SMITH, DAME MAGGIE

born Dec. 28, 1934, Ilford, Essex, Eng. original name Margaret Natalie Smith English stage and motion-picture actress, noted for her poignancy and wit in comic roles. Smith studied acting at the Oxford Playhouse School and began appearing in revues in Oxford in 1952 and London in 1955. She first achieved recognition in the Broadway revue New Faces of 1956 and held the lead comedienne role in the London revue Share My Lettuce (195758). She then began appearing regularly in plays at the Old Vic Theatre in London. Her work in Jean Anouilh's The Rehearsal (1961), Peter Shaffer's linked comedies The Private Ear and The Public Eye (1962), and Jean Kerr's Mary, Mary (1963) solidified her reputation. She joined Britain's National Theatre Company in 1963, where she played Desdemona opposite Laurence Olivier's Othello in 1964. She repeated that role in Olivier's motion-picture version of the play in 1965 and appeared with the National Theatre in such roles as Silvia in George Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer (1963). Smith had made her screen debut in 1958 in Nowhere to Go, but she only achieved international fame with her performance in the title role of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), for which she received an Academy Award for best actress. Her subsequent stage appearances with the National Theatre included roles in William Wycherley's The Country Wife (1969), Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem (1970), and Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (1970). Smith left the National Theatre in the early 1970s and appeared for several seasons at the Stratford (Ontario) Festival. She also played in both the London and New York productions of Nol Coward's Private Lives (1972, 1975) and of Tom Stoppard's Night and Day (1979). Her later motion-picture performances included one in California Suite (1978) that won her an Academy Award for best supporting actress. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1990.