On September 27th, 2024, the world lost one of the most prolific actresses in British history. Dame Maggie Smith had an active career spanning seven decades, with roles still happening up to 2023.
With a career like that, it’s hard to imagine a time when she wasn’t gracing us with her talent on stage or screen. Over the years, she’s had many roles that are often thrown about when discussing her impact.
We are talking about roles such as the ones she took on for Harry Potter, Downton Abbey, and Sister Act. However, these aren’t her only memorable performances.
In no particular order, here are the 10 Maggie Smith Roles We’ll Treasure Always.
1. Mother Superior (Sister Act & Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit)
Of course, big cultural impact films are going to be at the top of the list when it comes to a role that truly defines how people remember Maggie Smith. However, we believe in the power of Mother Superior from Sister Act and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.
After all, this role is iconic for her strict, open-hearted, and sometimes hilarious nature. Mother Superior has her hands full with a convent of nuns, all of varying personalities, and then she is forced to provide protection for a dance club performer who witnessed a crime.
Deloris, aka Sister Mary Clarence, tests Mother Superior in all the best ways, bringing out the best in both women. The chemistry between Maggie Smith and Whoopi Goldberg is what makes these films a must-see for everyone who loves Smith for other roles in her career.
2. Betsey Trotwood (David Copperfield)
Before Maggie Smith was teaching Daniel Radcliffe as a professor at Hogwarts, she was dismissing him as her rightful heir because he’d been born a boy. We are, of course, talking about the no-nonsense, forbearing Betsey Trotwood from David Copperfield.
Released as a two-part miniseries on the BBC in 1999, this role was the first time the two talents shared the screen together. While Betsey Trotwood comes across as cold-hearted, by the end, we realize she is simply a woman of incredible means who has been disappointed by men all her life.
When it comes down to it, her love for David Copperfield in the face of obvious abuse is what wins us over. It’s a role in which Maggie Smith’s natural setting of seeming severe to mask her unfailing goodness truly shines.
3. Mrs. Medlock (The Secret Garden)
For people who were children of the 1990s, the role we best know her for was probably Mrs. Medlock from The Secret Garden. Her stern, cold nature terrified us into behaving as children, much like she did for Mary Lennox.
However, like most of her other roles, it soon becomes apparent that Mrs. Medlock does what she does out of love and a sense of duty to the home she manages. With the master of the house being unavailable most of the time, Mrs. Medlock is responsible for keeping things in order.
As kids, we were intimidated by her, but as adults, we understand the stress of having so much responsibility.
4. Wendy Darling (Hook)
Who doesn’t love a retelling of Peter Pan and Wendy Darling’s adventures? Once again, a Maggie Smith role from the ’90s defined a whole generation of fans.
Somehow, she manages to look ten times older than she probably was while filming this reimagined version of Neverland, Captain Hook, Peter Pan, and the Darling family. But that adds the charm of her limited role in this now iconic film.
Between Robin Williams and Maggie Smith, this movie hits us with extra nostalgia, and it’s one that we will always remember. It reminds us of the magic of childhood and the importance of family and connection to others.
5. Muriel Donnelly (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel & The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel)
One of the few roles in which Maggie Smith gets to be a softer, gentler, loving woman from the get-go comes from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films. Her role as Muriel Donnelly allows her to just have fun with a character without any extra walls or bluster to hide it.
As a woman who’s looking for a new lease on life, Muriel moves to India along with other retirees in the hopes of creating a home for themselves at the famed Marigold Hotel. She has no family to speak of, having devoted her life to her career, and therefore, hopes this new adventure will help her loneliness.
As a result, she finds herself facing the final act of her life with strangers who become her extended family. We love this role because it warms our souls.
6. Professor Minerva McGonagall (Harry Potter Series)
Despite the controversy surrounding the Harry Potter series in recent years, we can’t deny most people know Maggie Smith because of Professor Minerva McGonagall. This motherly but stern educator got most millennials through their childhoods, adolescence, and early adulthood.
It isn’t necessary to explain what this role means to people because if you are here reading this list, you already know. However, it goes without saying that this teacher was the kind of teacher so many of us wished we’d had in school.
Despite her initial stoic demeanor, there are moments throughout the series in which Professor McGonagall shows her more playful side. Whether it’s through excitement over Quidditch or using a spell that rarely comes out to play, Maggie Smith won us over immediately.
7. Caro Eliza Bennett (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood)
Once again, Maggie Smith’s strengths of stoicism and logical thinking in the face of crisis come into play as she portrays Caro Eliza Bennett. This character from the 2002 film Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood further proves that Smith is a formidable performer, especially in a large ensemble cast.
Caro is the one member of the Ya-Ya’s who is strong, steady, and true. She’s great in a crisis and is typically the voice of reason when her “sisters” get out of hand or lose sight of their paths.
Naturally, she sees a problem between Vivi and her daughter, Siddo, and takes it upon herself to solve it. Maggie Smith’s handling of this film and its narrative is worthy of being treasured until the end of time.
8. Janet (Ladies in Lavender)
The combined star power of Judi Dench and Maggie Smith as sisters in this 2004 film leaves a mark on all who have seen it. Ladies in Lavender reminds us all of the power of love, acceptance, and the kindness of strangers.
Set in the 1930s, these spinster sisters aren’t exactly the social butterflies of the world, which is why when Andrea gets swept up on the beach near their home, they aren’t sure what to do with him. Soon, their lives are filled with companionship and friendship like they haven’t experienced outside themselves in quite some time.
Andrea’s youth, compared to Janet and Ursula’s advanced age, shows just how much a change in energy can perk a person back to life. Janet is a fun role to watch evolve over the course of the film, making us want to revisit her again and again.
9. Violet Crawley (Downton Abbey)
The Dowager Countess Violet Crawley is a role that will probably live on forever on the same level as Professor McGonagall. After all, Downton Abbey is one of those formidable shows people continue to talk about to this day.
Known mostly for her biting wit, snappy one-liners, and fantastic comedic timing, this role encompasses all the talents we know and love from Maggie Smith’s repertoire. Violet Crawley is the type of elderly woman who has seen quite a lot in her lifetime and, therefore, has no energy for anyone’s drama or BS.
As the Matriarch of a prestigious family, Violet is tasked with ensuring her family line remains respectable and successful. She might be a woman in a time when women were meant to be meek and mild, but she would never be accused of such things.
10. Miss Bowers (Death on the Nile)
One of Maggie Smith’s earlier roles in film and TV, Death on the Nile remains, to this day, an accurate showing of Smith’s proclivity for the acting profession. A performance as strong as this so early on in her career proved that she knew exactly what she could do and how to do it in a way that made people pay attention.
Playing the somewhat unassuming role of Miss Bowers, the nurse to the aging Mrs. van Schuyler, Maggie Smith stands out as someone mysterious and suspicious all at once. For a time, there are hints that Bowers might’ve committed the murder, but she is soon eliminated due to her solid alibi.
However, throughout the film, Bowers continues to show audiences that she has an axe to grind with those around her, but she’s good at keeping it to herself. Maggie Smith’s ability to perform a more subdued role than others in her career proves just how versatile she really was despite being type-casted for most of her career.
—
What Maggie Smith roles will you always treasure? Sound off in the comments below.
Follow us on X and on Instagram!
Like us on Facebook!
Mads Misasi
Mads is a part-time entertainment journalist and full-time marketing content creator. They love reading the latest in Queer novels -- especially romance ones and watching the latest dramas, sci-fi/fantasy, Star Wars, and romcom films/TV shows. You can join the conversation by following them on Twitter: @dorothynyc89.
