Maggie Smith, more specifically Margaret Natalie Smith, was born on December 28, 1934 in Ilford, part of the English county of Essex. She was educated at Oxford High School, but it is said that she does not have the best memories of her time at school. She began her acting debut with appearances at the Oxford Playhouse Theater, and for the first time on stage, she appeared in The New Faces 1956 Revenue.Soon after, she joined the Old Vic Company and then engaged to work at The National Theater. Her acting career is framed by many successes. Throughout its activity, it has won 18 awards so far, including two Oscars and three Golden Globes, and has received nominations for 46 statuettes. In 1990, she was awarded the Order of the British Empire, which gave her the privilege of using the title “Dame” (the male equivalent of “sir”).
She made her big screen debut in 1956, playing Child’s in the house, although she was not named in the opening credits at the time. She then appeared in Nowhere to Go as Bridget Howard and in Z życia VIPs as Miss Mead. She has also starred in productions such as Othello as Desdemona, Young Cassidy as Burrow, Evil Lurks Everywhere as Daphne Castle and The Secret Garden from 1993 as Mrs.Medlock . However, she gained the greatest popularity among younger audiences in 2001, when she appeared as a famous witch, teacher of the main character in the films about Harry Potter. It is also impossible not to mention her role in the iconic costume production Downton Abbey , where she played the role of the Widow Countess Violet Crawley. In total, Maggie Smith has starred in over 60 productions, for which she has been awarded many times. To date, she remains one of the greatest actresses from the UK, and continues to delight viewers of the big screen.
