Dame Maggie Smith
Like the title says, this post is a response to the Daily Prompt, which today is: My Hero!
Lots of people inspire me but my heroes are few.
Today, I choose to point out someone whom I don’t think gets enough attention, and who is in my mind when I write scenes for Mrs. Jones, grandmother to my protagonist Portia Adams.
That person is Dame Maggie Smith.
Dame Smith is one of those people who is best known for probably the least of her accomplishments – that of playing Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter series.
But in addition to that, this fine woman has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, SAG awards, and has performed on-stage for over 60 years.
Add to that her numerous charitable works, the fact that she defeated breast cancer, creates her own art work and you have an incredibly well-rounded role-model for women everywhere.
Despite all her accomplishments in the 77 years she has been on this earth, she manages to be (by all accounts) humble, down-to-earth, and open to learning. So there you are, my hero Dame Maggie Smith.
I just saw her in The Exotic Marigold Hotel. As always, she was really good.
The role I remember her for is The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I’ll never forget the way she pronounced girls, as “gaerls…”
Oh totally! There are actors that do that to you eh? Totally change the way you hear a word pronounced in your head. Like Alan Rickman and “Turn to page two hundred and eighty four.” Or Joe Pesci saying “the two youths.”
That’s something else. I did not know she survived breast cancer. Very good post.
By the way, question for you: is your username Karmi Cangel or Karmic Angel? I feel like you’ve told me before, but I forget, and if I’ve messed up, I don’t want to keep doing so.
I don’t think I’ve told you, so it’s Karmic Angel. My real name is Angela, and I’m a Hindu, so its a play on character.
oh, i didn’t know you were a Hindu. That’s pretty cool. Well, now that I know, i’ll make sure to call you by your name…unless you have any objections to that.
No objections at all, Rami!
awesome!
Yep, having read your work I completely see her in that role.
Funny, I have nobody in mind for my characters, although I do imagine how they look pretty clearly.
It helps me for some reason to be able to picture either real life people, or actors when I decide “would she actually say it like that?” Well, when these books become a series of awesome movies, I shall ask Dame Smith if she is interested.
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You know what? I lied… I just remembered my bad guy didn’t really come to life for me until I read his dialogue out loud in an Orson Welles voice. So, he sounds like Orson Welles, but doesn’t look anything like him.
Ah ha!!
I love Dame Maggie Smith (I actually didn’t know she had become a Dame). I first saw her on the Carol Burnett Show (comedy show in America), and knew that she was a force to be reckoned with.
I’ve loved to watch Maggie Smith for years. She has such a droll delivery, and her timing’s impeccable.