Editing Maggie Smith (section)

=== 1969–1979: Rise to prominence and stardom ===
Smith won the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] for her performance in [[Jean Brodie|the title role]] of the 1969 film ''[[The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (film)|The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Academy Awards Best Actress |url=http://www.filmsite.org/bestactress.html |access-date=7 August 2013 |work=Filmsite.org}}</ref> [[Vanessa Redgrave]] had originated the role on stage in London,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2010/feb/21/observer-profile-vanessa-redgrave |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |first=Andrew |last=Anthony |title=Vanessa Redgrave: A performer of passion, conviction and tragedy |date=21 February 2010 |access-date=19 May 2014}}</ref> and [[Zoe Caldwell]] won the [[Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play|Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play]], when she played the role in New York City. Smith was singled out for her performance in the film. [[Dave Kehr]] of ''[[Chicago Reader]]'' said that Smith gives "one of those technically stunning, emotionally distant performances that the British are so damn good at."<ref>{{cite news |last=Kehr |first=David |title=The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie/Film?oid=1064172 |newspaper=[[Chicago Reader]] |access-date=8 October 2012}}</ref> Greg Ferrara wrote that the film "is one of the best British films of the decade. It is as captivating today as it was upon its release and its two central performances by Maggie Smith and [[Pamela Franklin]] are both stirring and mesmerizing. ''The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' is the crème de la crème."<ref>{{cite web |last=Ferrara |first=Greg |url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/625966 |title=The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Film Article |publisher=Turner Classic Movies (TCM) |access-date=14 October 2018}}</ref> The role also won Smith her first BAFTA Film Award for Best Actress.<ref name="BAFTA322"/>
[[File:Dame Maggie Smith 1973 (front side) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|upright|Smith in 1973]]
In 1970 Smith played the title role in [[Ingmar Bergman]]'s London production of the [[Henrik Ibsen]] play ''[[Hedda Gabler]]'', winning her second [[Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress|''Evening Standard'' Theatre Award for Best Actress]]. In 1975 Smith starred as Amanda Prynne in the [[Noël Coward]] comedy ''[[Private Lives]]'' at the [[46th Street Theatre]] on [[Broadway (theatre)|Broadway]]. The play, directed by [[John Gielgud]], received positive reviews.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archives.stratfordfestival.ca/AIS/Details/people/9636|title=Stratford Festival Archives &#124; Details|website=archives.stratfordfestival.ca|access-date=6 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406005041/https://archives.stratfordfestival.ca/AIS/Details/people/9636|archive-date=6 April 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' theatre critic praised Smith's physical comedic skills writing, "Miss Smith's body spins, lurches, misses yards at a time before another foot comes down, ends in a paralysis that will require hypnosis to undo. The effect, because Noel Coward's situation is funny and because Miss Smith sends off that one little extra signal that spells extravagance, is hilarious, explosively so."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/16/archives/stage-view-sometimes-the-actings-the-thing.html|title= STAGE VIEW|website=The New York Times|date= 16 February 1975|access-date= 20 June 2021}}</ref> Smith received her first [[Tony Award]] nomination and a [[Drama Desk Award]] nomination. In the mid-1970s, she made several guest appearances on ''[[The Carol Burnett Show]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-carol-burnett-show/season-9/episode-10-dame-maggie-smith/|title= The Carol Burnett Show: Dame Maggie Smith|website= Metacritic|access-date= 4 June 2024}}</ref>

