It’s hard to think of many actors who are more beloved than Maggie Smith.
Interested in learning more about her journey from 1930s Essex to acting acclaim?
Here is the stunning transformation of Maggie Smith.
Her mother, Margaret, was a Scottish secretary.
“They were Nat and Meg,” she said toThe Guardianof her parents.
“Though I don’t think that can be right because the Glasgow train didn’t stop at Newcastle.
Still, that’s what they said.”
“Honest to God, I have no idea where the urge came from.
“I got into terrible trouble once because the neighbors took me to the cinema on a Sunday.
She told NPR of the school: “It didn’t last very long.
If you applied to get in you got in, if you know what I mean.”
She went on to perform in musicals and comedies in the repertory theater.
This meant that many of the more “serious” theaters weren’t interested.
“The time on stage is easier than the rest of one’s existence.
“The rest of the time I find very confusing.
I feel like a person who doesn’t exist until I’m somebody else.”
“Not a scrap of it.
I just thought it was going to be all theater and wonderful.”
He proposed, but Smith married Robert Stephens instead, a fellow actor, in 1967.
Her friends didn’t exactly approve.
She continued working while juggling her family.
Stephens struggled with his mental health in the ’70s and was eventually diagnosed as “hypermanic.”
“In the end, it was destroying everybody.
And he was having so many affairs.”
In 1973, Stephens and Smith divorced.
At the time,The New York Timesraved about her “big, extraordinary performance.”
She shone in the role.
Getting the Oscar nod was a surprise.
“And they weren’t anywhere near so huge things as they are now.
They married in 1975.
They spent the first few years in Canada, where Smith continued acting on stage.
Her second marriage was much happier, and the pair remained married until Cross' death in 1998.
Smith also credits Cross with raising her sons.
He was, as Smith told The Guardian in 2004, a “lovely man.”
After his death, Smith settled into a life alone in London.
There would be no replacing him.
Even though it’s been over 20 years since his death, Smith still feels his absence.
“They say it goes away but it doesn’t,” she told The Telegraph in 2014.
“It just gets different.
It’s awful, but what do you do?
After the busyness you are more alone, much more.”
For Smith, it led to a puffiness of the eyes.
It was, understandably, not an easy time.
After all, she was only 56 years old when the honor was given.
Smith added that the title probably wouldn’t make a huge difference in her life.
She was only the 47th person to receive the honor other actors included Ian McKellen and Judi Dench.
From 2001 to 2011, she played the stern Transfiguration professor.
“It wasn’t what you’d call satisfying.
Nevertheless, she had a wonderful time making them thanks to her co-stars.
She also mentioned Alan Rickman, who played Professor Snape.
“He was a joy,” she said.
But while she liked making it, she later admitted that she hadnever seen a single episode.
In 2022,she appeared in the second “Downton Abbey” film.
According toThe Guardian, Smith had been attached to the project for two decades before it was finally made.
“She’s so un-Downton,” said director Thaddeus O’Sullivan of her performance.
And apparently, she’s just as wonderful to work with as ever.
“Every day on the set with her was a revelation,” he said.
We’re hardly surprised.
Smith also has an upcoming film in the works.
Clearly, there’s still much more to come from this British icon.
