MAGGIE SMITH

One of the most revered and rewarded actresses on both sides of the Atlantic, Dame Maggie Smith has created a gallery of characters who run the gamut from repressed spinsters to comical eccentrics. Redhaired, sharpely-spoken, exstremely dominant and classy British stage and screen actress.
The etchings of style in a Maggie Smith performance are unmistakable. First observe the face, with its sharp, art-deco angles, which she tends to stretch into a long rectangle to chart psychic damage, the lines creased as if with a palette knife, the lips pressed taut, elongating the skin between her lips and her nose and lending it a moneyed air. She can alter the shape of her luminous nut-brown eyes to italicize a word or a phrase. Her string-bean figure is Modigliani-like in some settings, meager and scarecrowlike in others. In comic roles, her wire-drawn body becomes a mannequin for wondrous costumes, especially hats. Her arms paint the air in broad waves of expressive color, and as she swivels her frame around, usually in counterpoint to her line readings, she does so many witty things with her rubbery wrists that they're almost always the first thing you focus on when she walks onstage or appears on-screen. (Pauline Kael once dubbed her "Our Lady of the Wrists.")
But Smith's chief glory is her vocal prowess. She turns nasality into a virtue, whipping it up into a kind of mock-aristocratic fog, and her buzzing sibilance leaves a silvery trail through her lines -- sometimes suggesting a camp man in expert drag working a sly parody on femininity. Her voice can be plush or glassy, or break up into little glittering pebbles; she can pull hard on the syllables as if they were taffy or fold her voice into paper-thin layers or fly into a startlingly high, catfight shriek or an abandoned whine. She takes pauses at odd times and then sprints through the punctuation to collapse over the finish line in a kind of neurotic exhaustion. She can convert a line into a trademark stutter without actually changing the words.
The attractive redhead with the distinctly adenoidal voice, the youngest daughter of a pathologist with ties to Oxford, decided to pursue an acting career while still in her teens. She got her start as an assistant stage manager and performer at the Oxford Playhouse where she made her debut in a 1952 production of "Twelfth Night". Four years later, Smith was improbably singing and dancing on Broadway in the sketch revue "New Faces of '56". That same year, she first appeared on screen in a blink and you'll miss it bit role as a party guest in "Child in the House". Her official screen debut was in "Nowhere to Go" (1959).
Joining the Old Vic company in 1959, Smith was cast alongside Laurence Olivier in "Rhinoceros". By 1962, she was earning her first accolades in the Peter Shaffer double bill "The Private Ear" and "The Public Eye". The following year, the actress garnered plaudits for her turn as a love-starved secretary secretly attracted to her boss in "The VIPs". Her stellar performance led co-star Richard Burton to half-jokingly accuse her "grand larceny" and set the stage for most of her memorable on screen work. Also that same year, Olivier invited her to become a charter member of the National Theatre and cast her as his Desdemona in "Othello", which she recreated on screen in the 1965 film version, earning her first Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress.
The Sixties were a heady time for Smith. In addition to building her impressive resume with acclaimed roles, she embarked on a torrid love affair with the still-married Robert Stephens, causing a minor scandal when she gave birth to their first child in June 1967. (They married ten days after son Christopher's birth.) She and Stephens co-starred as illicit lovers in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1969), but critics and audiences were captivated more by her performance as the neurotic and fascistic Scottish schoolteacher. Indeed, her portrayal of Jean Brodie was so impressive it earned the Best Actress Academy Award.
Having taken time out to give birth to a second son in 1969, Smith was back at the top of her game in 1972 headlining a London revival of Noel Coward's "Private Lives" and starring as the oddball relative sojourning across Europe in "Travels With My Aunt", a performance that netted her a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
Following the collapse of her union with Stephens and her second marriage to playwright and old beau Beverley Cross, the actress spent much of the mid- to late 70s in North America. If she wasn't appearing in various classic roles at Stratford, Ontario, she was making films, like the Neil Simon spoof "Murder By Death" (1976) or the Agatha Christie adaptation "Death on the Nile" (1978). Simon provided her with one of her richest roles in his "California Suite" (1978), that of Diana Barrie, an insecure British actress coping with a crumbling marriage and the spotlight glare brought on by an Academy Award nomination. Although her onscreen character may have lost the coveted statue, Smith took home her second Oscar for her nuanced portrayal. In 1979, she returned to Broadway recreating her London success in Tom Stoppard's play "Night and Day.”
