Maggie Smith was born on December 28, 1934 and passed away on September 27, 2024. She was one of Britain's most recognizable and prolific actresses.

Maggie studied at Oxford High School until she was 16 years old, when she left to study acting at the Oxford Playhouse. At just 17 years old, Maggie's career began: she played Viola in Twelfth Night at the Oxford Playhouse. She continued to perform on stage throughout the 1950s and 1960s, becoming a fixture at the National Theatre.

She appeared in her first film in 1956 (uncredited), and by 1959, she had received the first of her 18 British Academy Dilm Award nominations for her role as Bridget Howard in the film Nowhere to Go, her first screen credit.

Maggie won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the title role of the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She continued rising to stardom throughout the 1970s, receiving her first Tony Award nomination.

Into the 1980s and 1990s Maggie kept acting, receiving many nominations and awards along the way. From 2001 to 2011, Maggie played Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films. Maggie, along with Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid, were hand-picked by JK Rowling herself. From 2010 to 2015, she played Violet Crawlet, Dowager Countess of Grantham in the show Downton Abbey. This role won her three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie as well as a Golden Globe Award and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Maggie continued acting through the twenty-teens before returning to theatre in 2016 until her death in 2024.

Maggie was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1970 New year Honours and promoted to Dame Commander in the 1990 New Year Honours. She was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to drama in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours, becoming the third actress to ever receive the honour.

Over the course of her career, she received a Tony Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, five British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and five Screen Actors Guild Awards, among many others.

Maggie married Robert Stephens in 1967 and they had two sons together before divorcing in 1975. She married Beverley Cross in 1975 and they remained married until his death in 1998.

In 1988, Maggie was diagnosed with Graves' disease, and in 2007, she revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2009, she was reported to have made a full recovery.