# Dame Maggie Smith has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, celebrity-death\ **Created:** [September 27, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798 "2024-09-27T14:28:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/1 "2024-09-27T14:28:08Z")
> **[Dame Maggie Smith: Harry Potter and Downton Abbey actress dies at 89](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgk7375ngkxo)** > > She won two Oscars and starred in the Harry Potter films and Downton Abbey. > … > A legend of British stage and screen, she won two Oscars during her career - for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1970 and California Suite in 1979. > > She had four other nominations, and received eight Bafta awards. > > In the Harry Potter films, Dame Maggie played the acerbic Professor Minerva McGonagall, famous for her pointed witch’s hat and stern manner with the young wizards at Hogwarts. > > In hit ITV drama Downton Abbey, she played Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, the grand matriarch who excelled at withering one-liners through the show’s six series. I absolutely remember her in _The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,_ which came out the year I graduated from college. > _Little girls! I am in the business of putting old heads on young shoulders, and all my pupils are the creme de la creme. Give me a girl at an impressionable age and she is mine for life. You girls are my vocation. If I were to receive a proposal of marriage tomorrow from the Lord Lyon, King of Arms, I would decline it. I am dedicated to you in my prime._ Dame Maggie, you stayed in your prime for a very long time. Godspeed. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/2 "2024-09-27T14:42:03Z")
a wonderful woman and excellent actor. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/3 "2024-09-27T14:43:22Z")
Dame died? Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/4 "2024-09-27T15:10:07Z")
RIP. What a delightful actress. I think I read that she didn’t really enjoy her _Downton Abbey_ fame; prior to that show she could still go around in public without attracting much attention, but not afterwards. She was on Carol Burnett several times, most memorably as Eunice’s son’s teacher, but here’s a fun song-and-dance number: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dT1YfqZeUb0/hqdefault.jpg "Maggie Smith and Carol Burnett SING!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT1YfqZeUb0) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/5 "2024-09-27T15:18:12Z")
She was so great and for so long. Amazing actress. Thank you for all your wonderful work. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/6 "2024-09-27T15:20:32Z")
She was excellent in everything I saw her in. But it does look as if Father Time is picking off the faculty at Hogwarts. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/7 "2024-09-27T15:23:00Z")
I remember her most from _ **Miss Jean Brodie** _ and _ **Hot Millions** _. She was really something back in the '60s! ❤ RIP, Maggie! ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/8 "2024-09-27T15:29:34Z")
We should all have libations flavoured with citrus in memory of the Dame. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/9 "2024-09-27T15:31:56Z")
“What is a week _end_?” ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/10 "2024-09-27T15:57:35Z")
Celebrity deaths rarely register on my radar but this one definitely has. Maggie Smith was absolutely wonderful in everything she appeared in. She was in the mostly forgotten but great _The Missionary_ with Michael Palin and Trevor Howard which, interestingly enough, was filmed at Highclere Castle – the same filming location as _Downton Abbey_ some 30 years later. _The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie_ is on my TBW list. Maybe I’ll try to check that one off this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/11 "2024-09-27T16:02:46Z")
> [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > She was on Carol Burnett several times, most memorably as Eunice’s son’s teacher, “I WILL HAVE ORDER!! Sit at your desks at once! [This is my classroom; I am the teacher.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6Aza94dvyg) We are here today to discuss **your brat** , so let’s…discuss him.” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/12 "2024-09-27T16:26:25Z")
Carol Burnett did that same number on her show around 1964 with Julie Andrews. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YyTBYlRR3H0/hqdefault.jpg "Julie & Carol at Carnegie Hall - You're so London") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyTBYlRR3H0) ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/13 "2024-09-27T16:33:42Z")
What a loss. Truly an amazing actress. RIP Dame Maggie Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/14 "2024-09-27T16:39:12Z")
I just loved her. I was a latecomer to her talents. She didn’t ping my radar until her middle years, but once I discovered her, I made it a point to see everything of hers I could. Her comic timing was brilliant and I loved that about her. And she personified civility, a rare quality these days. Rest in peace, dear lady. You will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/15 "2024-09-27T17:27:04Z")
Submitted for your perusal: **Tea with Mussolini** **Nothing like a Dame (Tea with the Dames)** ---
**Author:** ![Loggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Loggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loggins)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/16 "2024-09-27T17:32:31Z")
Travels with My Aunt (1972) is one movie i have a special fondness for. I read the book the movie was based on by Graham Greene several times, and i felt that the film captured the essense and comedy of the book. Maggie was excellent. funny and pretty. Louis Gossett Jr. as the perfect valor/lover? of Maggies character, and their togetherness of being narcotics smugglers. Maggies naive nephew played by Alec McCowen was also perfectly acted with wit and comedy and, as i said naivete. Brilliant movie, brilliant book! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/17 "2024-09-27T17:51:23Z")
I remember her from _California Suite_. She plays an English actress who is in Los Angeles to attend the Oscars, but she doesn’t win. She won an Oscar for the role. > [@Aspenglow](#): > > Her comic timing was brilliant and I loved that about her. And she personified civility, a rare quality these days. She was brilliant in _Murder By Death_. In a cast of comedy greats, she has a couple of the best moments. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/18 "2024-09-27T17:56:13Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > She was brilliant in _Murder By Death_. In a cast of comedy greats, she has a couple of the best moments. I’ll have to re-watch that. 🙂 She was wonderfully catty in one of my favorite films, Gosford Park. There’s a scene where one Downstairs person tips a cup of coffee onto someone’s lap (deservedly so), and Smith’s giggles are so perfect over it – makes me laugh to remember the performance! She was always splendid in her roles. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/19 "2024-09-27T17:56:14Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > “What is a week _end_?” I loved that bit. Partly because the character was really befuddled; she had never worked a normal workweek so the concept of a weekend was so utterly foreign to her. Another movie I liked her in was _[The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_Exotic_Marigold_Hotel)_ and its sequel, in which a group of Brit pensioners move to a retirement hotel in India, run by Dev Patel’s character. Lots of fun if you like seeing movies with her, Penelope Wilton, Judi Dench and others. There was also _[Quartet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartet_(2012_film))_, directed by Dustin Hoffman. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/20 "2024-09-27T18:02:22Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I’ll have to re-watch that. 🙂 It has a few aspects that haven’t aged well, but Maggie Smith is not one of them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798.md?page=2)