'She was a truly great actress... one of a kind in every way and consequently irreplaceable'
The British star, known for prominent roles in Harry Potter and Downton Abbey , as well as her Academy Award-winning performance as The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, died in hospital on Friday morning, her sons said. Her children, Widow Clicquot actor Chris Larkin, and Die Another Day star Toby Stephens, said in a statement: “An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end.
“She was a truly great actress, ‘one of the greats’ & simply the best company: wise, witty, waspish, wonderful. One of a kind in every way and consequently irreplaceable.” Probably her greatest triumph was in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, for which she won her first Oscar. But, Dame Maggie – she was made a DBE in 1990 – was self-deprecating about her abilities.
She made an early mark in revues, as a singer and dancer. One fan who saw her on Broadway in New Faces of ’56, said he laughed so much he ended up banging his head on the seat in front of him. She was spotted by Laurence Olivier, who saw her as much more than just a vaudeville performer and invited her to join the newly-formed Royal National Theatre Company in London.
Dame Maggie won a best actress Oscar for the role in 1970. Other film roles include her portrayal of a drunken Oscar loser in California Suite, the dying older lover in Love, Pain And The Whole Damn Thing, the tragic lodger in The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne, and the so-called “funny old bat” in Gosford Park, which brought her a sixth Oscar nomination.
But she later told ES Magazine: “I am deeply grateful for the work in Potter and indeed Downton but it wasn’t what you’d call satisfying. I didn’t really feel I was acting in those things.”
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