Dame Maggie Smith, the renowned and versatile British actress, died on Sept. 27 of undisclosed causes at the age of 89 at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
Smith’s career spanned seven decades. She won awards in every major performance medium (with the exception of the Grammys) while gaining the respect and adulation of critics, audiences, and her peers the world over.
The daughter of a Scottish mother and an English father, Smith got her start in 1952 at the age of 17. She starred as Viola in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” performed at the Oxford Playhouse in Oxfordshire England, not far from where she grew up.
Impressing Olivier
While starring in the 1962 Old Vic production of William Congreve’s “The Double-Dealer,” Smith impressed Laurence Olivier to such a degree, he asked her to join his newly formed National Theater Company. Over the next eight years, Smith appeared in 12 National Theater productions alongside Olivier, who considered her to be his thespian equal and friendly rival.Smith’s first foray into TV came in 1967 starring as Beatrice in Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” for Italian director Franco Zeffirelli.
In 1958, Smith won the first of four British Academy Awards (out of eight career nominations) for her performance in Seth Holt’s “Nowhere to Go,” which also marked her first credited big screen role.
Seven years later Smith received her first of six Oscar nominations for playing Desdemona in director Stuart Burge’s “Othello” opposite Olivier. It was adapted from the 1964 National Theater staging.
Smith was just one of seven actresses in history to win Academy Awards in both the lead and supporting categories. The first came in 1969 as the title character in director Ronald Neame’s “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” a role some consider the finest of her career.
Keep on Working
The 1980s and 1990s found Smith busier than she’d ever been. Over these two decades, she starred in an average of one feature per year, appeared on six TV shows, and took on roles in 13 stage productions. While some of these were supporting roles, many were not, which is quite impressive as she was 45 years old at the start of this period.Why, you might ask, was this so impressive?
A striking woman her entire life, Smith was keenly aware of this arcane double-standard and adapted accordingly. She never accepted roles that strayed far from her actual age; in other words, she always played “age appropriate.”
First up was her appearance in seven of the eight “Harry Potter” movies as the character Minerva McGonagall. Minerva’s arc for the duration of the franchise was considerable, and she received heaping praise from fans and “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling. Smith later said the experience was somewhat unsatisfying as it didn’t present much of an acting challenge.
The Final Crowning Chapter
In 2010, Smith took on a supporting role as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in the British period costume drama series “Downton Abbey.” Violet was the grand matriarch of the Crawley family who adhered closely to the 19th century’s old traditions, but she wasn’t above tossing in barbed and snarky quips when she felt it was necessary—and sometimes when it wasn’t.
Both Smith and Violet (and the writers, of course) realized comic relief was integral in broadening the show’s appeal beyond traditional British drama audiences. Smith later reprised the Violet role in the two “Downton Abbey” features from 2019 and 2022.
Not so well known but certainly worth checking out is “Nothing Like a Dame,” the sublime 2018 documentary directed by Roger Michell. In it, Smith appears alongside Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, and Joan Plowright (also the widow of Olivier) talking shop and comparing professional notes.
“Dame” is the feminine equivalent of “Sir,” a title bestowed by an English monarch for various reasons, including exceptional contributions to the British arts.
For far too many artists, their peaks—both in creativity and in popularity—occurs at midlife, or even earlier for women. Smith smashed that construct into pieces because of immense talent, a willingness to stretch artistically, never trying to fool herself or us, and staying committed and true to her craft.
She will be sorely missed.
