Age, Biography, and Wiki
Maggie Smith passed away in 2024 at the age of 89. She was born in Ilford, Essex, to a family that encouraged her love for the arts. Her parents, a pathologist father and a secretary mother, supported her early interest in acting. She attended the Oxford Playhouse School, where she honed her craft and began her rise to prominence in theater.
| Occupation | Stage Actress |
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| Date of Birth | 28 December 1934 |
| Age | 90 Years |
| Birth Place | Ilford, Essex, England |
| Horoscope | Capricorn |
| Country | England |
| Date of death | 27 September, 2024 |
| Died Place | London, England |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Although specific height and weight measurements for Maggie Smith are not widely available, she was known for her elegant presence on screen and stage.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Maggie Smith was married twice. Her first marriage was to actor Robert Stephens, with whom she had two sons, Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin, both of whom pursued acting careers. After divorcing Stephens, she married playwright Beverley Cross, who passed away in 1998.
Her mother, Margaret Hutton (née Little), was a Scottish secretary from Glasgow, and her father, Nathaniel Smith, was a public-health pathologist from Newcastle upon Tyne, who worked at the University of Oxford. The family moved to Oxford when Smith was four years old. She had older twin brothers, Alistair and Ian. The latter went to architecture school. Smith was educated at Oxford High School until the age of 16, when she left to study acting at the Oxford Playhouse.
From 1976 to 1980 Smith appeared to acclaim in numerous productions at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario; her roles included: Cleopatra in Anthony and Cleopatra (1976), Titania and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1977), Queen Elizabeth in Richard III (1977), Rosalind in As You Like It and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (1978). Smith would return to Broadway in Tom Stoppard's original play Night and Day as Ruth Carson in 1979. The play concerns a confrontation between British diplomat and an African leader over a local uprising that has attracted much media coverage. The diplomat's wife observes everyone else's behaviour throughout. The play received mixed reviews with Walter Kerr of The New York Times praising Smith's performance while critiquing the characters writing, "Which leaves us, theatrically and dramatically, where we began, with Miss Smith. The actress can, and does, do wonders. But she can't single‐handedly turn night into day." Smith received her second Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play nomination.
In the early 1990s, Smith appeared in various box-office comedies. In 1991 Smith appeared as Granny Wendy in Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook, a fantasy adventure film based on the Peter Pan character. The film starred Robin Williams as Pan, Dustin Hoffman as Hook and Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell. The film was a financial success, making $300 million at the box office. In 1992 Smith appeared as Mother Superior in the Whoopi Goldberg comedy film Sister Act and its sequel, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993). Smith also received a third British Academy Television Award nomination for her role as Mrs. Mabel Pettigrew in the 1992 TV film Memento Mori, and her first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her role as Violet Venable in the 1993 PBS television film Suddenly, Last Summer. In 1993 she portrayed Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde's comic play The Importance of Being Earnest at the Aldwych Theatre in the West End, receiving her fourth Olivier Award nomination. The following year she starred in Edward Albee's Three Tall Women for which she garnered critical acclaim. Theatre critic Paul Taylor for The Independent wrote, "Maggie Smith has to be seen to be believed. The sudden subsidings into wretched senile tears; the frustrated, dismissive flappings of her arm as her mind gropes impotently for a mislaid fact; the comic cunning with which she tries to cover over her patches of blankness; the beadily aggressive suspicion and the moments of alert cackling triumph – Smith's performance which, at the moment, is firmly on the right side of caricature, captures all this and more." She received her record fifth Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance.
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| Husband | Robert Stephens (m. 29 June 1967-6 April 1975) Beverley Cross (m. 23 August 1975-20 March 1998) |
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Net Worth and Salary
At the time of her passing, Maggie Smith's net worth was estimated to be between $20 million and $40 million, depending on the source. Her wealth primarily came from her long-standing television, theater, and film career, with notable contributions from her roles in Downton Abbey and Harry Potter.
Career, Business, and Investments
Maggie Smith's career spanned over seven decades, with significant achievements in film, TV, and theater. She was famous for her roles in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Downton Abbey, and the Harry Potter series. Her versatility and enduring talent ensured her steady demand in the entertainment world, even in her later years. She won two Oscars and numerous other awards, solidifying her position as a legendary figure in British acting.
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (28 December 1934 – 27 September 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had an extensive career on stage and screen for over seven decades and was one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actresses. She received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for six Olivier Awards. Smith is one of the few performers to earn the Triple Crown of Acting.
