I will not attempt to describe Dame Maggie Smith’s life or acheivements—following her death at 89, the papers and online sites are full of detailed biographies and tributes and I am sure everyone who is interested has read them.
This is just a short personal tribute to a great actress—someone who has provided me with unforgettable moments of delight throughout my life.
Growing up and living for a large part of my life in Greece, I was very fortunate to have been able to witness some of her best performances in the theatre, live. Thanks to my parents’ love of the theatre and a few well-timed trips to London, I saw her in various plays, and most memorably in Lettuce and Lovage. I remember tears of laughter running down my face as, playing a stately-home tour guide who embellishes her descriptions with fictions to keep the visitors’ attention, she became increasingly more demented. Also memorable was The Importance of being Ernest, where her Lady Bracknell was so haughty that her nose was parallel to the ceiling as she delivered another scathing put-down to some hapless person.
Of course I have watched her in most of her films, too. Her wit, her cool delivery, her tart and sophisticated personality were unique. It is a great privilege to have given so much pleasure to so many people during your lifetime, and she was proof that it is possible not to become invisible and diminished as one ages. On the contrary, her fame increased at the end (despite all her success, up to a certain point she managed to go about town unrecognised). Of course, not everyone has her talent.
Let me conclude with the deliciously quirky line which just sprung to my mind, asked with opened eyes a a note of genuine astonishment, ‘What is a weekend?’
Letters from Athens 