Maggie Smith
Encyclopedia
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE (born 28 December 1934), better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years. She has won numerous awards for acting, both for the stage and for film, including five BAFTA Awards (plus the BAFTA Fellowship Award), two Academy Awards
, two Golden Globes, two Emmy Award
s, a Laurence Olivier Award, two SAG Awards, and a Tony Award
.
Her critically acclaimed films include Othello
(1965), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
(1969), California Suite
(1978), Clash of the Titans
(1981), A Room with a View
(1985), and Gosford Park
(2001). She has also appeared in a number of widely-popular films, including Hook
(1991), Sister Act
(1992), and as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter
series. She currently stars in the critically acclaimed drama, Downton Abbey
as Violet Crawley, the Dowager-Countess of Grantham, for which she has won an Emmy.
, Essex
. She is the daughter of Margaret Smith (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.
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 in London. (Zoe Caldwell
won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
when she created the role in New York.) Smith was also awarded the 1978 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
for her role as the brittle actress Diana Barry 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. She also starred with Palin in the black comedy
A Private Function
in 1984.
Smith appeared in Sister Act
in 1992 and had a major role in the 1999 film Tea with Mussolini
, where she appeared as the formidable Lady Hester. Indeed, many of her more mature roles have centred on what Smith refers to as her "gallery of grotesques", playing waspish, sarcastic or plain rude characters. Recent examples of this would include the judgmental sister in Ladies in Lavender
and the cantankerous snob Constance, Countess of Trentham in Gosford Park
, for which she received another Oscar nomination.
Other notable roles include the querulous Charlotte Bartlett in the Merchant-Ivory
production of A Room with a View
, a vivid supporting turn as the aged Duchess of York in Ian McKellen
's film of Richard III
, and a little known but powerful performance as Lila Fisher in the 1973 film Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing
with Timothy Bottoms
. Due to the international success of the Harry Potter
movies, she is now widely known for playing the role of Professor Minerva McGonagall, opposite Daniel Radcliffe
, with whom she'd previously worked in the 1999 BBC television adaptation of David Copperfield
, playing Betsie Trottwood. She also plays an older Wendy in the Peter Pan movie, Hook
and Mrs. Medlock in The Secret Garden
. In 2010, she appeared as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in the British period drama Downton Abbey
, taking part in the second series also which was screened in the Autumn of 2011. A third series is being planned.
She appeared in numerous productions at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford
, Ontario, to acclaim from 1976 through to 1980. These roles included Queen Elizabeth in Richard III
, Virginia Woolf in Virginia, and countless lead roles with long-time Stratford icon Brian Bedford
including the Noël Coward
comedy Private Lives
.
On stage, her many roles have included the title character in the stage production of Alan Bennett
's The Lady in the Van and starring as Amanda in a revival of Private Lives. She won a Tony Award in 1990 for Best Actress in a Play for Peter Shaffer
's Lettice and Lovage
, in which she starred as an eccentric tour guide in an English stately home. In 2007, she appeared in Edward Albee
's The Lady from Dubuque
at Theatre Royal Haymarket.
She was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(CBE) in 1970, and was raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1990.
on 29 June 1967 at Greenwich Register Office
. The couple had two sons: actors Chris Larkin
(born in 1967) and Toby Stephens
(born in 1969), and divorced on 6 May 1974. Smith is a grandmother via both her sons.
She married playwright Beverley Cross
on 23 August 1975 at the Guildford
Register Office; he died on 20 March 1998.
In 2007, the Sunday Telegraphs Mandrake diary disclosed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She was subsequently reported to have made a full recovery.
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, two Golden Globes, two Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s, a Laurence Olivier Award, two SAG Awards, and a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
.
Her critically acclaimed films include Othello
Othello (1965 film)
Othello is a 1965 film based on the National Theatre's staging of Shakespeare's Othello staged by John Dexter. Directed by Stuart Burge, the film starred Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, and Joyce Redman, providing film debuts for both Derek Jacobi and Michael...
(1965), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (film)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a 1969 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Muriel Spark.The novel was turned into a play by Jay Presson Allen, which opened on Broadway in 1968, with Zoe Caldwell in the title role, a performance for which she won a Tony Award...
(1969), California Suite
California Suite
California Suite is a 1976 play by Neil Simon. Similar in structure to his earlier Plaza Suite, the comedy is composed of four playlets set in Suite 203-04, which consists of a living room and an adjoining bedroom with an ensuite bath, in The Beverly Hills Hotel.-Plot:In Visitor from New York,...
(1978), Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Titans (1981 film)
Clash of the Titans is an American 1981 fantasy–adventure film involving the Greek hero Perseus. It was released on June 12, 1981 and earned a gross profit of $41 million domestically, on a $15 million budget , by which it was the 11th highest grossing film of the year. A novelization of the film...
(1981), A Room with a View
A Room with a View (film)
A Room with a View is a 1985 British drama film directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant. The film is a close adaptation of E. M...
(1985), and Gosford Park
Gosford Park
Gosford Park is a 2001 British-American mystery comedy-drama film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. The film stars an ensemble cast, which includes Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Alan Bates, and Michael Gambon...
