Maggie Smith’s 12 Best Performances, from ‘Jean Brodie’ to ‘Downton Abbey’

Dame Maggie Smith was many things. Hilarious and tragic. Elegant and aloof. Enchanting and deadly serious. Most will attribute their appreciation of her multiple-generation spanning career to roles in the “Harry Potter” or “Sister Act” franchises or perhaps “Downton Abbey,” which elevated her fame to a level she often spoke disdainfully of. For Smith was not an actress who was in it for the red carpets or accolades — though she received many, including two Oscars, five BAFTAS, four Emmys, and a Tony — but rather treated acting as a sturdy profession, one that required of her the utmost presence while on set or stage. 

Beginning her career in the early 1950s, she played Viola in William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” at The Oxford Playhouse, followed later by roles in “As You Like It” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor” at London’s famed Old Vic theater. She rose to prominence on screen during the 1960s in films like “The VIPs” with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, “The Pumpkin Eaters” with Anne Bancroft and Peter Finch, and Laurence Olivier’s adaptation of the National Theatre Company’s staging of “Othello.” Her starring role in Ronald Neame’s “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” catapulted her into the upper echelons of British talent, earning her an Academy Award for Best Actress and beginning to form her status as one of the greatest performers in the world.

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Smith would eventually become known as a main feature among many ensemble casts, especially in the genre of murder mysteries. She starred alongside Peter Falk, David Niven, and even Truman Capote in the American satire “Murder by Death,” took a trip down Africa’s longest river in the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile,” and played what some might consider to be a version of herself in the film of Neil Simon’s “California Suite.”

Taking on more comedic and child-geared fare in the ‘90s, Smith starred in films like Steven Spielberg’s “Hook,” “The Secret Garden,” and female-forward hit “The First Wives Club.” While “Harry Potter” and “Downton” may ultimately have become what she is best known for, Smith’s career was long, eclectic, and without comparison. Below, IndieWire lists some of our favorites in her honor and encourages all to watch one you might not have seen before.

Christian Blauvelt, Tom Brueggemann, Jim Hemphill, Sarah Shachat, Anne Thompson, and Christian Zilko contributed to this story.

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