Dame Margaret Natalie Smith[3][4] CH DBE (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress.

With an extensive career in

theatre, film, and television over seven decades, she is one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actresses. She is
particularly noted for her wit in comedic roles.[5]

Smith began her stage career as a student, performing at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952, and made her professional debut on
Broadway in New Faces of '56. Over the following decades, Smith established herself alongside Judi Dench as one of the
most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
On the Broadway stage she received Tony Award nominations for Noël Coward's Private Lives (1975) and David Hare's
Night and Day (1979), winning Best Actress in a Play for Lettice and Lovage (1990).

Smith made her film debut in the 1958 film Nowhere to Go,[6] and achieved international fame for her performance in the
title role of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1969. She received the Academy Award for Best Actress for the latter
performance, and has also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for California Suite (1978). [7][8] Her other
Oscar nominations were for her roles in Othello (1965), Travels with My Aunt (1972), A Room with a View (1985), and
Gosford Park (2001).[9] Other notable films include Death on the Nile (1978), Hook (1991), Sister Act (1992), The Secret
Garden (1993), the Harry Potter series (2001–2011), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), Quartet (2012), and The Lady
in the Van (2015). Smith has sporadically appeared on television throughout her career, and gained newfound attention and
international fame for her role as Violet Crawley in the British period drama Downton Abbey (2010–2015). The role earned
her three Primetime Emmy Awards, which she has also won for the HBO film My House in Umbria (2003).[10][11]

Smith's other honours include five competitive British Academy Film Awards and several honorary acting awards,[12]
including the British Film Institute Fellowship in 1993, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1996, and the Society of London Theatre
Special Award in 2010.[13][14] Smith was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990 for contributions to the Arts,[15] and
a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2014 for services to Drama.[16] Smith has also achieved the US
Triple Crown of Acting – an Academy Award, Tony Award, and Primetime Emmy Award.

Margaret Natalie Smith was born on 28 December 1934[17] in Ilford, Essex.[18][19][20][21][22] Her mother, Margaret Hutton (née
Little; 1896–1977), was a Scottish secretary from Glasgow, and her father, Nathaniel Smith (1902–1991), was a public-health
pathologist from Newcastle upon Tyne, who worked at the University of Oxford.[18][23][24] During childhood, her parents told
Smith the romantic story of how they had met on a train from Glasgow to London via Newcastle. She moved with her family
to Oxford when she was four years old. She had older twin brothers, Alistair (died 1981) and Ian. The latter went to
architecture school. Smith was educated at Oxford High School until age sixteen, when she left to study acting at the Oxford
Playhouse.[25]

2000–2009: Harry Potter and other roles 2010–2015: Downton Abbey and acclaim

Marriages Smith married actor Robert Stephens on 29 June 1967. They had two sons, actors Chris Larkin (b.
1967) and Toby Stephens (b. 1969),[98] and were divorced on 6 April 1975.[99] Smith married playwright Beverley Cross on 23
June 1975, at the Guildford Register Office,[99] and they remained married until his death on 20 March 1998. When asked in
2013 if she was lonely, she replied, "it seems a bit pointless, going on on one's own, and not having someone to share it with".
[100]
Smith has five grandchildren.[101][102][103] Health In January 1988, Smith was diagnosed with
Graves' disease, for which she underwent radiotherapy and optical surgery.[104] In 2007, The Sunday
Telegraph disclosed that Smith had been diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2009, she was reported to have made a full
recovery.[105] Charity work Over her distinguished career she has been
recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:

 38th Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, nomination, for Othello (1965)
 42nd Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role, win, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
 45th Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role, nomination, Travels with My Aunt (1972)
 51st Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, win, California Suite (1978)
 59th Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, nomination, for A Room with a View (1986)
 74th Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, nomination, for Gosford Park (2001)

 She has also received a Tony Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, five British Academy Film Awards, three
Golden Globe Awards, and five Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 1993, she was awarded with the BAFTA Special
Award by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.[33] In 1996, the British Academy of Film and
Television Arts presented her with the BAFTA Fellowship, the highest honour the Academy can bestow.[87][33] At
the 2010 Laurence Olivier Awards, she was celebrated with the Society of London Theatre Special Award. In 2013,
she was awarded with the Evening Standard Icon Award.[88]