(2001). She has also appeared in a number of widely-popular films, including Hook
Hook (film)
Hook is a 1991 American fantasy film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, and features Maggie Smith, Caroline Goodall, Charlie Korsmo, Amber Scott, and Dante Basco. Hook acts as a sequel to Peter Pan's original adventures, focusing...
(1991), Sister Act
Sister Act
Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film released by Touchstone Pictures. Directed by Emile Ardolino, it features musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman and stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who has been put under protective custody in a San Francisco convent and has to pretend to be a...
(1992), and as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter
Harry Potter (film series)
The Harry Potter film series is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by the British author J. K. Rowling...
series. She currently stars in the critically acclaimed drama, Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an...
as Violet Crawley, the Dowager-Countess of Grantham, for which she has won an Emmy.
Early life
Margaret Natalie Smith was born in IlfordIlford
Ilford is a large cosmopolitan town in East London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It forms a significant commercial and retail...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. She is the daughter of Margaret Smith (née Hutton), a Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
-born secretary, and Nathaniel Smith, a Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
-born public health pathologist who worked at Oxford University. She has older twin brothers, Alistair and Ian. Smith studied at Oxford High School.
Career
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 TheatreRoyal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
in the 1960s, most notably for playing Desdemona
Desdemona (Othello)
Desdemona is a character in William Shakespeare's play Othello . Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a man several years her senior. When her husband is deployed to Cyprus in the service of the...
in Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
opposite Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
and winning her first Oscar nomination for her performance in the 1965 film version
Othello (1965 film)
Othello is a 1965 film based on the National Theatre's staging of Shakespeare's Othello staged by John Dexter. Directed by Stuart Burge, the film starred Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, and Joyce Redman, providing film debuts for both Derek Jacobi and Michael...
.
In 1969, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for her performance as an unorthodox Scottish schoolteacher in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (film)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a 1969 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Muriel Spark.The novel was turned into a play by Jay Presson Allen, which opened on Broadway in 1968, with Zoe Caldwell in the title role, a performance for which she won a Tony Award...
, a role originally created on stage by Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
in 1966 in London. (Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Caldwell, OBE is an Australian-born actress.-Early life:She was born as Ada Caldwell in Melbourne, Australia and was raised in the suburb of Balwyn in Yongala Street. Her father, Edgar, was a plumber and her mother, Zoe, was a taxi dancer. Caldwell's mother, Zoe, had a Peugeot of 1950 vintage...
won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The award has been presented since 1947, and is for performance in new productions or revivals.-1940s:...
when she created the role in New York.) Smith was also awarded the 1978 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for her role as the brittle actress Diana Barry in California Suite
California Suite (film)
California Suite is a 1978 American comedy film directed by Herbert Ross. The screenplay by Neil Simon is based on his play of the same title...
, acting opposite Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
. Afterwards, on hearing that Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
was about to embark on a film (The Missionary
The Missionary
The Missionary is a 1982 British comedy directed by Richard Loncraine, produced by George Harrison, Denis O'Brian, Michael Palin and Neville C. Thompson. The film stars Palin as the Rev...
) with Smith, Caine is supposed to have humorously telephoned Palin, warning him that she would steal the film. She also starred with Palin in the black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
A Private Function
A Private Function
A Private Function is a 1984 British comedy film starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. The film was predominantly filmed in Ilkley and Ben Rhydding, West Yorkshire. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival....
in 1984.
Smith appeared in Sister Act
Sister Act
Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film released by Touchstone Pictures. Directed by Emile Ardolino, it features musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman and stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who has been put under protective custody in a San Francisco convent and has to pretend to be a...
in 1992 and had a major role in the 1999 film Tea with Mussolini
Tea with Mussolini
Tea with Mussolini is a 1999 British-Italian semi-autobiographical film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, telling the story of young Italian boy Luca's upbringing by a circle of English and American women, before and during World War II.-Plot:...
, where she appeared as the formidable Lady Hester. Indeed, many of her more mature roles have centred on what Smith refers to as her "gallery of grotesques", playing waspish, sarcastic or plain rude characters. Recent examples of this would include the judgmental sister in Ladies in Lavender
Ladies in Lavender
The film's original music was written by Nigel Hess and performed by Joshua Bell and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Hess received a Classical BRIT Awards nomination for Best Soundtrack Composer....
and the cantankerous snob Constance, Countess of Trentham in Gosford Park
Gosford Park
Gosford Park is a 2001 British-American mystery comedy-drama film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. The film stars an ensemble cast, which includes Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Alan Bates, and Michael Gambon...
, for which she received another Oscar nomination.
Other notable roles include the querulous Charlotte Bartlett in the Merchant-Ivory
Merchant Ivory Productions
Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory. Their films were for the most part produced by the former, directed by the latter, and scripted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, with the noted exception of a few films. The films were often...
production of A Room with a View
A Room with a View (film)
A Room with a View is a 1985 British drama film directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant. The film is a close adaptation of E. M...
, a vivid supporting turn as the aged Duchess of York in Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
's film of Richard III
Richard III (1995 film)
Richard III is a 1995 drama film adapted from William Shakespeare's play of the same name, starring Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr., Nigel Hawthorne, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, John Wood and Dominic West....
