The Life of Dame
A (Very) Short Biography of Maggie Smith
Everyone who has seen Harry Potter just for once knows her. Maggie Smith, with her whole name Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, is celebrated and world-famous british stage and screen actress, who even in her 82 years still entertains people with her great acting perfomance.
EARLY LIFE
M. Smith was born on 28th December in 1934 in Ilford, Essex, England, but in her five years she moved with her family (including twin older brothers Alistair and Ian) to Oxford. Her father Nathaniel Smith was pathologist at Oxford University and her mother Margaret worked as secretary. When she was 16 years old, she left high school and attended Oxford Playhouse School. After some time, when she had sufficient experience, she become assistant stage manager and actress at playhouse at the same time. She later acted for the Oxford University Dramatics Society and participated in the Edinburgh Theatre Festival.
BEGINNING OF HER BIG CAREER
Smith made her professional stage debut in 1952, playing Viola in an Oxford University Dramatics Society production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
After a brief detour to New York's Broadway, where she performed in the comedy revue New Faces of 1956, Smith also began to act in film. Her first role was a short, uncredited appearance in Child in the House in 1956, followed by a larger part in the crime drama Nowhere to Go in 1959. In '60s Smith was active in The National Theatre of Great Britain.
HER CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Throughout her career, Smith has earned six Oscar nominations (winning two), 16 BAFTA nominations (winning five) and seven Golden Globes (winning two). In 2003 she won an Emmy award for her lead performance in the TV movie My House in Umbria.
Smith captured the attention of a new generation when she played the strict witchcraft teacher Minerva McGonagall in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The movie was a huge hit, and Smith reprised the role for six of the seven Harry Potter sequels.
Since 2010, you can see her in period drama Downtown Abbey, where she plays Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham. The latest movies in which she appeared are for example: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Quartet, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel or comedy-drama The Lady in the Van.
1st photo: Downtown Abbey. 2nd photo: The Lady in the Van. 3rd photo: Harry Potter movies
PERSONAL LIFE
In her 33 years she married fellow actor Robert Stephens with whom she had two children-Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, who are both actors nowadays. This marriage wasn't happy though and ended up in divorce in 1974. However, after an one year she fell in love again and married british writer Beverley Cross, who died of cancer in 1998. Unfortunely, Smith was diagnosed with cancer too (breast cancer). It was in 2008, when underwent intensive treatment that included chemotherapy sessions coincided with the filming schedule for Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince. Smith was very strong and luckily overcomed her illness.
An extra note: In 1990 Smith was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
1st photo: Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens. 2nd photo: Smith with his young sons. 3rd photo: Maggie Smith and Beverley Cross
Personally, I find this actress very likeable. When I was a child, her role in Harry Potter sequels was one of my favourite. I also like her in mentioned drama Downtown Abbey and not just because of the fact that I am a fan of these TV series. She has my great respect for her bravery during a hard fight against the cancer, and even though she experienced this terrible disease, she continues to do what she likes the most-and that is acting.
SOURCES:
https://www.tribute.ca/people/maggie-smith/3122/
https://www.biography.com/people/maggie-smith-9487030
https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Smithov%C3%A1
https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=maggie%20smith