Smith began her stage career as a student, performing at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952, and made her professional debut on Broadway in New Faces of '56. Over the following decades Smith established herself alongside Judi Dench as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. On Broadway, she received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Lettice and Lovage (1990). She was Tony-nominated for Noël Coward's Private Lives (1975) and Tom Stoppard's Night and Day (1979).
Smith received newfound attention and international fame for her role as Violet Crawley in the British period drama Downton Abbey (2010–2015). The role earned her three Primetime Emmy Awards; she had previously won one for the HBO film My House in Umbria (2003). Over the course of her career she was the recipient of numerous honorary awards, including the British Film Institute Fellowship in 1993, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1996 and the Society of London Theatre Special Award in 2010. Smith was made a dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.
In 1962 Smith won the first of a record six Best Actress Evening Standard Awards for her roles in Peter Shaffer's plays The Private Ear and The Public Eye, again opposite Kenneth Williams. She caught the eye of Laurence Olivier, who, after seeing her in The Double Dealer at The Old Vic, invited her to become part of his new National Theatre Company soon after it was formed at The Old Vic in 1962. Alongside Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon, she soon became a fixture at the National Theatre in the 1960s. The theatre critic Michael Coveney wrote that during her eight years in the company, Smith developed a fierce rivalry with Olivier writing, "He knew immediately he'd met his match – that she was extraordinary. He said that anyone who can play comedy that well can also play tragedy and he offered her the likes of Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello. But having got her into the company they became not enemies, but professional rivals. Never before had anyone on stage been quicker than him and now, it seemed, there was a contest."
Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the title role of the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Vanessa Redgrave had originated the role on stage in London, and Zoe Caldwell won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, when she played the role in New York City. Smith was singled out for her performance in the film. Dave Kehr of Chicago Reader said that Smith gives "one of those technically stunning, emotionally distant performances that the British are so damn good at." Greg Ferrara wrote that the film "is one of the best British films of the decade. It is as captivating today as it was upon its release and its two central performances by Maggie Smith and Pamela Franklin are both stirring and mesmerizing. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is the crème de la crème." The role also won Smith her first BAFTA Film Award for Best Actress. In 1970 Smith played the title role in Ingmar Bergman's London production of the Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabler, winning her second Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress. In 1975 Smith starred as Amanda Prynne in the Noël Coward comedy Private Lives at the 46th Street Theatre on Broadway. The play, directed by John Gielgud, received positive reviews. The New York Times theatre critic praised Smith's physical comedic skills writing, "Miss Smith's body spins, lurches, misses yards at a time before another foot comes down, ends in a paralysis that will require hypnosis to undo. The effect, because Noel Coward's situation is funny and because Miss Smith sends off that one little extra signal that spells extravagance, is hilarious, explosively so." Smith received her first Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award nomination. In the mid-1970s, she made several guest appearances on The Carol Burnett Show.
In April 2019, after an 11-year absence from theatre, Smith returned to the stage in A German Life as Brunhilde Pomsel at the Bridge Theatre in London. The new work, by Christopher Hampton, is a one-woman solo play. In its inaugural incarnation Smith gave an extended monologue as Pomsel, an elderly German woman who, in her youth, wound up working as a secretary for Joseph Goebbels at the Ministry of Propaganda. Jonathan Kent took the directorial role. Variety magazine's theatre critic praised Smith's performance, writing, "It's a performance that combines the knowingness of hindsight with the naivety of youth, blasé enough to catch you off-guard when the magnitude of events suddenly cuts through". Matt Wolf of The New York Times wrote, "[Smith's performance] represents a new high in a six-decade career with no shortage of peaks", and added "The audience knows it is witnessing something special". Her performance won her a record sixth Best Actress Evening Standard award.
Smith was awarded the Shakespeare Prize by the Hamburg Alfred Toepfer Foundation in 1991. Smith was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of her outstanding contribution to film culture in 1992. She was elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1994. In 1995 she was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Women in Film and Television UK. On 10 April 1999, Smith received the William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre (The Will Award) presented by the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., in recognition of her significant contribution to classical theatre in the United States. On 9 February 2014 she was inducted into the Actors Hall of Fame. Smith had a star on the London Avenue of Stars until all of the stars were removed in 2006. In September 2012, she was honoured with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Legacy Award. She accepted the award, presented to her by Christopher Plummer, in a ceremony at the Fairmont Royal York hotel. In March 2016, Smith was awarded the Critics' Circle Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts. In April 2016, she was awarded the Bodley Medal by the University of Oxford's Bodleian Libraries in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the performing arts.