Smith proved a hilarious foil for Michael Palin in two comedies, "The Missionary" (1982) and "A Private Function" (1984). As the repressed chaperone who lives vicariously through her charge in the Merchant Ivory production "A Room with a View" (1986), the actress excelled. Her delicious and witty line readings delivered in plummy tones coupled with her expert timing proved irresistible. Smith picked up several awards for her work and received a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination. As the decade waned, she made a rare, but indelible small screen appearance delivering an Alan Bennett monologue in "Bed Among the Lentils" (shown in the USA on PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre") and had one of her best dramatic roles on film as the repressed spinster who blossoms when she finds romance with a con man in "The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne" (1987).
Playwright Peter Shaffer especially tailored his stage comedy "Lettice and Lovage", about an outlandish tour guide, for the actress and it proved a triumph in both London and New York, where she added a Tony Award to her trophy collection. Smith was lovely was the aged Wendy Darling in "Hook" (1991), although playing a character much older than herself led to typecasting. For much of the rest of the decade, her on screen personae tended to dour, elderly types, ranging from the tart Mother Superior in "Sister Act" (1992) and its 1993 sequel to her Emmy-nominated turn as Southern matriarch in the small screen remake of "Suddenly, Last Summer" (PBS) to the Duchess of York in "Richard III" (1995). Director Agnieszka Holland tapped into similar qualities casting Smith as the no-nonsense housekeeper Mrs. Medlock in "The Secret Garden" (1993) and as the meddlesome aunt in "Washington Square" (1997).
Although she was enjoying a strong career as a character player in films, Smith did not neglect the theater, appearing in several high profile, critically-acclaimed performances. Her Lady Bracknell in "The Importance of Being Earnest" in 1993 was said to rival Dame Edith Evans' interpretation. She originated the central character in the London premiere of Edward Albee's award-winning "Three Tall Women" in 1994 and three years later co-starred with Eileen Atkins in a revival of Albee's "A Delicate Balance". Heading back to the big screen, Smith was impressive as a grande dame in Italy whose misguided admiration for Benito Mussolini recalled Jean Brodie's admiration of Franco in "Tea with Mussolini" (1998). The following year, she was featured as Aunt Betsey in a BBC remake of "David Copperfield" and netted another Emmy nod when the program aired in the USA on PBS.
As the new millennium dawned, Smith brought a poignant sense of loss to her turn as a member of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy in the elegiac "The Last September" (2000). Her next screen role as the stern, shape-shifting Professor Minerva McGonnaghal in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (2001) perhaps brought her to her widest audience and earned her a legion of new, young fans. She reprised the role in the sequels, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"(2002) and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004), the latter expertly directed by Alfonso Cuaron.
Smith earned nearly unanimous praise for her scene-stealing portrayal of the tart-tongued, imperious Countess of Trentham in the Robert Altman-directed "Gosford Park" (2001). Her delicious dispensation of the bon mots in Julian Fellowes script brought the actress her sixth career Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress. Smith next graced the big screen in "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" (2002) before embarking on what was one of the most anticipated theatrical events in a long time, her first on stage teaming with Judi Dench in David Hare's new play "The Breath of Life."
Her role in the acclaimed HBO TV adaptation of William Trevor's novel "My House in Umbria" (2003), in which she played an English romance novel writer who invites her fellow survivors of a terrorist bombing to join her at her Italian villa. In yet another feather in her storied cap, Smith won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her portrayal, along with being nominated for other accolades.
Smith next starred in the British-made “Ladies in Lavender” (2004), a period drama in which she played a spinster living with her sister (Judi Dench) in an idyllic coastal town outside Cornwell. When a handsome young German man mysteriously washes ashore, both sisters immediately fall in love, pitting the two against each other for his affections. Smith again revived her role as Professor McGonagle for “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2005), the first installment helmed by a British director (Mike Newell).
