Maggie Smith RIP

Not much else to say. Unique!

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What!?! No :cry:

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Yes just read it very sad news, grown up with her playing so many roles over the years.

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Oh my! She has seemed immortal - glorious actress. One of my favourites: The Lady in the Van.

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We love her workā€¦ and always reckon ā€œif Maggieā€™s in it (whatever), it will be goodā€.

Sad news for her family and friendsā€¦

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She was one of very few performers that brought a sense of class and gravitas to every scene she was in.

RIP.

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I first saw her at the Old Vic in The Dolls House over 50 years ago as teenager. She was marvellous. Canā€™t remember who the male lead was.

A nice tributeā€¦

I always wanted to have the sang-froid of Maggie Smith when I grew up. Never happened.

Downton Abbey - she IS Downton Abbey!

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If she made a film about paint drying Iā€™d pay to watch it as she was that good. :smiley:

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From The Guardian:

The other Smith gem is her appearance in the documentary Nothing Like a Dame in 2018, alongside other great theatrical dames Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Eileen Atkins, in which with absolute honesty and unsentimentality they talk about the acting life. Smith is very funny about the nightmare of working with Laurence Olivier and playing a demure Desdemona to his booming blackface Othello.

Itā€™s a fabulous documentary - all of them are wonderful.

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They certainly were, made even more interesting for us because Fran had once met Joan Plowright I think, while working on stage. She didnā€™t think much of her but, like me, very much enjoyed the other 3.

I think for me (I have never seen Downton or Potter) the most memorable line I remember from Maggie Smith was, in a very refined (Edinburgh?) accent, ā€˜these are my girls and I, am in my primeā€™.

Did I remember it correctly, it was a very long time ago? :smiley:

Having been compelled to watch it, and even under torture that will remain my defence, I can say the dowager countessā€™s one liners made Downton watchable.

Another favourite: Tea with Mussolini. Although not shown in this trailer, she and Judi Dench play beautifully against one another in this, as they so often do.

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Weā€™ve got that dvd, plus ā€œLadies in Lavenderā€ (another gentle, thoughtful film).

When winter strikes, we enjoy watching these ā€œgolden oldiesā€ while we snuggle by the fireā€¦ :+1:

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The ā€˜best friendā€™ referred to is my daughter on the right. :relieved:

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