastair Smith (b. 8-Dec-1928)
Husband: Robert Stephens (actor, m. 1967, div. 1974, d. 12-Nov-1995)
Son: Chris Larkin (actor, b. 19-Jun-1967)
Son: Toby Stephens (actor, b. 21-Apr-1969)
Husband: Beverley Cross (screenwriter, m. 1975, d. 20-Mar-1998)

    High School: Oxford High School For Girls (1950)

    Oscar for Best Actress 1970 for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
    Oscar for Best Supporting Actress 1979 for California Suite
    Golden Globe 1979 for California Suite
    Golden Globe 1987 for A Room with a View
    Emmy 2003, Outstanding Lead Actress, for My House in Umbria
    Tony 1990, Best Actress, for Lettice and Lovage
    Emmy 2011, Outstanding Supporting Actress, for Downton Abbey
    Commander of the British Empire 1970
    Dame of the British Empire 1990
    Risk Factors: Breast Cancer

    TELEVISION
    Downton Abbey Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham (2010-)

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    The Lady in the Van (12-Sep-2015)
    The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (26-Feb-2015)
    My Old Lady (10-Sep-2014)
    Quartet (9-Sep-2012)
    The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (30-Nov-2011) · Muriel Donnelly
    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (7-Jul-2011) · Prof. Minerva McGonagall
    Gnomeo & Juliet (23-Jan-2011) · Lady Bluebury [VOICE]
    Nanny McPhee Returns (24-Mar-2010) · Mrs. Docherty
    From Time to Time (15-Oct-2009)
    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (6-Jul-2009) · Prof. Minerva McGonagall
    Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (3-Jul-2007)
    Becoming Jane (2-Mar-2007)
    Keeping Mum (2-Dec-2005)
    Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (6-Nov-2005)
    Ladies in Lavender (17-Sep-2004) · Janet
    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (31-May-2004) · Prof. Minerva McGonagall
    My House in Umbria (8-Mar-2003)
    Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (3-Nov-2002) · Prof. McGonagall
    Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (3-Jun-2002) · Caro
    Gosford Park (7-Nov-2001) · Constance Trentham
    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (4-Nov-2001) · Prof. McGonagall
    David Copperfield (25-Dec-1999)
    All the King's Men (14-Nov-1999)
    Curtain Call (30-Aug-1999)
    The Last September (16-May-1999) · Lady Myra
    Tea with Mussolini (26-Mar-1999) · Lady Hester
    Washington Square (12-Sep-1997)
    The First Wives Club (20-Sep-1996) · Gunilla Garson Goldberg
    Richard III (20-Aug-1995) · Duchess of York
    Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (10-Dec-1993) · Mother Superior
    The Secret Garden (27-Jan-1993)
    Sister Act (29-May-1992) · Mother Superior
    Hook (11-Dec-1991) · Granny Wendy
    The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (23-Dec-1987) · Judith Hearne
    A Room with a View (Dec-1985) · Charlotte Bartlett, a chaperon
    A Private Function (Nov-1984) · Joyce Chilvers
    Lily in Love (17-Oct-1984)
    The Missionary (2-Nov-1982) · Lady Ames
    Evil Under the Sun (5-Mar-1982) · Daphne Castle
    Better Late Than Never (1982)
    Clash of the Titans (12-Jun-1981) · Thetis
    Quartet (May-1981)
    California Suite (15-Dec-1978) · Diana Barrie
    Death on the Nile (30-Oct-1978) · Miss Bowers
    Murder by Death (23-Jun-1976) · Dora Charleston
    Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (19-Apr-1973) · Lila Fisher
    Travels with My Aunt (17-Dec-1972) · Aunt Augusta
    Oh! What a Lovely War (10-Mar-1969)
    The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Jan-1969)
    Hot Millions (19-Sep-1968) · Patty
    The Honey Pot (21-Mar-1967) · Sarah Watkins
    Othello (15-Dec-1965) · Desdemona
    Young Cassidy (22-Mar-1965) · Nora
    The Pumpkin Eater (9-May-1964) · Philpot
    The V.I.P.'s (1-Sep-1963) · Miss Mead
    Go to Blazes (Apr-1962)
    Nowhere to Go (2-Dec-1958) · Bridget Howard


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