, and a little known but powerful performance as Lila Fisher in the 1973 film Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing
Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing
Love and Pain And The Whole Damn Thing is a 1973 American film directed by Alan J. Pakula. It is often categorized as a drama, but contains many comic elements.-Plot:...
with Timothy Bottoms
Timothy Bottoms
-Early life:Bottoms was born in Santa Barbara, California, the eldest son of Betty and James "Bud" Bottoms, who is a sculptor and art teacher. He is the brother of actors Joseph Bottoms , Sam Bottoms and Ben Bottoms . In 1967, Bottoms toured Europe as part of the Santa Barbara Madrigal...
. Due to the international success of the Harry Potter
Harry Potter (film series)
The Harry Potter film series is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by the British author J. K. Rowling...
movies, she is now widely known for playing the role of Professor Minerva McGonagall, opposite Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe is an English actor who rose to prominence playing the titular character in the Harry Potter film series....
, with whom she'd previously worked in the 1999 BBC television adaptation of David Copperfield
David Copperfield (1999 film)
David Copperfield is a two part BBC television drama adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield, adapted by Adrian Hodges. The first part was shown on Christmas Day and the second on Boxing Day in 1999...
, playing Betsie Trottwood. She also plays an older Wendy in the Peter Pan movie, Hook
Hook (film)
Hook is a 1991 American fantasy film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, and features Maggie Smith, Caroline Goodall, Charlie Korsmo, Amber Scott, and Dante Basco. Hook acts as a sequel to Peter Pan's original adventures, focusing...
and Mrs. Medlock in The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden (1993 film)
The Secret Garden is a 1993 British drama film based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1911 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Agnieszka Holland.-Plot:...
. In 2010, she appeared as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in the British period drama Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an...
, taking part in the second series also which was screened in the Autumn of 2011. A third series is being planned.
She appeared in numerous productions at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford
Stratford, Ontario
Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a population of 32,000.When the area was first settled by Europeans in 1832, the townsite and the river were named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is the seat of Perth County. Stratford was...
, Ontario, to acclaim from 1976 through to 1980. These roles included Queen Elizabeth in Richard III
Richard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
, Virginia Woolf in Virginia, and countless lead roles with long-time Stratford icon Brian Bedford
Brian Bedford
Brian Bedford is an English actor. He has appeared on the stage and in film, and is known for both acting in and directing Shakespeare.-Life and career:...
including the Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
comedy Private Lives
Private Lives
Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
.
On stage, her many roles have included the title character in the stage production of Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research mediaeval history at the university for several years...
's The Lady in the Van and starring as Amanda in a revival of Private Lives. She won a Tony Award in 1990 for Best Actress in a Play for Peter Shaffer
Peter Shaffer
Sir Peter Levin Shaffer is an English dramatist and playwright, screenwriter and author of numerous award-winning plays, several of which have been filmed.-Early life:...
's Lettice and Lovage
Lettice and Lovage
Lettice and Lovage is a comedic play by Peter Shaffer, author of Equus and Amadeus. The play was written specifically for Dame Maggie Smith, who originated the title role of Lettice Douffet in both the English and American runs of the production. The role of Lotte Schoen was played by Margaret...
, in which she starred as an eccentric tour guide in an English stately home. In 2007, she appeared in Edward Albee
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
's The Lady from Dubuque
The Lady From Dubuque
The Lady from Dubuque, a play by Edward Albee, opened on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre on January 31, 1980. It closed there after a mere 12 performances...
at Theatre Royal Haymarket.
She was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(CBE) in 1970, and was raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1990.
Personal life
Smith has been married twice. She married actor Robert StephensRobert Stephens
Sir Robert Stephens was a leading English actor in the early years of England's Royal National Theatre.-Early life and career:...
on 29 June 1967 at Greenwich Register Office
Register office
A register office is a British term for a civil registry, a government office and depository where births, deaths and marriages are officially recorded and where you can get officially married, without a religious ceremony...
. The couple had two sons: actors Chris Larkin
Chris Larkin
Chris Larkin is an English actor.He was born Christopher Stephens in the Middlesex Hospital in London and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He is the elder son of Dame Maggie Smith, and the late Sir Robert Stephens...
(born in 1967) and Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens is an English stage, television and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day , Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and Philip...
(born in 1969), and divorced on 6 May 1974. Smith is a grandmother via both her sons.
She married playwright Beverley Cross
Beverley Cross
Beverley Cross was an English playwright, librettist and screenwriter.Born in London into a theatrical family, Cross started off by writing children's plays in the 1950s. He achieved instant success with his first play One More River, which dealt with a mutiny in which a crew puts its first...
on 23 August 1975 at the Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
Register Office; he died on 20 March 1998.
In 2007, the Sunday Telegraphs Mandrake diary disclosed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She was subsequently reported to have made a full recovery.
