Maggie Smith has captivated audiences for decades with her endearing characters.
The English actor began his career in the early 1950s and continued to work in film, stage, and television until his passing last year.
She joined an elite group of actors who have won three major acting awards: the Oscar, the Emmy, and the Tony.
She was the recipient of five BAFTAs, two Screen Actors Guild awards, a Tony, four Emmys, and two Oscars.
It is remarkable that her career spans so many mediums and has lasted so long.
Smith was equally at home in dramatic, humorous, and quirky parts, playing everything from a witch to a dowager countess.
Many fans are watching old favourites starring the late actor or actress as a means of healing from their loss.
Remembering some of her most memorable and successful roles is a great place to start.
Mr. McGonagall from the Harry Potter movies
Maggie Smith played Professor Minerva McGonagall in every one of the eight Harry Potter films, which is arguably her most famous role from the 21st century.
The Head of Gryffindor House, Professor McGonagall, is well-known for her severe demeanor and witch’s cap when interacting with the younger wizards and witches at Hogwarts.
Among her well-known remarks was this: “Why is it, whenever something happens, it is always with you three?” and “I am not going to entertain you for just one night… tarnishing that reputation by acting like a gang of clumsy baboons!
When pressed for an explanation, she sarcastically said, “Harry Potter is my pension.”
“I will always consider myself amazingly lucky to have been able to work with her… “is a line from a statement given by co-star Daniel Radcliffe. She is truly a legend in our field, even if the word is used so often.
Taking to Instagram, Ginny Weasley’s co-star Bonnie Wright paid tribute to the late head of Gryffindor House, saying, “Our dearly loved and revered you, you will be so missed by the Harry Potter community.”
She revealed to Graham Norton that the publication of Harry Potter brought her a whole new legion of fans.
For the first time, “little people” who were only familiar with her from her Harry Potter part would approach her while she was out and about.
“It was a whole different lot of people,” according to her.
As the Dowager Countess of Downton Abbey, Violet Crawley
Smith portrayed the Crawley family matriarch in the hit BBC show Downton Abbey from 2010 to 2015.
As a scene-stealer, the dowager countess provided comic relief at the story’s more intense and tragic moments with her purse-lipped lines and nasty jokes.
For her performance, she was nominated for a Golden Globe.
“What I think is so brilliant is this is not an adaptation of something,” she remarked in an interview when she discussed her role in Downton Abbey. Having such fresh concepts is mind-blowing.
During Miss Jean Brodie’s Prime
Maggie Smith’s first Academy Award came in 1969 for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, in which she played the lead part of a teacher at an Edinburgh girls’ school.
Jean Brodie, the film’s protagonist, is a teacher who gets into difficulties for her unconventional approaches to the classroom and life in general.
The picture bombed at the box office, earning only $3 million on a $2.76 million budget, despite Smith’s stellar performance.
Little girls, my job is to place experienced heads on youthful shoulders, and every one of my students is top-notch. That is her most famous phrase from the movie. If you could just hand me a girl when she’s young and naive, she would be mine forever.
Deluxe California Room
In 1978, for her portrayal of Diana Barrie in the picture California Suite, Maggie Smith received her second Academy Award, this one for best supporting actress.
Suite guests in a five-star hotel are the center of this comic anthology film.
Maggie Smith plays an ironically British actress who has come to Hollywood for the Oscars in the hopes of reviving her flagging career with a nomination.
Reviews raved about Smith and Michael Caine’s onscreen chemistry, calling it the show-stopper.
Reviews on Rotten Tomatoes have Maggie Smith as “the stand-out in this stacked ensemble” due to her “acidic turn.”
“I would really prefer Michael Caine to be present because, trust me, he was the most outstanding supporting actor competing, and the trophy ought to be distributed evenly,” she stated when accepting the Oscars.
Sister Play
In the 1992 musical comedy Sister Act, Smith performed the role of Reverend Mother, a nun, before donning her Hogwarts gown.
She made a triumphant return in 1993’s Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, co-starring with Whoopi Goldberg.
Along with an Instagram snapshot of the two of them dressed as nuns, Goldberg commented, “Maggie Smith was a great woman and a brilliant actress.”
Working with the ‘one-of-a-kind’ was an incredible opportunity; I still can’t believe it.
“My heartfelt condolences go out to the family.”
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