Maggie was born in Ilford, England on December 28, 1934. She was raised in Oxford with a pathologist father and a secretary mother. Maggie knew she wanted to act from a young age, despite her parents' disapproval.

Maggie made her stage debut in 1952. She starred as Desdemona in Othello opposite Lawrence Olivier in the 1960s. Maggie also won an Academy Award for her performance in The Harry Potter movies. After this, she played Violet Crawley in the television series and movies of Downton Abbey.

• Seven BAFTA Awards 
• Two Academy Awards 
• Two Golden Globes 
• Two Emmy Awards 
• A Laurence Olivier Award 
• Two SAG Awards 
• A Tony Award 

Maggie Smith had a few health problems in her life, but still pushed through. She was diagnosed with Graves' disease, an autoimmune disorder, in 1988. She also completed filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince while undergoing radio-therapy for breast cancer. Maggie had glaucoma in one eye.

The life of Maggie Smith is certainly an intriguing thing to explore and I encourage others to do so.