Maggie Smith was born on 28 December 1934 in Ilford, Essex, England, UK. She would go on to have a long and distinguished career on both stage and screen, that has spanned a dizzingly-wide range of characters and two generations of audiences.

Trained at the Oxford Playhouse School, Dame Maggie made her stage debut in 1952 and her first film, 'Nowhere to Go' in 1958. She first came to the attention of American moviegoers in 'The V.I.P.s' in 1963, and her "Desdemona" in Laurence Olivier's 1965 movie, 'Othello', earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Her impressive performance as an eccentric schoolmistress in 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' in 1969 finally won her the Oscar and established her worldwide as a star.

Another Best Actress nomination followed for her role in 'Travels With My Aunt' in 1972, and she won her second Oscar playing an actress who's nominated for an Oscar but loses in Neil Simon's 'California Suite' in 1978. Another Oscar nomination arrived for her beautiful work in Merchant & Ivory's 'Room With a View' in 1986 (which also starred Dame Judi Dench).

Many other film and stage roles followed, and in 1970, Dame Maggie was appointed a CBE, followed by a DBE (Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 1990 for her prodigious dramatic accomplishments.

A new generation discovered her talent via her charming, elderly "Wendy" in 'Hook' in 1991, and her role as a very straight-laced "Mother Superior" in 'Sister Act' and 'Sister Act II'. But it is the 'Harry Potter' series of films with her in the role of "Professor Minerva McGonagall" (which also stars Alan Rickman and Sean Biggerstaff) that has firmly won her a legion of new and devoted fans in children and adults everywhere.

FILM

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) .... Professor McGonagall
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) .... Professor McGonagall
• Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) .... Caro Eliza Bennett
• Gosford Park (2001) .... Constance
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) .... Professor McGonagall
• Curtain Call (1999) .... Lily Marlowe
• The Last September (1999) .... Lady Myra
• Tea with Mussolini (1999) .... Lady Hester Random
• Washington Square (1997) .... Aunt Lavinia Penniman
• The First Wives Club (1996) .... Gunilla Garson Goldberg
• Richard III (1995) .... Duchess of York
• Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) .... Mother Superior
• The Secret Garden (1993) .... Mrs. Medlock
• Sister Act (1992) .... Mother Superior (Rev. Mother)
• Hook (1991) .... Granny Wendy/Middle-Aged Wendy
• Romeo-Juliet (1990) (voice) .... Rozaline
• The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987) .... Judith Hearne
• A Room with a View (1986) .... Charlotte Bartlett, a chaperon
• A Játszani kell (1985) .... Lily Wynn
• A Private Function (1984) .... Joyce Chilvers
• Better Late Than Never (1982) .... Miss Anderson
• The Missionary (1982) .... Lady Isabel Ames
• Evil Under the Sun (1982) .... Daphne Castle
• Quartet (1981) .... Lois Heidler
• Clash of the Titans (1981) .... Thetis
• California Suite (1978) .... Diana Barrie
• Death on the Nile (1978) .... Miss Bowers
• Murder by Death (1976) .... Mrs. Dora Chaleston
• Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (1972) .... Lila Fisher
• Travels with My Aunt (1972) .... Aunt Augusta
• Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) .... Music Hall Star
• The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) .... Jean Brodie
• Hot Millions (1968) .... Patty Terwilliger
• The Honey Pot (1967) .... Sarah Watkins
• Othello (1965) .... Desdemona
• Young Cassidy (1965) .... Nora
• The Pumpkin Eater (1964) .... Philpott
• The V.I.P.s (1963) .... Miss Mead
• Go to Blazes (1962) .... Chantal
• Nowhere to Go (1958) .... Bridget Howard
• Child in the House (1956) (uncredited) .... Party Guest

TELEVISION

• My House in Umbria (2003) .... Mrs. Emily Delahunty
• David Copperfield (1999) .... Betsey Trotwood
• All the King's Men (1999) .... Queen Alexandra
• Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage (1994) (archive footage) .... Violet Venable
• Suddenly, Last Summer (1993) .... Violet Venable
• Memento Mori (1992) .... Mrs. Mabel Pettigrew
• Talking Heads (1987) (mini) .... Susan
• The Millionairess (1972)
• The Merchant of Venice (1972) .... Portia
• The Seagull (1968) .... Irina Arkadina
• Man and Superman (1968)
• Much Ado About Nothing (1967) .... Beatrice

THEATRE

• Three Tall Women (West End)

WEBSITES

• Dame Maggie Smith (Fan Page)
• Dame Maggie Smith @ IMDB
• Dame Maggie Smith @ Google Directory
• Google Search for Dame Maggie Smith