Maggie Smith’s most memorable performances from Shakespeare to the big screen

Dame Maggie Smith is one of Britain’s most popular and famous actresses, with a career spanning eight decades.

She made her acting debut in the 1950s and her last screen role was a year earlier in “The Miracle Club.”

She is one of a select group of actors to have won three American awards, including two Oscars, four Emmys and a Tony, as well as seven BAFTA Awards and one in her home country. An Honorary Olivier Award.

Here are six of her most famous performances:

One of Smith’s most iconic early roles was as Desdemona in Shakespeare’s “Othello.”

In 1963, Sir Laurence Olivier, who played the title role, invited her to play the role at the National Theatre.

Two years later, the play was made into a movie with the original cast, and Smith was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

reflective role Much later, Smith told The Guardian that she was “very uncomfortable and constantly scared” while taking on the role.

Shakespeare, she added, “isn’t my cup of tea.”

In 1969, Smith played a determinedly non-conformist teacher in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, a role that brought Smith international fame.

The film is adapted from Muriel Spark’s 1961 novel, set in Edinburgh in the 1930s, and the characters are based on the author’s inspirational teacher.

The role earned Dame Maggie the Academy Award for Best Actress, and she married co-star Robert Stephens.

Smith won critical acclaim for her role as Betsey Trotwood in the turn-of-the-century BBC adaptation of David Copperfield.

The role also brought her BAFTA and Emmy nominations.

She starred alongside a young Daniel Radcliffe, whom she would later work with again in the Harry Potter films.

At the age of 67, Dame Maggie Smith revealed her acting wonders to a whole new generation.

In 2001, she played Professor Minerva Mai in “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”.

Her awesome character appeared in all eight films, and she was reportedly the only cast member specifically requested by author J.K. Rowling.

In 2007, while filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dame Maggie was diagnosed with breast cancer, but continued filming. After two years of treatment, she was in remission.

While starring in “Harry Potter,” Smith also starred in another blockbuster film, “Downton Abbey.”

From 2010 to 2015, she played Violet Crawley, Countess of Grantham, in ITV’s British period drama.

Her performance as the witty matriarchal figure earned her three Primetime Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.

She reprized her role as Violet in the Downton Abbey movies in 2019 and 2022.

In the final film, her character’s health deteriorated and she died.

One of Smith’s later most notable roles was as a homeless woman in “The Lady in the Van.”

In the 2015 film, she played Miss Shepherd, who lived in a dilapidated van in playwright Alan Bennett’s driveway for 15 years.

Her performance in the comedy was described by critics as “very good” and “wonderful”. She won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for a BAFTA Award.

But this isn’t her first time playing Miss Shepherd.

In 1999, the play based on Bennett’s memoir opened in London’s West End, with the actress also playing the title role.

Her performance earned her a 2000 Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress.