Maggie Smith has died

405 pointsposted 9 months ago
by asix66
(variety.com)

44 Comments

jimbokun

9 months ago

Maggie Smith and Michelle Dockery were brilliant in Downton Abbey. Their characters always seemed two to three steps ahead of everyone with their wit. And were hilarious to boot.

Robert Crawley was nominally in charge of everything. But it was clear that Violet and Mary were pulling all the strings through their understanding of how the social contracts really worked. And it was fitting that in the finale Violet hands over the future of the estate to Mary.

astr0n0m3r

9 months ago

In Downton Abbey, Maggie Smith is playing a toned-down version of the character she played in Gosford Park.

ttepasse

9 months ago

One of my favourite movies. As an ensemble movie it get’s better with multiple viewings.

kitd

9 months ago

Written by the same person, so kind of expected.

jimbokun

9 months ago

Well maybe I'll have to watch that now.

raffraffraff

9 months ago

Gosford Park? Omg, that's the only one worth watching! It has a plot. I period drama but couldn't get past two episodes of Downton Abbey. Too sugary and boring.

piltdownman

9 months ago

If you haven't already make sure you watch Brideshead revisited.

You have Phoebe Nicholls (who played Lady Rose's mother) and Diana Quick (Polina Molotova in The Death of Stalin and the Queen in the eponymous BBC series) doing some similar social machinations in the background of an absolutely stacked period-drama with a cast including Jeremy Irons, Laurence Olivier, and John Gielgud.

wrboyce

9 months ago

W… what is a weekend?

piltdownman

9 months ago

A towering presence of British stage and screen, with Dame Judi Dench being about the last of that golden generation since the passing of Diana Riggs (Olenna Tyrell).

Time for a rewatch of Gosford Park while archly sipping gin out of a china teacup with a raised pinkie.

jszymborski

9 months ago

I didn't know Diana Riggs died :( She really brought the Queen of Thorns to life.

Angostura

9 months ago

One of her last pieces of work was in the excellent BBC series The Detectorists, where she played a character who was mother to her real-life daughter

piltdownman

9 months ago

Yeah she was a big loss, a 60s bond girl and all-round sex symbol who went on to completely transcend that label and developed into a serious thespian and RSC/Old Vic stalwart. She absolutely holds her own as the Wife of Olivier's Lear.

I'm delighted she got to work with Edgar Wright before her death and put in a great turn in Last Night in Soho; I'd a big fear she'd peter out with a few Dr.Who episodes in a fairly unceremonious end to a glittering and exremely accomplished career.

kitd

9 months ago

One of her last roles was in the fantastic BBC comedy "Detectorists" where she played the mother of Rachael Stirling, her daughter in real life.

There was definitely a big hole when series 2 came out without her.

dmd

9 months ago

I saw a black cat this morning I'm pretty sure was her.

simonbarker87

9 months ago

For her passing to make the front page of HN when she has no presence in the tech world really speaks to her impact. I imagine very few people would reach that level. Wonderful actress, she was the best character in Downton.

jedberg

9 months ago

This is a really good point. Unless there is some tech angle these things don't usually make HN.

I wonder how much of it has to do with the overlap between tech nerds and Harry Potter nerds.

tsujamin

9 months ago

Don’t forget The First Wives Club! RIP

gennarro

9 months ago

Sorry to see this, she's been an absolute legend over the years. She was always great even when I didn't think I would love the show or movie.

workingdog

9 months ago

I don't think you can understand the 1960s without seeing her glorious movie, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

It captures the tension of social norms and rebellion and, if one pays attention, the natural consequences of unbridled enthusiasm.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXA0N55c3iw

frereubu

9 months ago

Showing my age a bit here, but when I think of her this film is always what I'm reminded of. That phrase "I am Miss Jean Brodie... and I am in my prime" in her frightfully posh Scottish accent rattles around my head quite a bit for some reason.

I've always thought of her as being well-known, but apparently it was Downton Abbey that really made her properly famous, which she didn't really like: https://x.com/lewispringle/status/1839680373774581849

cafard

9 months ago

But the book and movie are set in the 1930s, though I guess 1930s through a 1960s sensibility.

jonjacky

9 months ago

I think her character Prof. McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies drew heavily on her much earlier role as that other Scottish school teacher, Jean Brodie.

IanKerr

9 months ago

She was excellent at whatever she was in. An absolute icon of cinema. RIP Maggie Smith.

junon

9 months ago

If you haven't seen it already, check out "Tea with the Dames". It's great, and I'd assume one of the last things Dame Maggie Smith was in.

mandibles

9 months ago

Rest in peace to one of the true greats.

My favorite line from Downtown Abby: "What's a week end?"

thoughtpalette

9 months ago

I'll never forget her in the Hook VHS I had growing up. RIP

penguin_booze

9 months ago

The Lady in the Van cuts a lot of onion for me. RIP.

eszed

9 months ago

I was fortunate enough to see her in that on stage. She and Nick Farrell were on top form. It's a highlight.

I shed real tears when I saw that she had passed. The other week, with James Earl Jones, as well. We're losing a generation of actors with real, deep roots in theatre, who then adapted to TV and cinema as those media matured. They're a bridge generation, and their experience will not be replicated. The profession and the culture are the poorer for their loss.

asix66

9 months ago

I will add "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" to another good movie she was in, along with an excellent cast.

vr46

9 months ago

Excellent on stage in A German Life, even when the writing wasn't up to her acting. And the Lady In The Van!

RIP Maggie Smith

saucymew

9 months ago

Maggie Smith's character in both Abbey and HP brooked no BS. We're reaching the time now when more of the Harry Potter teachers are leaving this world, I am not looking forward to the students.

TheNewsIsHere

9 months ago

This is a striking and sobering comment, sauceymew.

We’ll be lucky to live that long, and sorry to see them fall.

(Edit: s/fail/fall)

jl6

9 months ago

Big boots to fill if they go ahead with the Harry Potter TV series.

ilrwbwrkhv

9 months ago

One of the best artists of stage and cinema. Will miss her.

killingtime74

9 months ago

What a life well lived. 89 is a great age