Speaking Volumes | Celebrate ‘Professor McGonagall’s’ birthday at the Manatee County library

Many know and love Dame Maggie Smith for playing stern Professor McGonagall for 10 years in the “Harry Potter” series or sharp-tongued Dowager Countess Violet Crawley for five seasons and a film in “Downton Abbey”, but Smith started acting quite literally half a century before she played either roles. To celebrate her 86th birthday, let’s consider her history, accolades, and some of her most treasured roles.

Born Dec. 28, 1934, in Essex to a Scottish mother and English father, Smith grew up largely in Oxford, England. Her mother worked as a secretary, while her father was a pathology technician at Oxford University. Smith’s professional career started on the stage as Viola in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”, an Oxford University Dramatics Society Production in 1952. She started appearing on film in the mid-1950s. There are now 86 film and television credits to her name and countless stage works as well.

In her longstanding career, she has won a multitude of awards, including but not limited to: two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, and four Emmy Awards. As a result, she holds the Triple Crown of Acting, a rare achievement gained from winning at least one of each said awards.

In her home country, Smith has won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Fellowship, a high honor, and other film, television, and theater awards and nominations. Furthermore, the British monarchy has recognized her contributions to her country by making her a dame commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1989 and further honoring her with a Companion of Honor for 60 years of work in theater, cinema, and television in 2014.

mith has played Wendy Darling, Cleopatra, and Professor McGonagall. She’s portrayed Shakespearian characters, eccentric teachers, historical legends, literary figures, murder suspects, nuns, royalty, and more. She even played an award loser in Neil Simon’s “California Suite” (and for her role, she won the 1978 Academy Award).

These days, she seems to be typecast as elderly, cantankerous ladies, who may have a heart of gold (but it’s questionable), because she’s just so good at it. Award-winning 2001 film “Gosford Park” may have solidified Maggie Smith’s roles as elderly crank, as she plays Constance the Countess of Trentham. This murder mystery is closer to a black comedy, closely following the upstairs elite and the downstairs staff at an English countryside manor during a hunting party.

The writer of the movie’s script and the creator and writer of “Downton Abbey” are one and the same – Julian Fellowes. So it’s no surprise that Fellowes wrote Dame Smith’s part as Countess for her to play, where she delights audiences around the world with her sarcastic wit. In 2016’s “Lady in the Van”, Smith plays a difficult transient woman, who temporarily parks her van in a gentleman’s driveway – for 15 years! Smith won an Evening Standard for Best Actress for her portrayal of this real person.

Many of these films and shows are available with your Manatee Library card. Take a weekend to appreciate a true craftswoman, or really any day of the week. After all, what is a weekend?

Your library is online: www.mymanatee.org/library Free masks are available at all library locations. Manatee Libraries are overdue fine free!

Speaking Volumes is written by staff members at the Manatee County Public Library System. Oliva Tooker is an assistant at the Braden River Library.

This story was originally published January 2, 2021 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Speaking Volumes | Celebrate ‘Professor McGonagall’s’ birthday at the Manatee County library."