Social Network
Maggie Smith was not particularly active on social media platforms, as her focus remained on her craft and performances on stage and screen.
In 1952, aged 17, under the auspices of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, Smith began her career as Viola in Twelfth Night at the Oxford Playhouse. She continued to act in productions at the Oxford Playhouse, including Cinderella (1952), Rookery Nook (1953), Cakes and Ale (1953) and The Government Inspector (1954). That same year, she appeared in the television programme Oxford Accents (1954) produced by Ned Sherrin. In 1956 Smith made her Broadway debut playing several roles in the review New Faces of '56, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre from June to December 1956. In 1957 she starred opposite Kenneth Williams in the musical comedy Share My Lettuce, written by Bamber Gascoigne.
During a 1964 production of Othello, Olivier struck Smith across the face, knocking her out. She later recalled the incident on a 2015 edition of The Graham Norton Show and in the 2018 documentary Nothing Like a Dame. She appeared opposite Olivier as Sylvia in The Recruiting Officer in 1963–64 and again as Hilde in Ibsen's The Master Builder in 1964–65. Smith's 1967 portrayal of Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, by the director Franco Zeffirelli, is thought to be the earliest British television broadcast of the entire play. The screen version was assumed lost until a copy was discovered in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC in 2010.
Smith acted in the film adaptation of The Secret Garden (1993) directed by Agnieszka Holland. The film was a critical success and Smith in particular was praised for her performance as Mrs. Medlock earning a British Academy Film Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 1995 Smith portrayed the Duchess of York in another film adaptation this time of William Shakespeare's Richard III (1995) starring Ian McKellen in the titular role. The film adapts the play's story and characters to a setting based on 1930s Britain, with Richard depicted as a fascist plotting to usurp the throne. The film also starred Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr., Nigel Hawthorne and Kristin Scott Thomas. Smith also starred in another film by Holland titled Washington Square (1997), playing the incurably foolish Aunt Lavinia Penniman. She won her fifth BAFTA Film Awards, this time for Best Supporting Actress, for the 1999 film Tea with Mussolini, in which she played Lady Hester Random opposite Cher, Joan Plowright and Judi Dench. She also starred in The Last September opposite Michael Gambon and the film Curtain Call with Michael Caine in the same year.
In 2001, Smith appeared in the British ensemble murder mystery Gosford Park, which was directed by Robert Altman. The film's cast included Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Kristin Scott Thomas, Eileen Atkins, Emily Watson, Charles Dance, Richard E. Grant, Derek Jacobi and Stephen Fry. Her portrayal as the haughty Constance, Countess of Trentham earned Smith her sixth Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress alongside Mirren. The film premiered at the 2001 London Film Festival, where it received critical acclaim from critics, including Roger Ebert, who awarded it his highest rating of four stars, describing the story as "such a joyous and audacious achievement, it deserves comparison with his [Robert Altman's] very best movies."
In 2018 Smith starred in a British documentary titled Nothing Like a Dame, directed by Roger Michell, which documents conversations between actresses Smith, Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins and Joan Plowright, which were interspersed with scenes from their careers on film and stage. The film was released in the United States as Tea with the Dames. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film a five out of five star rating, declaring it an "outrageously funny film". Guy Lodge of Variety called the film a "richly enjoyable gabfest" but that the film was "hardly vital cinema". That same year, Smith reprised her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall by voicing the character in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, a role-playing video game. In September 2019, a continuation of the Downton Abbey series in form of a feature-length film was in theatres entitled simply, Downton Abbey. The film was a financial success and earned $194.3 million at the box office. She reprised her role as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in Simon Curtis's 2022 historical-drama Downton Abbey: A New Era alongside Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery.
Smith married actor Robert Stephens on 29 June 1967. They had two sons, actors Chris Larkin (b. 1967) and Toby Stephens (b. 1969), and were divorced on 6 April 1975. She married playwright Beverley Cross on 23 June 1975, at the Guildford Register Office, and they remained married until his death on 20 March 1998. When asked in 2013 if she was lonely, she replied, "it seems a bit pointless, going on on one's own, and not having someone to share it with". Smith had five grandchildren.
