I heard yesterday of the death at the age of 89 of the great Maggie Smith. Tributes have been appearing around the world at the loss of such a great talent and wonderful personality. I can’t add anything to these except to say that I adored her.
I guess many people will be most familiar her through the work she did in later life, such as the Harry Potter franchise and Downtown Abbey but as an oldie I will always think of her as the eponymous Edinburgh schoolteacher in the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, based on the Muriel Spark novel of the same name, for which she deservedly won an Oscar as Best Actress for her portrayal of Jean Brodie, an over-zealous teacher with a soft spot for Mussolini’s Fascisti. Here’s the original trailer.
I do hope this film gets shown again soon as a tribute, as it is really superb.
Other roles I particularly remember Maggie Smith for are in are California Suite (for which she also won an Oscar, as Best Supporting Actress). She was absolutely hilarious in Murder by Death, her perfect sense of comic timing generating numerous laugh-out-loud moments in that film.
Maggie Smith was also memorable as the splendidly rude Lady Constance in Gosford Park, a role you might think of as a sort of prelude to her part in Downton Abbey. There are countless other performances I could mention too, on TV, on Film and in the Theatre. She was tremendously versatile and talented, as well as extremely funny. She admitted having learnt a great deal about comedy from Kenneth Williams, with whom she was great friends for a long time.
Rest in peace, Maggie Smith. You’ll be missed so much.
In the Dark 