Also Credited As: Dame Maggie Smith, Margaret Natalie Smith
Born: on 12/28/1934 in Ilford, Essex, England
Job Titles: Actor, Assistant stage manager, Singer
Family
Brother: Alistair Smith. born on December 8, 1928; twin of Ian
Brother: Ian Smith. born on December 8, 1928; twin of Alistair
Father: Nathaniel Smith. worked at Oxford University
Mother: Margaret Hutton Little. Scottish
Son: Chris Larkin. born on June 19, 1967; father, Robert Stephens
Son: Toby Stephens. born on April 21, 1969; father, Robert Stephens
Significant Others Husband: Beverley Cross. married from June 23, 1975 until his death on March 20, 1998 at age 66; first became romantically involved in the early 1950s; became engaged; separated in the mid-60s when she fell in love with Robert Stephens; re-met in the early 1970s and rekindled relationship
Husband: Robert Stephens. married on June 29, 1967; marriage was troubled by her career success and his alcoholism and bouts of depression; separated in 1974; divorced in February 1975; father of Smith's two sons; died in 1995 at age 64
Education Oxford Playhouse School, Oxford, England, drama, 1951-53 Milestones
1939 Family moved to Oxford
1952 Stage debut in Oxford University Dramatic Society production of "Twelfth Night"
1956 Broadway debut in the sketch revue "New Faces of '56"; despite her claims that she can't sing or dance, did both in show
1956 Made uncredited appearance as a party guest in "Child in the House"
1957 Made London stage debut in "Share My Lettuce"
1959 Was a member of the Old Vic company, where she first played opposite Laurence Olivier in "Rhinoceros"
1959 Official feature film debut in "Nowhere to Go"
1962 Offered praiseworthy performances in "The Public Ear" and "The Private Eye"
1963 Joined National Theatre as a charter member; played Desdemona to Olivier's "Othello"
1963 Returned to films after four years to play her first major film role, opposite Rod Taylor and Richard Burton in "The VIPs"
1965 Earned first first Academy Award nomination for reprising her stage role of Desdemona opposite Olivier in a film adaptation of "Othello"
1967 Played featured role in "The Honey Pot"
1969 Won Best Actress Oscar for title role of a fascistic Scottish schoolteacher at an all-girl's school in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"
1972 Earned Best Actress Academy Award nomination as Best Actress for "Travels with My Aunt"
1972 Headlined a London production of Noel Coward's "Private Lives"
1974 Made rare TV guest appearance on "The Carol Burnett Show" (CBS)
1976 Played Dora Charleston, a spoof of Myrna Loy's Nora Charles in the Neil Simon-scripted "Murder By Death"
1978 Offered a scene-stealing turn in "Death on the Nile", adapted from an Agatha Christie mystery
1978 Won second Oscar, this time as Best Supporting Actress for her turn opposite Michael Caine as an Oscar-nominated actress in "California Suite", written by Neil Simon
1979 Returned to Broadway recreating her London stage role in Tom Stoppard's play "Night and Day"; received Tony nomination
1980 Portrayed writer Virginia Woolf in "Virgina" at Stratford; recreated role in London's West End in 1981
1982 Acted in second film adapted from an Agatha Christie mystery "Evil Under the Sun"
1982 Co-starred with Michael Palin in the comedy "The Missionary", directed by Richard Loncraine
1984 Reteamed with Palin to co-star in the Alan Bennett-scripted comedy "A Private Function"
1986 Co-starred as the meddling chaperone in "A Room with a View"; earned Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination
1987 Made rare but memorable TV appearance in the "Bed Among the Lentils" segment of the "Talking Heads" series of one-person dramas scripted by Alan Bennett; premiered on British TV and aired in USA on PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre"
1988 Created the role of Lettice Douffet in Peter Shaffer's play "Lettice and Lovage" in London; reprised role in NYC in 1990 and earned a Tony Award
1991 Played an aged Wendy Darling in "Hook", directed by Steven Spielberg
1992 Co-starred with Whoopi Goldberg as the mother superior in the comedy "Sister Act"; reprised role in 1993 sequel "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit"
