An almost unearthly poise and refinement, a razor-sharp wit, flawless comic timing, an unexpected warmth, and an ever-present, knowing wink—these are just some of the indelible qualities that Dame Maggie Smith brought to her work across theater, film, and TV over the past 70 years, building a formidable career that remains the envy of many of her contemporaries. Following the tragic news of her death on Friday, at the age of 89, we pay tribute to her 10 greatest creations from the big and small screen—from the flinty Miss Jean Brodie to the deliciously scathing Dowager Countess of Grantham, Lady Violet Crawley.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
By then already a fixture on the British stage, the actor took Hollywood by storm at the age of 34, winning a best-actress Oscar for her mercurial turn as the charismatic and supremely influential titular school teacher in Ronald Neame’s fascinating character study. It’s a tour de force that kept expectations sky-high for the rest of her career.
California Suite (1978)
Floating into view in diaphanous dresses and strings of pearls while sipping beer, stuffing her face with bagels, and eviscerating her husband (Michael Caine), Smith steals every scene in Herbert Ross’s fizzy anthology comedy following bickering couples at a luxury hotel. As a snooty thespian on the cusp of a comeback, she proved that she could deliver a withering punchline as expertly as a Shakespearean monologue, and scooped a best-supporting-actress Oscar in the process.
A Private Function (1984)
As the no-nonsense and hilariously domineering wife of Michael Palin’s soft-spoken chiropodist in Malcolm Mowbray’s ’40s-set crowdpleaser—a raucous tale involving post-war rationing, hapless big-wigs, and a stolen pig—Smith was a firecracker once again, earning not only the biggest laughs, but also a BAFTA for best actress.
A Room with a View (1985)
In prim, puff-sleeved suiting and bow-laden hats, Smith takes the part of the watchful chaperone to Helena Bonham Carter’s impressionable Lucy Honeychurch in James Ivory’s sweeping classic. To see the former sitting in the sun-drenched Tuscan countryside and reminiscing about lost loves with Judi Dench’s romance novelist Eleanor Lavish is an utter joy.
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987)
A middle-aged romantic (Smith) falls for her landlady’s charming brother (Bob Hoskins) with heartbreaking consequences in Jack Clayton’s tender tragedy. Subtle, delicate, and ultimately crushing, the actor’s sublime performance marks a noticeable gear shift from her more quippy and biting turns.
Sister Act (1992)
Smith’s stern Reverend Mother, who acts as the foil to Whoopi Goldberg’s louche lounge singer forced into a convent-based witness protection program, is a stiff-upper-lipped delight in Emile Ardolino’s swaggering musical. She would reprise the part a year later in Bill Duke’s Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.
The Harry Potter franchise (2001 - 2011)
Despite her impressive, decades-spanning oeuvre, to many, Smith will always be Hogwarts’s sometimes frosty, often dryly funny, and always level-headed Minerva McGonagall. It’s impossible to imagine the wizarding world without her commanding presence—and, 10 years later, a real treat to see the Transfiguration professor, head of Gryffindor House, and deputy headmistress finally take center stage in the climactic battle in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Gosford Park (2001)
Among a who’s who of British acting royalty—Helen Mirren, Kristin Scott Thomas, Richard E. Grant, Emily Watson, Charles Dance, Stephen Fry, Derek Jacobi—Smith is the unqualified standout in this delectable Robert Altman-directed, Julian Fellowes-penned satire. Her imperious, side-splitting Constance, Dowager Countess of Trentham, paved the way for the acerbic Lady Violet.
Downton Abbey (2010-2015)
Armed with pithy bon mots, blistering put-downs, and a wardrobe of elaborately feathered hats and beaded ball gowns, Smith was the heart and soul of Fellowes’s next major project, the period drama sensation which spawned six scandal-filled seasons and two cinematic sequels, with a third currently on the way. The Dowager Countess of Grantham is easily her funniest creation—any highlight reel is sure to leave you screaming—and one that secured her three Emmys and an even more devoted fan following post-Potter.
The Lady in the Van (2015)
At 80, Smith dazzled audiences once more in Nicholas Hytner and Alan Bennett’s poignant account of an eccentric elderly squatter, taking on the role she previously embodied in the latter’s 1999 stage play and 2009 radio adaptation of the same name. It’s an intricate, absorbing, life-affirming, and tear-jerking portrait of an entirely unique character, composed by an actor who was herself also one of a kind.
