# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/21 "2024-09-27T18:53:20Z")
I loved seeing her work opposite Judi Dench — The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel , A Room with a View. And yeah, she made a great Professor McGonagall! ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/22 "2024-09-27T18:57:07Z")
Does anyone else remember Smith as Desdemona in the 1965 film of _Othello_? It’s practically unwatchable now because Laurence Olivier played the lead role in blackface, but it was her first Academy Award nomination. One reviewer said “Maggie Smith’s red-haired Desdemona is a beautifully vibrant, sensitive lass who accepts the realization of her doom with pathetic submissiveness.” [Maggie Smith (imdb.com)](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001749/mediaviewer/rm3364298753/) [othello.jpg (462×327) (wordpress.com)](https://nighthawknews.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/othello.jpg) ---
**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, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/23 "2024-09-27T18:58:23Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I loved seeing her work opposite Judi Dench — The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel , A Room with a View. _A Room with a View_ is my all-time favorite movie. And she completely makes it. All the actors are wonderful, but as ever, she was a standout. (Closely followed by Daniel Day Lewis!) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/24 "2024-09-27T19:01:50Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > Does anyone else remember Smith as Desdemona in the 1965 film of _Othello_? It’s practically unwatchable now because Laurence Olivier played the lead role in blackface, but it was her first Academy Award nomination. That’s the one I came to the thread to mention. As you note, it’s considered “unwatchable” due to Olivier’s blackface and consequently is rarely shown, which is a shame. She truly was vivid in it. And for those who know her only from her middle-aged (and older) roles, she’s quite the revelation. Desdemona is a tough role to pull off precisely because of the submissiveness (to being murdered!) she must convey. It’s hard to make that sympathetic. But Smith made her three-dimensional. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/25 "2024-09-27T19:22:58Z")
I watched The Prime of Jean Brodie a long time back as well as A Room with a View though I admit I remember very little of either. Probably worth re-watching both some time. Of her more recent films Gosford Park is probably my favorite though on thinking about it I don’t remember much of the specifics of that either; it’s hard to believe it’s been more than 20 years now. Wikipedia says her first film credit was all the way back in 1958 and her last was in 2023. That makes a 65 year career which has to be among the very longest of those which have ended recently. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/26 "2024-09-27T20:25:44Z")
Evil Under the Sun is one of my favorites of hers – she gets to drawl and purr insults at Diana Rigg’s character, all with perfectly plausible deniability. She makes that movie, one way and another. And she looks great in it, considering she was 48 or so. Sir Ian McKellen does a wicked impression of her, you can find it on YouTube tapes of Graham Norton’s chat show. ---
**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, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/27 "2024-09-27T22:27:19Z")
I suppose I should have taken the time to post a link to this film. [Tea With the Dames (2018) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7363336/) Dames Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, Joan Plowright, and Maggie Smith get together for tea to reminisce and discuss their acting careers. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2024, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/28 "2024-09-28T01:52:26Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > She was brilliant in _Murder By Death_. For quite a long time, that movie and her appearances on The Carol Burnett show were the _only_ things I knew Maggie Smith from. It wasn’t until much later in my life that I got around to seeing any of her other work. She was consistently wonderful in everything that I’ve seen her do. Even the silly little comedy skits on the Burnett show. Not many people can be equally convincing playing opposite Laurence Olivier and Tim Conway, but Dame Maggie managed it. ---
**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 28, 2024, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/29 "2024-09-28T02:00:23Z")
I’m quite the opposite, in that mostly I picture the later, older Maggie Smith so watching that video posted upthread of her singing with Carol Burnett is different. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2024, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/30 "2024-09-28T02:12:15Z")
I’m late to the game for recognizing her in Downton Abbey and Harry Potter but she is the queen of one liners. She will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2024, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/31 "2024-09-28T03:26:49Z")
Years ago I saw her on stage in the Peter Shaffer play [Lettice and Lovage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettice_and_Lovage). The role was specifically written for her, and she was fantastic. ---
**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 28, 2024, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/32 "2024-09-28T04:26:02Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > She was brilliant in _Murder By Death_. In a cast of comedy greats, she has a couple of the best moments. For those who don’t know this movie, an eccentric millionaire invites five great detectives to his mansion to challenge them to solve a crime which is going to take place. David Niven and Maggie Smith play Dick and Dora Charleston, clearly modeled on Nick and Nora Charles from the _Thin Man_ movies. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MoGu5j6WrBE/hqdefault.jpg "Murder by death 1976 Dame Maggie Smith") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoGu5j6WrBE) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/75yJfU38YBI/maxresdefault.jpg "MURDER BY DEATH Maggie Smith David Niven James Coco | SCENE") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75yJfU38YBI) It has some un-PC elements that are quite dated, but the good parts, Smith included, are still worth seeing. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2024, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/33 "2024-09-28T11:29:32Z")
> [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > I think I read that she didn’t really enjoy her _Downton Abbey_ fame; [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/555rIkbbT84/maxresdefault.jpg "Dame Maggie Smith talks about being recognised in public | The Graham Norton Show - BBC") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=555rIkbbT84) I had the good fortune to see her on stage in Congreve’s _The Way of the World_ with Michael Jayston as her suitor (“I may, by degrees, _dwindle_ into a wife”). ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2024, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/34 "2024-09-28T11:35:10Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > Does anyone else remember Smith as Desdemona in the 1965 film of _Othello_? It’s practically unwatchable now because Laurence Olivier played the lead role in blackface, In one TV programme I saw, she said Olivier had said something in rehearsal about needing to work on her vowels, and when she saw him slapping on the make-up she said “How now, brown cow”: “He didn’t get it”. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2024, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/35 "2024-09-28T14:45:05Z")
I haven’t seen much of her stuff outside of Downton Abbey. Maybe I should seek out the version of David Copperfield with her and Daniel Radcliffe; I think she must have been an amazing Betsey Trotwood. ---
**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 28, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/36 "2024-09-28T15:24:36Z")
Find something when she was younger, like “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.” Don’t just watch her “old lady” roles. > **[Maggie Smith Filmography](https://www.imdb.com/list/ls080381917/?sort=release_date%2Cdesc)** ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/37 "2024-09-28T22:10:00Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > In one TV programme I saw, she said Olivier had said something in rehearsal about needing to work on her vowels, and when she saw him slapping on the make-up she said “How now, brown cow”: “He didn’t get it”. So she not only had the skill of _delivering_ witty one-liners—she could actually think them up herself! ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2024, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/38 "2024-09-29T02:41:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I absolutely remember her in _The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,_ which came out the year I graduated from college. Yes, even though she’s done brilliant work since her screen debut in _Brodie_ it’s her most memorable role for me. > [@Lantern2](#): > > Of her more recent films Gosford Park is probably my favorite though on thinking about it I don’t remember much of the specifics of that either It’s one of my favorites as well, and her performance is a much more acidic (and three dimensional) protrayal than her _Downton Abbey_ role. I’ve probably seen it ten times or more, and I can nearly recite all the dialog ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2024, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/39 "2024-09-29T04:22:24Z")
> [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > 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. Yes. She’s a bit more direct in an interview with the BFI. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=detAlTL9sbM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=detAlTL9sbM) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2024, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798/40 "2024-09-29T05:22:02Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Find something when she was younger, like “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.” Don’t just watch her “old lady” roles. I always think of her Jean Brodie movie alongside of this song: [Jean by Oliver](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozEk-eCYwc) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-maggie-smith-has-died/1007798.md?page=3)