"There's a difference between solitude and loneliness."
"Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes."
"I've been playing old parts forever. I play 93 quite often. When you've done it more than once, you take the hint."
"People think of you differently if you've been in their homes. They think they own you because they watched you while they were eating dinner, or they can turn you up or down, or even freeze you."
"I think I got pigeon-holed in humour; Shakespeare is not my thing."
"I wanted to be a serious actress, but of course that didn't really happen."
"Old people are scary. And I have to face it. I am old and I am scary."
Many happy returns today to another of our most revered goddesses of the acting profession, Dame Maggie Smith - she, too is 80 years old. Long may she reign, and long may she continue to be scary...
Dame Margaret Natalie "Maggie" Smith, DBE, CH (born 28th December 1934)
Great minds think alike, or was something in that gin???? Love her....may we too get old and scary...with the same grace.
ReplyDeleteI like to think I am almost there, dear. (Old and scary, that is...) Jx
DeleteGoodness, can she truly believe that becoming a serious actress "didn't really happen?" For every California Suite or Carol Burnet Show sketch there's a Miss Jean Brody or a Desdemona.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw her in Three Tall Women in the West End and read her bio in the program, I was blown away; "X seasons at Stratford," "Y seasons at the Old Vic," "Z productions at The National" -- I remember wondering to myself, "Does she ever pick up a new script and think, 'Gee, here's an acting problem I've never had to solve before'?" Doubtful, she's done it all, and all exceptionally well!
There are very few actresses who can do what Maggie Smith can... Jx
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