Maggie Smith in Quartet
Throughout Maggie Smith’s career, she has become a true fan favourite and leading lady thanks to her quick wit, lovable personality and unbelievable acting abilities.
Her new film Quartet showcases all her talents and once again places her in the spotlight as an actress that never falters.
In an attempt to uncover her secret to success and how she manages to remain a constant in the turbulent, ever-changing world of Hollywood, we looking back at the best of Maggie Smith.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
Smith won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of a liberated young schoolteacher who influences the young girls at an Edinburgh private school with her unorthodox teaching methods.
Much to the dismay of the other faculty, Miss Brodie cultures the impressionable girls in arts, politics and love while having scandalous affairs with the male schoolteachers.
Click here to buy The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
California Suite (1978)
This comedy features four separate stories of the dilemmas and antics befallen upon the guests staying in a Beverley Hills hotel.
Smith plays Diana, a first-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actress, who is in deep denial about the state of her marriage to antique dealer Sidney, played by Michael Caine.
Clash of the Titans (1981)
This film of epic proportion follows the journey of Perseus as he defends his love, Princess Andromeda, from danger by slaying the evil Kraken. Smith assumes the role of sea goddess Thetis, whose jealousy over Andromeda’s beauty inspires her to sacrifice the princess to the Kraken.
A Room with a View (1985)
Helena Bonham Carter’s first feature role has her starring as Lucy Honeychurch, a young woman in the restrictive Edwardian culture, who ends up falling in love with philosophical and brooding George Emerson while on vacation in Italy.
However, this love story is complicated by Lucy’s cousin and chaperone, portrayed by Smith, whose proper English upbringing convinces her that George is not an acceptable suitor for her young and naive cousin.
Click here to buy A Room with a View
The Secret Garden (1993)
The Secret Garden is an inspiring tale of finding hope in the most unusual places as young orphan Kate comes to live with her cold uncle in his English estate.
With a little help from Maggie Smith’s Martha, the maidservant, Kate discovers the secret garden and uses it’s magic to lift the spirits of her wheelchair-bound cousin.
Tea with Mussolini (1999)
Smith joined her dear friend Dame Judi Dench for this film about an illegitimate son of an Itailian businessman being raised by an Englishwoman in pre-WWII Fascist Italy.
Her eccentric group of friends, including the brash and glamorized American played by Cher and the prim and proper Smith, also help out until the war breaks out and it soon becomes dangerous for everyone to stay in Italy.
Click here to buy Tea with Mussolini
Gosford Park (2001)
A murder mystery unfolds in the quaint English manor after a shooting weekend ends horribly wrong. Now, the guests living upstairs as well as their servants downstairs have all become suspects with each having their own motive to kill.
Written by ‘Downton Abbey’ creator Julian Fellowes, the theme of comparing lives of the wealthy to the life of servitude transcends from this movie to the television show.
Another common factor is the casting of Smith, who portrays a very similar character in both as a countess quite fond of a few back-handed compliments.
Click here to buy Gosford Park
Harry Potter films (2001-2011)
If only everyone had a teacher like stern yet lovable Professor Minerva McGonagall!
The head of Gryffindor House and Transfiguration professor cast a spell on audiences everywhere when she starred in all eight of the much-loved Harry Potter films.
Click here to buy the Harry Potter films
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)
Dench and Smith reunite again as British retirees travelling to India to stay at a seemingly luxurious hotel only to realize that the advertisement were a little more than deceiving.
Still, the hotel eventually begins to charm them in the most unexpected ways. Smith steals scenes as a retired housekeeper not too keen on Asians but wanting an inexpensive hip replacement operation done in India.
Quartet (2012)
Set in a retirement home for musicians, the annual concert for Giuseppe Verdi’s birthday is disrupted by the arrival of Jean to the group.
A resident diva and ex-wife of fellow singer Reggie, Jean’s presence will either make the show a huge success or a total disaster.
Be sure to catch all the drama as Quartet is out now.
Tagged in Maggie Smith