1993 Cast as Mrs. Metlock in the remake of "The Secret Garden", directed by Agnieszka Holland
1993 Played Lady Bracknell in a highly praised turn in London revival of "The Importance of Being Earnest"
1993 Starred in TV remake of Tennessee Williams' "Suddenly, Last Summer" (PBS); garnered an Emmy nomination
1994 Starred in London staging of Edward Albee's award-winning "Three Tall Women"
1995 Played the Duchess of York in "Richard III", starring Ian McKellen and directed by Richard Loncraine
1996 Reprised TV role in London stage production of "Bed Among the Lentils"
1997 Earned praise for her turn as the meddlesome aunt in "Washington Square", helmed by Agnieszka Holland
1997 Starred in the London stage production of Edward Albee's "A Delicate Balance"
1998 Reteamed with Michael Caine for the supernatural comedy "Curtain Call" (aired on Starz!)
1999 Appeared alongside Judi Dench, Cher and Joan Plowright in Franco Zeffirelli's "Tea With Mussolini"
1999 Played Aunt Betsey in BBC remake of "David Copperfield"; aired in USA on PBS in 2000; received Emmy nomination
1999 Starred in Alan Bennett's play "The Lady in the Van"
2000 Headlined the British film "The Last September" as a member of the British aristocracy in 1920s Ireland
2001 Nearly stole the film as the contemptuous Countess of Trentham in the ensemble period mystery "Gosford Park", directed by Robert Altman; picked up a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination
2001 Portrayed Prof. Minerva McGonagall in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," adapted from the first novel in the best-sellling fantasy series by J.K. Rowling
2002 Reprised role of Professor McGonagall in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
2002 Starred in the tv-movie "My House in Umbria"; received a golden globe nomination for best actress in a mini series or television movie
2002 Starred opposite Judi Dench in David Hare's stage play "The Breath of Life"; reprised role on Broadway in 2003
2004 Again portrayed Professor McGonagall in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," directed by Alfonso Cuarón
2005 Reprised role of Prof. McGonagall in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," adapted from the fourth book in the fantasy series by J.K. Rowling and directed by Mike Newell
Appeared at the Stratford, Ontario Shakespeare Festival; also returned in 1980; played Cleopatra, Lady Macbeth and Titiana, among other roles Had title role in the National Theatre production of "Miss Julie" Headlined an L.A. stage production of "The Guardsman" Spent first five years in Ilford, England Was an assistant stage manager and performer at the Oxford Playhouse
DAME MAGGIE´S AWARDS ___________________________________
1962 Evening Standard Award - Best Actress - Public Ear & Private Eye
1963 Variety Club Award - Actress of the Year - Mary, Mary
1965 Academy Award nomination - Best Supporting Actress - Othello
1969 BAFTA - Best Actress - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
1969 Film Critic's Guild - Best Actress - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
1970 Academy Award - Best Actress - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
1970 Evening Standard Award - Best Actress - Hedda Gabler
1970 Los Angeles Critics - Best Actress - The Beaux' Strategem
1970 Commander of the British Emprire (CBE)
1971 Hon. D. Litt., St. Andrew's University (honorary degree)
1972 Variety Club Award - Best Stage Actress - Private Lives
1973 Academy Award nomination - Best Actress - Travels With My Aunt
1975 Tony Award nomination - Best Actress - Private Lives
1978 Tony nomination - Best Actress - Night and Day
1979 Golden Globe - Best Supporting Actress - California Suite
1979 Academy Award - Best Supporting Actress - California Suite
1981 Evening Standard Award (film) - Best Actress - Quartet
1982 Evening Standard Award - Best Actress - Virginia
1984 BAFTA - Best Actress - A Private Function
1984 Evening Standard - Best Actress - Way of the World
1986 BAFTA - Best Supporting Actress - A Room With a View
1986 Golden Globe - Best Supporting Actress - A Room With a View
1986 Academy Award nomination - Best Supporting Actress - A Room With a View
1986 Hon D. Litt., University of Bath
1987 BAFTA - Best Actress - Bed Among the Lentils
1987 Banff (Canadian) - Best Actress - Bed Among the Lentils
1988 Variety Club - Film Actress of the Year - The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
1989 BAFTA - Best Actress - The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
1990 Dame of the British Empire (DBE)
1990 Tony Award - Best Actress - Lettice and Lovage
1991 Shakespeare Prize, FVS Foundation, Hamburg, Germany
1992 BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award
1993 Emmy nomination - Best Actress, Suddenly Last Summer
1994 Evening Standard Award - Best Actress - Three Tall Women
1994 Variety Club Award - Best Actress - Three Tall Women
1996 BAFTA Fellowship
1999 William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre, Washington D. C.'s Shakespeare Theatre
2000 Olivier nomination - Best Actress - The Lady in the Van
2000 BAFTA nomination - Best Actress - David Copperfield
2000 BAFTA - Best Supporting Actress - Tea With Mussolini
2002 New York Critics Online - Best Supporting Actress - Gosford Park
2002 Golden Satelite (Int. Press Ass.) - Best Supporting Actress - Gosford Park
2002 Golden Globe nomination - Best Supporting Actress - Gosford Park
2002 SAG Award - Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture - Gosford Park
2002 BAFTA nomination - Best Supporting Actress - Gosford Park
2002 Academy Award nomination - Best Supporting Actress - Gosford Park
2003 Emmy - Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie- My House in Umbria
2003 Golden Globe nomination - Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie- My House in Umbria