Dame Margaret Natalie Smith CH DBE (born 28 December 1934) is an
English actress. She has had an extensive career on stage, film, and
television which began in the mid-1950s. Smith has appeared in more
than 60 films and over 70 plays, and is one of Britain's most
recognisable actresses. She was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in
1990 for contributions to the performing arts, and a Companion of
Honour in 2014 for services to drama.Smith began her career on stage
as a student, performing at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952, and made her
professional debut on Broadway in New Faces of '56. For her work on
the London stage, she has won a record six Best Actress Evening
Standard Awards: for The Private Ear, and The Public Eye (both 1962),
Hedda Gabler (1970), Virginia (1981), The Way of the World (1984),
Three Tall Women (1994) and A German Life (2019). She received Tony
Award nominations for Private Lives (1975) and Night and Day (1979),
before winning the 1990 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for
Lettice and Lovage. She appeared in Stratford Shakespeare Festival
productions of Antony and Cleopatra (1976) and Macbeth (1978), and
West End productions of A Delicate Balance (1997) and The Breath of
Life (2002). She received the Society of London Theatre Special Award
in 2010.On screen, Smith first drew praise for the crime film Nowhere
to Go (1958), for which she received her first nomination for a
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award. She has won
two Academy Awards, winning Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean
Brodie (1969) and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite (1978).
She is one of only seven actresses to have won in both categories. She
has won a record four BAFTA Awards for Best Actress, including for A
Private Function (1984) and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
(1988), a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for Tea with Mussolini
(1999), and three Golden Globe Awards. She received four other Oscar
nominations that were for Othello (1965), Travels with My Aunt (1972),
A Room with a View (1986), and Gosford Park (2001).
English actress. She has had an extensive career on stage, film, and
television which began in the mid-1950s. Smith has appeared in more
than 60 films and over 70 plays, and is one of Britain's most
recognisable actresses. She was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in
1990 for contributions to the performing arts, and a Companion of
Honour in 2014 for services to drama.Smith began her career on stage
as a student, performing at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952, and made her
professional debut on Broadway in New Faces of '56. For her work on
the London stage, she has won a record six Best Actress Evening
Standard Awards: for The Private Ear, and The Public Eye (both 1962),
Hedda Gabler (1970), Virginia (1981), The Way of the World (1984),
Three Tall Women (1994) and A German Life (2019). She received Tony
Award nominations for Private Lives (1975) and Night and Day (1979),
before winning the 1990 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for
Lettice and Lovage. She appeared in Stratford Shakespeare Festival
productions of Antony and Cleopatra (1976) and Macbeth (1978), and
West End productions of A Delicate Balance (1997) and The Breath of
Life (2002). She received the Society of London Theatre Special Award
in 2010.On screen, Smith first drew praise for the crime film Nowhere
to Go (1958), for which she received her first nomination for a
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award. She has won
two Academy Awards, winning Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean
Brodie (1969) and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite (1978).
She is one of only seven actresses to have won in both categories. She
has won a record four BAFTA Awards for Best Actress, including for A
Private Function (1984) and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
(1988), a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for Tea with Mussolini
(1999), and three Golden Globe Awards. She received four other Oscar
nominations that were for Othello (1965), Travels with My Aunt (1972),
A Room with a View (1986), and Gosford Park (2001).
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