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The inimitable Dame Maggie Smith is one of Britains best-loved performers, remembered not just in classic Oscar-winning fare like The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) but loved for contemporary favourites such as the Harry Potter films. The youngest child of an Oxford pathologist, Margaret Natalie Smith trained at the Oxford Playhouse School. A slew of critically acclaimed performances in plays on both sides of the Atlantic followed her stage debut in 1952, along with a clutch of awards.
Her film-work has been similarly well received, with a second Oscar for California Suite (1978) and three BAFTA awards for A Private Function, A Room With A View and The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne. Balancing serious fare like those with frothier films has seen Smith add her light comedic touch to Steven Spielbergs Hook, the Sister Act films and The Secret Garden, with her role in Robert Altmans Gosford Park earning her another Oscar nomination. The recent knighthood and her dignified presence in the Harry Potter franchise testify to her continuing popularity.