Television and cinema
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Nowhere to Go Nowhere to Go (1958 film) Nowhere to Go is a 1958 British crime film directed by Seth Holt and starring George Nader, Maggie Smith, Bernard Lee, Harry H. Corbett and Lionel Jeffries. It was Maggie Smith's first film.... |
Bridget Howard | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer -Best British Director, Producer or Writer in the First Film:*2006 - Red Road - Andrea Arnold**Black Sun – Gary Tarn**Pierrepoint – Christine Langan**London to Brighton – Paul Andrew Williams... |
| 1962 | Go to Blazes Go to Blazes (1962 film) Go to Blazes is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Michael Truman and starring Dave King, Robert Morley, Norman Rossington, Daniel Massey, Dennis Price, Maggie Smith, David Lodge. It also featured Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier, later to feature prominently in Dad's Army... |
Chantal | |
| 1963 | Miss Mead | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress | |
| 1964 | Philpot | ||
| 1965 | Othello Othello (1965 film) Othello is a 1965 film based on the National Theatre's staging of Shakespeare's Othello staged by John Dexter. Directed by Stuart Burge, the film starred Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, and Joyce Redman, providing film debuts for both Derek Jacobi and Michael... |
Desdemona Desdemona (Othello) Desdemona is a character in William Shakespeare's play Othello . Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a man several years her senior. When her husband is deployed to Cyprus in the service of the... |
|
| Young Cassidy Young Cassidy Young Cassidy is a 1965 film directed by Jack Cardiff and John Ford, and starring Rod Taylor. The film is a biographical drama based upon the life of the playwright Sean O'Casey.-Plot:... |
Nora | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :... |
|
| 1967 | Sarah Watkins | ||
| 1968 | Hot Millions Hot Millions Hot Millions is an 1968 crime comedy film made by MGM. It was directed by Eric Till and produced by Mildred Freed Alberg, from a collaborative screenplay by Ira Wallach and star Peter Ustinov. The music score was composed by Laurie Johnson, featuring the single "This Time" from Scottish singer Lulu... |
Patty Terwilliger Smith | |
| 1969 | Jean Brodie Jean Brodie Jean Brodie is a fictional character in the Muriel Spark novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; and in the play and film of the same name — both by Jay Presson Allen — which were based on the novel, but radically depart from it in the interest of theatre and poetic licence.Miss... |
||
| 1969 | Oh! What a Lovely War Oh! What a Lovely War Oh! What a Lovely War is a musical film based on the stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop created in 1963,... |
Music Hall Star | |
| 1972 | Travels with My Aunt Travels with My Aunt (film) Travels with My Aunt is a 1972 American comedy film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Jay Presson Allen and Hugh Wheeler is based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Graham Greene.-Plot:... |
Aunt Augusta | |
| 1973 | Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing Love and Pain And The Whole Damn Thing is a 1973 American film directed by Alan J. Pakula. It is often categorized as a drama, but contains many comic elements.-Plot:... |
Lila Fisher | |
| 1974 | Gwendylspire Boughgrough | ||
| 1975 | Ms. Collins | ||
| 1976 | Murder by Death Murder by Death Murder by Death is a 1976 comedy film with a cast featuring Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, James Coco, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, Nancy Walker, and Estelle Winwood, written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.The plot is a spoof of... |
Dora Charleston | |
| 1978 | Death on the Nile Death on the Nile (1978 film) Death on the Nile is a 1978 film based on the Agatha Christie mystery novel Death on the Nile, directed by John Guillermin. The film features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot played by Peter Ustinov plus an all-star cast. It takes place in Egypt, mostly on the Nile River... |
Miss Bowers | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film... |
| California Suite California Suite (film) California Suite is a 1978 American comedy film directed by Herbert Ross. The screenplay by Neil Simon is based on his play of the same title... |
Diana Barrie | ||
| 1981 | Quartet Quartet (1981 film) Quartet is a 1981 Merchant Ivory Film, starring Isabelle Adjani, Maggie Smith, Anthony Higgins and Alan Bates, set in 1924 Paris. It premiered at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival and was an entry for the Selection Officielle... |
Lois Heidler | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :... |
| Clash of the Titans Clash of the Titans (1981 film) Clash of the Titans is an American 1981 fantasy–adventure film involving the Greek hero Perseus. It was released on June 12, 1981 and earned a gross profit of $41 million domestically, on a $15 million budget , by which it was the 11th highest grossing film of the year. A novelization of the film... |
Thetis | Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress | |
| 1982 | Evil Under the Sun Evil Under the Sun (1982 film) Evil Under the Sun is a 1982 British mystery film based on the 1941 novel Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie.-Production:The screenplay was written by Anthony Shaffer and an uncredited Barry Sandler... |
Daphne Castle | |
| Lady Isabel Ames | |||
| Better Late Than Never Better Late Than Never (film) Better Late Than Never is a 1982 film directed by Bryan Forbes. It stars David Niven, Art Carney and Maggie Smith. The soundtrack features songs by Henry Mancini and Noel Coward.-Plot:... |
Miss Anderson | ||
| 1984 | Joyce Chilvers | BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :... |
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| Lily in Love Lily in Love Lily in Love is a 1984 Hungarian-American co-production in English language based on a play by Ferenc Molnár, starring Christopher Plummer, Maggie Smith and Elke Sommer... |
Lily Wynn | Nominated — British Academy Television Award for Best Actress British Academy Television Award for Best Actress - 1950s :*1955 Googie Withers*1956 Virginia McKenna*1957 Rosalie Crutchley*1958 Gwen Watford*1959 Catherine Lacey- 1960s :*1960 Catherine Lacey*1961 Billie Whitelaw*1962 Ruth Dunning*1963 Brenda Bruce*1964 Vivien Merchant*1965 Katherine Blake... |
