Shakespeare to Harry Potter: Six of Dame Maggie Smith's greatest roles

Dame Magie Smith is known to millions as Professor Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter

Transcript

00:00Dame Maggie Smith was one of Britain's best-loved and most celebrated actresses,

00:04with a career spanning eight decades. Her first performances came on stage in the 1950s,

00:11and her last screen role was just a year ago, when she starred in The Miracle Club.

00:16She was one of a select group of actors to win the treble of big US awards, with two Oscars,

00:22four Emmys and a Tony, as well as seven BAFTAs and an Honorary Olivier Award in her home country.

00:28Here are six of her most best-known performances.

00:31One of Dame Maggie's most iconic early roles was as Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello.

00:37Sir Lawrence Olivier, who was playing the title role, offered her the part at the National Theatre

00:43in 1963. The production, with the original cast, was made into a film two years later,

00:50and Smith nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

00:54Reflecting on the role much later, Dame Maggie told The Guardian she did the role

00:59with great discomfort and was teary-eyed.