In September 2011, Smith offered her support for raising the NZ$4.6million needed to help rebuild the Court Theatre in Christchurch, New Zealand, after the earthquake in 2011 that caused severe damage to the area. In July 2012, she became a patron of the International Glaucoma Association (now known as Glaucoma UK), hoping to support the organisation and raise the profile of glaucoma. She was also a patron of the Oxford Playhouse, where she first began her career. Smith was a vice-president of the Chichester Cinema at New Park and a vice-president of the Royal Theatrical Fund, which provides support for members of the entertainment profession who are unable to work due to illness, injury or infirmity.
Figures in the entertainment industry who paid tribute to Smith included her Sister Act co-star Whoopi Goldberg, who described her as "a great woman and a brilliant actress. I still can't believe I was lucky enough to work with the 'one-of-a-kind'." Her Harry Potter co-star Daniel Radcliffe, released a statement reading, in part: "I will always consider myself amazingly lucky to have been able to work with her ... the word legend is overused but if it applies to anyone in our industry then it applies to her." Another Harry Potter co-star, Emma Watson, released a statement reading, in part: "She was real, honest, funny and self-honouring ... Thank you for all of your kindness. I'll miss you." Her Gosford Park co-star Dame Helen Mirren compared Smith to Queen Elizabeth II, saying: "Like the Queen she has been a part of my life since I was a student and she was an icon even then", adding that "she was one of the greatest actresses of the past century".
Education
She attended the Oxford Playhouse School, where she began her acting career. Her early education was influenced by her parents, who encouraged her artistic pursuits.
Overall, Maggie Smith's legacy is one of immense talent, dedication, and lasting impact on the entertainment industry. Her career and financial success reflect her enduring presence in British acting.
Smith won Academy Awards for Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite (1978). She was Oscar-nominated for Othello (1965), Travels with My Aunt (1972), A Room with a View (1985) and Gosford Park (2001). She portrayed Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series (2001–2011). She also acted in Death on the Nile (1978), Hook (1991), Sister Act (1992), The Secret Garden (1993), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), Quartet (2012) and The Lady in the Van (2015).
Smith portrayed Charlotte Bartlett in the Merchant Ivory Production of A Room with a View (1985). The film received universal acclaim earning eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The film also starred Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, Daniel Day-Lewis, Dame Judi Dench, Simon Callow and Denholm Elliott. Smith earned her fifth Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and won her second Golden Globe Award and her third British Academy Film Award for Best Actress. Smith won her fourth BAFTA Film Awards for Best Actress for the title role in the 1987 film The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, directed by Jack Clayton. Pauline Kael wrote: "Clayton is a felicitous choice to direct a character study film about a woman's rage against the Church for her wasted life. His first feature was Room at the Top with Simone Signoret and he made The Innocents with Deborah Kerr and The Pumpkin Eater with Anne Bancroft – he knows how to show women's temperatures and their mind-body inter-actions. Maggie Smith becomes the essence of spinster – she makes you feel the ghastliness of knowing you're a figure of fun."
From 2001 to 2011, Smith played Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series. Smith and Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid, had been requested for the film by author J. K. Rowling. Smith reunited with Radcliffe, who played the titular role of Harry Potter. Smith appeared in seven of the eight films.
In 2021 Smith starred in the Netflix adaptation of the children's book by Matt Haig of the same name, A Boy Called Christmas. The film was directed by Gil Kenan and also starred Sally Hawkins, Kristen Wiig, Jim Broadbent and Toby Jones. In 2023 Smith starred as Lily Fox in an Irish drama film, The Miracle Club, with Kathy Bates and Laura Linney. The film's plot is being described as a "joyful and hilarious" journey of a group of riotous working-class women from Dublin, whose pilgrimage to Lourdes in France leads them to discover each other's friendship and their own personal miracles." Smith was announced as starring in the film version of Christopher Hampton's A German Life, reprising the role she originated onstage in 2019 in London.
In 1971 Smith was conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) degree by the University of St Andrews. In 1986 she was awarded an honorary DLitt from the University of Bath. In 1994 Smith received an honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) from the University of Cambridge. In October 2017, she was made an honorary fellow of Mansfield College, Oxford.
On 27 November 2012, Smith contributed a drawing of her own hand to the 2012 Celebrity Paw Auction, to raise funds for Cats Protection. In May 2013, Smith contributed a gnome which she had decorated, for an auction to raise money for the Royal Horticultural Society Campaign for School Gardening.