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| 1985 | Charlotte Bartlett | ||
| 1987 | Judith Hearne | BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :... |
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| Talking Heads | Susan | Nominated — British Academy Television Award for Best Actress British Academy Television Award for Best Actress - 1950s :*1955 Googie Withers*1956 Virginia McKenna*1957 Rosalie Crutchley*1958 Gwen Watford*1959 Catherine Lacey- 1960s :*1960 Catherine Lacey*1961 Billie Whitelaw*1962 Ruth Dunning*1963 Brenda Bruce*1964 Vivien Merchant*1965 Katherine Blake... |
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| 1991 | Hook Hook (film) Hook is a 1991 American fantasy film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, and features Maggie Smith, Caroline Goodall, Charlie Korsmo, Amber Scott, and Dante Basco. Hook acts as a sequel to Peter Pan's original adventures, focusing... |
Wendy Darling Wendy Darling Wendy Moira Angela Darling is a fictional character, the female protagonist of Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie, and in most adaptations in other media. Her exact age is not specified in the original play or novel by Barrie, though she is implied to be 12 or 13 years old or younger, as she is "just... |
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| 1992 | Sister Act Sister Act Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film released by Touchstone Pictures. Directed by Emile Ardolino, it features musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman and stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who has been put under protective custody in a San Francisco convent and has to pretend to be a... |
Reverend Mother | |
| Memento Mori | Mrs. Mabel Pettigrew | Nominated — British Academy Television Award for Best Actress British Academy Television Award for Best Actress - 1950s :*1955 Googie Withers*1956 Virginia McKenna*1957 Rosalie Crutchley*1958 Gwen Watford*1959 Catherine Lacey- 1960s :*1960 Catherine Lacey*1961 Billie Whitelaw*1962 Ruth Dunning*1963 Brenda Bruce*1964 Vivien Merchant*1965 Katherine Blake... |
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| 1993 | Suddenly, Last Summer Suddenly, Last Summer Suddenly, Last Summer is a one-act play by Tennessee Williams. It opened off Broadway on January 7, 1958, as part of a double bill with another of Williams's one-acts, Something Unspoken. The presentation of the two plays was given the overall title Garden District, but Suddenly, Last Summer is... |
Violet Venable | Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie |
| Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit is a 1993 comedy film starring Whoopi Goldberg. Directed by Bill Duke, and released by Touchstone Pictures, it is the sequel to the successful 1992 film Sister Act... |
Reverend Mother | ||
| Mrs. Medlock | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film... |
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| 1995 | Richard III Richard III (1995 film) Richard III is a 1995 drama film adapted from William Shakespeare's play of the same name, starring Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr., Nigel Hawthorne, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, John Wood and Dominic West.... |
Duchess of York | |
| 1996 | Gunilla Garson Goldberg | National Board of Review Award for Best Cast National Board of Review Award for Best Cast The National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble is an annual film award given by the National Board of Review.-1990s:... |
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| 1997 | Washington Square Washington Square (film) Washington Square is a 1997 American drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland. The screenplay by Carol Doyle is based on the 1880 novel of the same name by Henry James, which was filmed as The Heiress in 1949.-Plot summary:... |
Aunt Lavinia Penniman | Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress The Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the actress or actresses whose winning performance is voted by participating members... |
| Curtain Call Curtain Call (1999 film) Curtain Call is a 1999 film directed by Peter Yates. It stars James Spader and Polly Walker.-Cast:*James Spader as Stevenson Lowe*Polly Walker as Julia*Michael Caine as Max Gale*Maggie Smith as Lily Marlowe*Buck Henry as Charles Van Allsburg... |
Lily Gale | ||
| Lady Myra Naylor | |||
| Tea with Mussolini Tea with Mussolini Tea with Mussolini is a 1999 British-Italian semi-autobiographical film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, telling the story of young Italian boy Luca's upbringing by a circle of English and American women, before and during World War II.-Plot:... |
Lady Hester Random | BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film... |
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| All the King's Men | Queen Alexandra | ||
| David Copperfield David Copperfield (1999 film) David Copperfield is a two part BBC television drama adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield, adapted by Adrian Hodges. The first part was shown on Christmas Day and the second on Boxing Day in 1999... |
Betsey Trotwood Betsey Trotwood Betsey Trotwood is a fictional character from Charles Dickens' 1850 novel David Copperfield.-Role in novel:She is David's great-aunt on his father's side, and has an unfavourable view of men and boys, having been ill-used and abandoned by a worthless husband earlier in life... |
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| 2001 | Gosford Park Gosford Park Gosford Park is a 2001 British-American mystery comedy-drama film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. The film stars an ensemble cast, which includes Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Alan Bates, and Michael Gambon... |
Constance, Countess of Trentham | |
| Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, released in the United States and India as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, is a 2001 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film is the first instalment in the Harry Potter film series,... |
Professor Minerva McGonagall | ||
| 2002 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the second instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman... |
