Maggie Smith

About Maggie Smith

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE (born December 28, 1934), better known as Dame Maggie Smith, is a British film, stage, and television actress who made her screen debut in 1958 and is still performing after 50 years. She has been acclaimed thoughout her career and has won numerous awards for acting, including five BAFTA Awards, two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Emmy Award and a Tony Award.

Smith was born in Ilford, Essex, the daughter of Margaret (née Hutton), a Glasgow-born secretary, and Nathaniel Smith, a Newcastle upon Tyne-born public health pathologist who worked at Oxford University. She has older twin brothers, Alistair and Ian. Smith studied at Oxford High School, although she has been quoted as not having enjoyed the experience at school.[citation needed]

Smith has had an extensive career both on screen and in live theatre, and is known as one of Britain's pre-eminent actresses. She began her career at the Oxford Playhouse with Frank Shelley and made her first film in 1956. She became a fixture at the Royal National Theatre in the 1960s, most notably for playing Desdemona in Othello opposite Laurence Olivier and winning her first Oscar nomination for her performance in the 1965 film version. In 1969 she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as an unorthodox Scottish schoolteacher in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, a role originally created on stage by Vanessa Redgrave in 1966. She was also awarded the 1978 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the brittle actress Diana Barrie in California Suite, acting opposite Michael Caine. Afterwards, on hearing that Michael Palin was about to embark on a film (The Missionary) with Smith, Caine is supposed to have humorously telephoned Palin, warning him that she would steal the film.