In 1972 Smith starred as the eccentric Augusta Bertram in [[George Cukor]]'s film ''[[Travels with My Aunt (film)|Travels with My Aunt]]''. She received her third Academy Award nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] for her performance.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1973|title= The 45th Academy Awards|website= Oscars.org|date= 5 October 2014|access-date= 4 June 2024}}</ref> She also appeared in the film ''[[Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing]]'' (1973) directed by [[Alan J. Pakula]]. Her other films of this time include ''[[Murder by Death]]'' (1976) with [[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' writing that the film had one of Simon's "nicest, breeziest screenplays" with David Niven and Maggie Smith "marvellous<!-- NOT A TYPO, ignore spell check. Just remember this article is in BRITISH ENGLISH, and they spell marvelous with TWO Ls. --> as Dick and Dora Charleston, though they haven't enough to do."<ref>{{cite news|last=Canby|first=Vincent|date=24 June 1976|title=Simon's Breezy 'Murder by Death'|newspaper=The New York Times|page=26}}</ref> Smith also starred as Miss Bowers in ''[[Death on the Nile (1978 film)|Death on the Nile]]'' (1978) alongside [[Angela Lansbury]], [[Bette Davis]], [[Peter Ustinov]] and [[David Niven]]. In 1978 Smith played opposite [[Michael Caine]] in [[Neil Simon]]'s ''[[California Suite (film)|California Suite]]'', playing an Oscar loser, for which she received the 1978 [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]].<ref>{{cite web |title=ACADEMY AWARDS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH: Maggie Smith |url=https://aaspeechesdb.oscars.org/link/051-4 |access-date=8 May 2023 |website=[[Academy Awards|Oscars.org]]}}</ref> She is the only person to have won an Oscar for portraying a fictional Oscar nominee.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/oscars-2016-dame-maggie-smith-tipped-candidate-best-actress-role-lady-van-a6727311.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210919223917/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/oscars-2016-dame-maggie-smith-tipped-candidate-best-actress-role-lady-van-a6727311.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= 19 September 2021|title= Oscars 2016: Dame Maggie Smith tipped as candidate for Best Actress for role in The Lady in The Van|website=[[The Independent]]|first=Adam|last=Sherwin|date= 9 November 2015|access-date= 15 February 2021}}</ref> For this role, she also won her first Golden Globe Award. Afterward, upon hearing that [[Michael Palin]] was about to embark on the film ''[[The Missionary]]'' (1982) with Smith, her co-star Michael Caine is supposed to have humorously telephoned Palin, warning him that she would steal the film.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/dame-maggie-smith-everyone-warms-to-countess-frosty-0fsdrn9xk7j |title=Dame Maggie Smith: Everyone warms to Countess Frosty |work=[[The Times]] |access-date=27 September 2024}}</ref>

From 1976 to 1980 Smith appeared to acclaim in numerous productions at the [[Stratford Shakespeare Festival]] in [[Stratford, Ontario]];<ref name=cbc2012>{{cite web |title=Maggie Smith to get Stratford tribute |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/maggie-smith-to-get-stratford-tribute-1.1178649 |website=cbc.ca |access-date=29 September 2024}}</ref> her roles included: Cleopatra in ''[[Anthony and Cleopatra]]'' (1976),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goodland |first1=Katharine |last2=O'Connor |first2=John |chapter=Antony and Cleopatra |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-60041-0_2 |title=A Directory of Shakespeare in Performance, 1970–1990: Canada and USA |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |access-date=29 September 2024 |volume=2 |pages=9–11|doi=10.1007/978-1-349-60041-0_2 |date=2010|isbn=978-1-349-60043-4 }}</ref> Titania and Hippolyta in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' (1977), Queen Elizabeth in ''[[Richard III (play)|Richard III]]'' (1977),<ref>{{cite web |title=Maggie Smith Superb in Molnar |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/06/11/archives/maggie-smith-superb-in-molnar.html |website=New York Times |date=11 June 1977 |access-date=29 September 2024 |last1=Eder |first1=Richard }}</ref><ref name=cbc2012 /> Rosalind in ''[[As You Like It]]'' and [[Lady Macbeth]] in ''[[Macbeth]]'' (1978).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Billington |first1=Michael |title=Maggie Smith found a clarity on stage that in some ways surpassed her screen work |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/sep/28/maggie-smith-found-a-clarity-on-stage-that-in-some-ways-surpassed-her-screen-work |website=The Guardian |access-date=29 September 2024 |date=28 September 2024}}</ref> Smith would return to Broadway in [[Tom Stoppard]]'s original play ''[[Night and Day (play)|Night and Day]]'' as Ruth Carson in 1979.<ref>{{cite web |title=Theater: Stoppard's 'Night and Day' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/28/archives/theater-stoppards-night-and-day-much-talk.html |website=New York Times |date=28 November 1979 |access-date=29 September 2024 |last1=Kerr |first1=Walter }}</ref> The play concerns a confrontation between British diplomat and an African leader over a local uprising that has attracted much media coverage. The diplomat's wife observes everyone else's behaviour throughout. The play received mixed reviews with [[Walter Kerr]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' praising Smith's performance while critiquing the characters writing, "Which leaves us, theatrically and dramatically, where we began, with Miss Smith. The actress can, and does, do wonders. But she can't single‐handedly turn night into day."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/28/archives/theater-stoppards-night-and-day-much-talk.html|title= Theater: Stoppard's 'Night and Day'|website=[[The New York Times]]|date= 28 November 1979|access-date= 20 June 2021|last1= Kerr|first1= Walter}}</ref> Smith received her second [[Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play]] nomination.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tonyawards.com/nominees/?q=Maggie%20Smith |title=Nominees |work=Tony Awards |access-date=27 September 2024}}</ref>