Professor Minerva McGonagall | Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast The Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast is an annual award given by the Phoenix Film Critics Society.-2000s:*2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring... |
| Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (film) Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is a 2002 American comedy-drama film starring Sandra Bullock and Ashley Judd, directed and written by Callie Khouri... |
Caro Eliza Bennett | ||
| 2003 | My House in Umbria My House in Umbria My House in Umbria is a 2003 HBO made-for-television movie, based on the novella of the same name by William Trevor and published along with another novella in the volume Two Lives. The film stars Maggie Smith and was directed by Richard Loncraine.... |
Emily Delahunty | |
| 2004 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a 2004 fantasy film directed by Alfonso Cuarón and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the third instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by Chris Columbus, David Heyman and Mark Radcliffe... |
Professor Minerva McGonagall | |
| Ladies in Lavender Ladies in Lavender The film's original music was written by Nigel Hess and performed by Joshua Bell and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Hess received a Classical BRIT Awards nomination for Best Soundtrack Composer.... |
Janet Widdington | Nominated — European Film Award for Best Actress European Film Award for Best Actress -1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-External links:*... |
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| 2005 | Keeping Mum Keeping Mum Keeping Mum is a 2005 British black comedy film starring Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith and Patrick Swayze.-Plot:In the opening scene, as pregnant young Rosie Jones rides on a train, her very large trunk starts leaking blood... |
Grace Hawkins | |
| Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a 2005 fantasy film directed by Mike Newell and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the fourth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman... |
Professor Minerva McGonagall | ||
| 2007 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a 2007 fantasy film directed by David Yates and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the fifth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Michael Goldenberg and produced by David Heyman and David Barron... |
Professor Minerva McGonagall | |
| Becoming Jane Becoming Jane Becoming Jane is a 2007 historical film directed by Julian Jarrold. It is inspired by the early life of author Jane Austen , and her posited relationship with Thomas Langlois Lefroy . Also appearing are Julie Walters, James Cromwell and Maggie Smith... |
Lady Gresham | ||
| Capturing Mary Capturing Mary Capturing Mary is a BBC television drama , written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff. It was aired on BBC Two on 12 November 2007... |
Mary Gilbert | Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie | |
| 2009 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a 2009 fantasy film directed by David Yates and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman and David Barron... |
Professor Minerva McGonagall | |
| From Time to Time From Time to Time (film) From Time to Time is a 2009 British adventure film directed by Julian Fellowes and starring Maggie Smith, Carice van Houten, Alex Etel, Eliza Bennett, Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh, Dominic West, Hugh Bonneville, Kwayedza Kureya and Pauline Collins. It was adapted from the children's novel The Chimneys of... |
Linnet Oldknow | ||
| 2010 | Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang is a 2010 family film. It is a sequel to the 2005 film Nanny McPhee. It was adapted by Emma Thompson from Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda books... |
Mrs. Docherty | |
| 2010–present | Downton Abbey Downton Abbey Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an... |
Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham | Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie TV Times Award for Best Actress TV Times TVTimes is a television listings magazine published in the United Kingdom by IPC Media, a subsidiary of Time Warner. It is known for its access to television actors and their programmes. In 2006 it was refreshed for a more modern look, increasing its emphasis on big star interviews and soaps... Nominated — Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress Broadcasting Press Guild The Broadcasting Press Guild is a British association of journalists who specialise in writing and broadcasting about television, radio and the media generally.... Nominated — Monte Carlo Television Festival Award for Outstanding Actress Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo The Monte-Carlo Television Festival was created in 16-20 January 1961 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco, who wished to “encourage a new art form, in the service of peace and understanding between men”.... |
| 2011 | Gnomeo & Juliet | Lady Bluebury | |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 | Professor Minerva McGonagall | ||
| 2012 | The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is an upcoming British comedy-drama film directed by John Madden and written by Ol Parker. The film stars Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Tom Wilkinson and Maggie Smith. The plot follows the life of a group of British retirees staying in an elderly home in... |
Muriel Donnelly | post-production |
| Quartet | Jean Horton | post-production |
Theatre roles
- Twelfth Night, Oxford Playhouse, 1952
- He Who Gets SlappedHe Who Gets SlappedHe Who Gets Slapped is a 1924 film starring Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, and John Gilbert. It was directed by Victor Sjöström. The film is based on the Russian play Тот, кто получает пощёчины by playwright Leonid Andreyev, which was published in 1914 and in English, as He Who Gets Slapped, in 1922...
, Clarendon Press Institute, 1952 - CinderellaCinderella"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
, Oxford Playhouse, 1952 - Rookery NookRookery Nook (play)Rookery Nook is a 1926 British comedic play written by Ben Travers. It was based by Travers on his own 1923 novel Rookery Nook, about a series of confusions over an unoccupied house. It was first performed at the Aldwych Theatre in London, and became one of the Aldwych Farces.-Adaptations:In 1930 a...
