Maggie Smith's life was marked by legendary status.
Maggie Smith has bid farewell. Known for "Downton Abbey" and "Harry Potter", she was a renowned British actress.
The distinctive brows, the teasingly somber smile from those enormous eyes that seemed to query "seriously?", the slightly flared nostrils, and the thin lips when she ventured into such trivialities as anger - Maggie Smith was inimitable.
Despite a career spanning several decades that she commenced as a young woman, Smith will be reminisced by the elderly group as the acerbic matriarch Violet Crawley of the internationally acclaimed television series "Downton Abbey" - and by the youthful group as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the "Harry Potter" films. She frequently elicited laughter with her sarcastic comments there as well.
On a chilly Friday morning, Dame Maggie Smith expired at 89 in a London hospital, reported the British news agency PA, citing her family. Her sons expressed their gratitude to the hospital staff. "She was a very private person and at the end was surrounded by friends and family. She leaves behind two sons and five adoring grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother," stated the notice.
Exemplary comedienne
"I could never fathom a life devoid of acting," Maggie Smith once mused, "I couldn't possibly abandon it, even if it's not as glamorous as people imagine, but challenging work." She was born on December 28, 1934, in Ilford near London, and grew up in Oxford, as her father secured work as a laboratory technician there. Her mother was a secretary and wasn't particularly enamored with her sole offspring aspiring to become an actress - "especially with a face like hers."
It was only when Smith claimed her first Oscar for the leading role in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1969) that her mother relinquished the notion that she should have taken a secretarial course instead. Smith was an unrivaled comedienne, who, naturally, also confronted Shakespeare - for instance, as Desdemona in the legendary "Othello" with Laurence Olivier, which garnered her her first of four Oscar nominations.
She received her second Oscar for her supporting role in "California Suite" (1978). Maggie Smith was untouchable in entertaining films such as "Death on the Nile", "Sister Act", and "The Devil Wears Prada". In 2015, she played the lead role as a homeless woman in the tragic comedy "The Lady in the Van", and in 2019, after a thirteen-year hiatus, she returned to the stage as Joseph Goebbels' private secretary in "A German Life".
Smith had a reputation for being intolerant towards inanity. The theater director Peter Hall once labeled her as "I have Maggie listed among the 50 most difficult individuals I have ever worked with." However, others appreciated her wit - such as John Madden, who helmed her films "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and its sequel. "She has a playfully mischievous sense of humor, which she employs with pinpoint precision and prowess as soon as she feels comfortable."
Actor Hugh Bonneville of "Downton Abbey" paid homage to her as "an icon of her generation." Anyone who has ever filmed a scene with her can attest to her keen insight, biting wit, and exceptional talent.
Privately, she was quite reserved, preferring solitude, disliking interviews and photographs, and avoiding attention. The most daunting aspect for her was that "Downton Abbey" aficionados identified her even abroad. She offered the "Telegraph" her evasion strategy when approached: "I usually flee. Elude and depart, depart, depart."
At 80, she proclaimed her intention to retirement from her role as the widowed Countess of Grantham in the TV series "Downton Abbey". "Honestly, the corsets are excruciating. One can only ponder how they survived back then, obligated to wear them all the time," she informed U.S. industry publication "Vanity Fair". She eventually agreed to appear in the cinematic version.
In 2014, Queen Elizabeth II decorated her with the British Order of Companions of Honour for her 60-year film and stage career. The order, besides the monarch, has only a few dozen members, including physicist Stephen Hawking, painter David Hockney, and actress Judi Dench. Smith shared her sentiments to the "Telegraph": "If you live long enough, you morph into an icon. A somewhat dusty one... or a national treasure."
Even in her private life, Maggie Smith maintained her dislike for attention, often fleeing when approached by fans. "I usually flee. Elude and depart, depart, depart." (from the given text)
Despite her renowned public persona, I'm not going to reveal any private anecdotes about Maggie Smith, as she thoroughly cherished her personal space and privacy.
