Dame Maggie Smith

Dame Margaret "Maggie" Smith, CH, DBE was an English film, stage and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952. She had an extensive, varied career in stage, film and television spanning over sixty years. Smith appeared in over 50 films and was one of the UK's most recognisable actresses.

She first drew praise for the crime film Nowhere to Go (1958), for which she received her first BAFTA Award nomination, but it's her 1965 film role as William Shakespeare's Desdemona, in Othello, that established her claim to fame, earning her an Academy Award nomination (the first of her six) and a Golden Globe nomination. Since then Smith has worked consistently in film, television and stage, and she has established herself as one of the most respected British actresses. Her most notable films include The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Travels with My Aunt, Murder by Death, California Suite, Death on the Nile, Evil Under the Sun, A Private Function, A Room with a View, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, Gosford Park and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. She has also appeared in a number of widely popular films, including Clash of the Titans, Hook, both Sister Act films, and as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series.

She starred in the critically acclaimed drama Downton Abbey as Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, for which she has won a Golden Globe and two consecutive Emmy awards.

She has won numerous awards for her acting in theatre, film and television; including seven BAFTA Awards (five competitive awards and two special awards including the BAFTA Fellowship in 1996), two Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. Smith is one of the few actresses to have won the Triple Crown of Acting. 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 star-studded ceremony at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

Smith is the only person to win an Academy Award for playing an Academy Award nominee, Diana Barrie, in 1978's California Suite. She is also one of only five actresses to win Oscars in both lead and supporting categories.