, Oxford Playhouse, 1953 - The Housemaster, Oxford Playhouse, 1953
- Cakes and AleCakes and AleCakes and Ale: or, the Skeleton in the Cupboard is a novel by British author William Somerset Maugham. It is often alleged to be a thinly veiled roman à clef examining contemporary novelists Thomas Hardy and Hugh Walpole — though Maugham maintained he had created both characters as composites...
(revue), Edinburgh Festival, 1953 - The Love of Four Colonels, Oxford Playhouse, 1953
- The Ortolan, Maxton Hall, 1954
- Don’t Listen Ladies, Oxford Playhouse, 1954
- The Government Inspector, Oxford Playhouse, 1954
- The LetterThe Letter (play)The Letter is a play by W. Somerset Maugham dramatised from a short story that first appeared in his 1926 collection The Casuarina Tree. The story is based on a real-life scandal involving the wife of the headmaster of a school in Kuala Lumpur who was convicted in a murder trial after shooting...
, Oxford Playhouse, 1954 - A Man About The House, Oxford Playhouse, 1954
- On the Mile (revue), Edinburgh Festival, 1954
- Oxford Accents, New Watergate Theatre, London, 1954
- Theatre 1900, Oxford Playhouse, 1954
- Listen to the Wind, Oxford Playhouse, 1954
- The MagistrateThe Magistrate (play)The Magistrate is a farce by the English playwright Arthur Wing Pinero. The plot concerns a respectable magistrate who finds himself caught up in a series of scandalous events that almost cause his disgrace....
, Oxford Playhouse, 1955 - The School For ScandalThe School for ScandalThe School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its author to the audience...
, Oxford Playhouse, 1955 - New FacesNew FacesNew Faces was a British television talent show popular in the 1970s and 1980s, presented originally by Derek Hobson. It was produced by ATV Network Limited for the ITV Network. The first run of the show was from 29 September 1973 to 2 April 1978 and was recorded at the ATV Centre, Birmingham...
(revue), Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York, 1956 - Share My Lettuce (revue), Lyric Hammersmith and Comedy Theatre, 1957–1958
- The Stepmother, St. Martin's Theatre, 1958
- The Double Dealer, Old Vic, 1959
- As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, Old Vic, 1959 - Richard IIRichard II (play)King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
, Old Vic, 1959 - The Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...
, Old Vic, 1959 - What Every Woman KnowsWhat Every Woman KnowsWhat Every Woman Knows is a four-act play written by J. M. Barrie. It was first presented by the impresario Charles Frohman at the Duke of York's Theatre in London on 3 September 1908...
, Old Vic, 1960 - RhinocerosRhinocerosRhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
, Strand Theatre, 1960 - Strip the WillowStrip the willowStrip the willow is a country or barn dance. It has variations depending upon whether it is being performed as a movement in a larger dance or a complete dance in itself.The form described here is that commonly used as part of a Scottish country dance....
, UK Tour, 1960 - The RehearsalThe Rehearsal (play)The Rehearsal was a satirical play aimed specifically at John Dryden and generally at the sententious and overly ambitious theatre of the Restoration tragedy. The play was staged in 1671 and published anonymously in 1672, but it is certainly by George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and others...
, Bristol Old Vic/ London, 1961 - The Private Ear and The Public Eye, Globe Theatre, 1962
- Mary, MaryMary, Mary (play)Mary, Mary is a play by Jean Kerr. The play became one of the longest-running productions of the decade. After two previews, the Broadway production opened on March 8, 1961 at the original Helen Hayes Theatre , where it ran for nearly three years and nine months before transferring to the Morosco...
, Queen's Theatre, 1963 - The Recruiting OfficerThe Recruiting OfficerThe Recruiting Officer is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury to recruit soldiers...
, National Theatre – Old Vic, 1963 - OthelloOthelloThe Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, National Theatre – Old Vic, 1964 - The Master BuilderThe Master BuilderThe Master Builder is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was first published in December 1892 and is regarded as one of Ibsen's most significant and revealing works.-Performance:...
, National Theatre – Old Vic, 1964 - Hay FeverHay FeverHay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
, National Theatre – Old Vic, 1964 - Much Ado About NothingMuch Ado About NothingMuch Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
, National Theatre – Old Vic, 1965 - Black ComedyBlack ComedyBlack Comedy is a one-act farce by Peter Shaffer, first performed in 1965.The play is written to be staged under a reversed lighting scheme: the play opens on a darkened stage...
, National Theatre – Chichester and Old Vic, 1965 - Miss JulieMiss JulieMiss Julie is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg dealing with class, love, lust, the battle of the sexes, and the interaction among them...
, National Theatre – Chichester and Old Vic, 1965–1966 - Trelawney of the Wells, National Theatre – Old Vic, 1966
- A Bond Honoured, National Theatre – Old Vic, 1966
- The Country WifeThe Country WifeThe Country Wife is a Restoration comedy written in 1675 by William Wycherley. A product of the tolerant early Restoration period, the play reflects an aristocratic and anti-Puritan ideology, and was controversial for its sexual explicitness even in its own time. The title itself contains a lewd pun...
