Maggie Smith Biography

Maggie Smith, actress

Birthplace: Ilford (Essex), England, United Kingdom

Birthdate: December 28, 1934

Sign: Capricorn

Dame Margaret "Maggie" Natalie Smith, DBE was born to Margaret (née Hutton), a Glasgow-born secretary, and Nathaniel Smith, a public health pathologist who worked at Oxford University. She went to Oxford High School, one of the most prestigious private girl schools in the United Kingdom, if not the world.

She made her professional debut soon after graduating high school, at the Oxford Theater. Over the next four years she would be in over a dozen different plays there, 18 overall. During this time she was forced to professionally go with the diminutive form of her name, Maggie, as another actress was working with the name Margaret.

It didn't take long for her to make an impression. By 1956, she was featured on Broadway as part of its annual New Faces review. She also had her first role in a movie, starring in the film "No Where To Go" that year. Her rookie effort garnered her a BAFTA Award.

She soon signed with the Royal National Theatre in the early 60s and started truly building accolades. By 1963, she was experienced enough to co-star with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Orson Welles in The Internationals. This time she won a Golden Globe for Most Promising New Actor.

She was often teamed up with Laurence Olivier during her tenure at the National Theater, and the team up paid off handsomely in 1965. Olivier starred in the title role of Shakespeare's "Othello," with Smith as Desdemona. When the production was inevitably filmed, it garnered Smith her first Oscar nomination.

In 1969, Smith could do no wrong. She not only got her first Oscar for Best Actress, but another BAFTA award and a Golden Globe nomination for her work in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie." This would secure her reputation as one of the finest actresses in the world, a reputation she maintains today.

Smith only did five movies during the 1970s, "Travels With My Aunt" (1972) , "Love and Pain" (and the Whole Damn Thing) (1973), "Murder By Death" (1976), "Death on the Nile" and another Oscar-winning turn in "California Suite" (both 1978). She did even less TV, with only two noted appearances in the Play of the Month series on the BBC (The Millionairess and Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice). Instead she concentrated on the stage, appearing in nearly 20 different productions during that decade.

While her concentration on theater would never quite match the 70s, she kept busy, winning her share of awards along the way. The London Standard awarded her Best Actress for Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf (1981), Way of the World (1984) and Three Tall Women (1994). She earned two Olivier Awards for A Delicate Balance (1997) and The Lady In The Van (2000). She also received a Tony for Lettice & Lovage (1990).

To keep the award collection eclectic, she added an Emmy for her performance in "My House In Umbria" (1983). She is only one of seven actors in history to have ever earned the thespian triple crown: the Oscar, the Tony and the Emmy. Still her highest honor was being awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1970, and then promoted to Dame Commander in 1990, adding the title of "Dame" to her name.

These days she's primarily busy as the indomitable Mrs. Minerva McGonaggle in all the Harry Potter films. Without a doubt, she is still considered one of the greatest practitioners of the craft alive today.