, National Theatre – Chichester and Old Vic, 1969 - The Beaux Stratagem, National Theatre – Old Vic/ Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, 1970
- Hedda GablerHedda GablerHedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
, National Theatre – Cambridge Theatre, 1970 - Design For LivingDesign for LivingDesign for Living is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Coward, it was premiered on Broadway, partly because its risqué...
, Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, 1971 - Private LivesPrivate LivesPrivate Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
, Queens Theatre, 1972–1973 - Peter PanPeter PanPeter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
, London Coliseum, 1973 - Snap, Vaudeville Theatre, 1974
- Private LivesPrivate LivesPrivate Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
, Los Angeles, 1974/ 46th Street Theatre, New York, 1975 [Tony nomination] - The Way of the WorldThe Way of the WorldThe Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London...
, Stratford, Canada, 1976 - Antony and CleopatraAntony and CleopatraAntony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony...
, Stratford, Canada, 1976 - Three SistersThree Sisters (play)Three Sisters is a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, perhaps partially inspired by the situation of the three Brontë sisters, but most probably by the three Zimmermann sisters in Perm...
, Stratford, Canada, 1976 - The GuardsmanThe GuardsmanThe Guardsman is a 1931 film based on the play Testőr by Ferenc Molnár. It stars Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Roland Young and ZaSu Pitts...
, Stratford, Canada/ Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, 1976 - A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
, Stratford, Canada/ Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, 1977 - Richard IIIRichard III (play)Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
, Stratford, Canada, 1977 - As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, Stratford, Canada, 1977 - Hay FeverHay FeverHay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
, Stratford, Canada, 1977 - MacbethMacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, Stratford, Canada, 1978 - Private LivesPrivate LivesPrivate Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
, Stratford, Canada, 1978 - Night and DayNight and Day (play)Night and Day is a 1978 play by Tom Stoppard. The sets and costumes were designed by Carl Toms and it ran for two years at the Phoenix Theatre in central London, UK. The lead roles of Richard Wagner and Ruth Carson were created by John Thaw and Diana Rigg, respectively.The play is post-colonial in...
, Phoenix Theatre/ Washington D.C./ ANTA Playhouse, New York, 1979–1980 [Tony nomination] - Much Ado About NothingMuch Ado About NothingMuch Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
, Stratford, Canada, 1980 - The SeagullThe SeagullThe Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
, Stratford, Canada, 1980 - Virginia, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 1981
- The Way of the WorldThe Way of the WorldThe Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London...
, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 1984 - The InterpretersThe InterpretersThe Interpreters were a Power pop band formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1996. They were composed of singer/bassist Herschel Gaer, guitarist Patsy Palladino and drummer Branko Jakominich. In 1997 they released the EP "In Rememberance[sic] of That Fine, Fine Evening" which was produced by...
, Queens Theatre, 1985 - The Infernal MachineThe Infernal MachineThe Infernal Machine is a play by the French dramatist Jean Cocteau, based on the ancient Greek myth of Oedipus. It received its première in 1934 under the direction of Louis Jouvet.-Sources:...
, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, 1986 - Coming Into Land, National Theatre/ Lyttelton, 1987
- Lettice and LovageLettice and LovageLettice and Lovage is a comedic play by Peter Shaffer, author of Equus and Amadeus. The play was written specifically for Dame Maggie Smith, who originated the title role of Lettice Douffet in both the English and American runs of the production. The role of Lotte Schoen was played by Margaret...
, Globe Theatre, 1987–1988 - Lettice and LovageLettice and LovageLettice and Lovage is a comedic play by Peter Shaffer, author of Equus and Amadeus. The play was written specifically for Dame Maggie Smith, who originated the title role of Lettice Douffet in both the English and American runs of the production. The role of Lotte Schoen was played by Margaret...
, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York, 1990 [Tony win] - The Importance of Being EarnestThe Importance of Being EarnestThe Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
, Aldwych Theatre, 1993 - Three Tall WomenThree Tall WomenThree Tall Women is a play by Edward Albee, which won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Albee's third.-Characters:* A: She is a very old woman in her 90s. She is thin, autocratic, proud, and wealthy. She also has a mild case of Alzheimer's disease. * B: B is A's 52 year-old version, to whom she...
, Wyndham's Theatre, 1994–1995 - Talking Heads, Chichester and Comedy Theatre, 1996
- A Delicate Balance, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 1997–1998
- The Lady in the Van, Queens Theatre, 1999–2000
- The Breath of LifeThe Breath of Life (play)The Breath of Life is a play by dramatist David Hare. It tells the story of a woman who is confronted by the wife of her lover. Over the course of one day and one night, the two women reflect on their lives and the relationship with the central, yet offstage, male character.Of the central theme of...
, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 2002–2003 - Talking HeadsTalking HeadsTalking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
, Tour of Australia, 2004 - The Lady From DubuqueThe Lady From DubuqueThe Lady from Dubuque, a play by Edward Albee, opened on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre on January 31, 1980. It closed there after a mere 12 performances...
, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 2007
External links
- You have to laugh – The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 20 November 2004, in-depth interview and profile.