Dame Maggie Smith passed away on 27 September 2024. Revered as one of Britain’s biggest and brightest talents, the world has grown a little darker in her absence, but it’s in the hearts and minds of those who loved Maggie that her memory lives on.
After signing on to Downton Abbey in 2010, the legendary actress forged unbreakable bonds with her castmates Penelope Wilton, Michelle Dockery and Hugh Bonneville, all of whom hold cherished memories of their dear friend.
In tribute to the inimitable Dame Maggie Smith, we reveal the stories told by the Downton stars who knew her best…
© ShutterstockPenelope Wilton
For Penelope Wilton, there was no better sparring partner than Maggie.
Speaking to Mail Online in 2022, Penelope – who portrays Isobel Grey – joked about their time on set. “Maggie gets all the best lines!” she said.
“With Maggie, you need to be on your game to hit the ball back at her. I said to Julian [Fellowes]: ‘Can I at least win one of the arguments?’ and he said: ‘No.'”
“I enjoy my spats with Lady Grantham enormously,” she continued. “Maggie and I love those scenes so much.”
© ShutterstockMichelle Dockery
According to Allen Leech, Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael had a WhatsApp group with their on-screen grandmother.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Michelle reflected on filming Maggie’s last big scene with the entire Crawley family.
“It’s been 12 years, so it was quite a moment,” she told the publication. “Half the challenge was trying to hold back the tears as much as possible before the moment where we could actually cry. It was such a sensitive scene for Maggie and for everybody, and you could really hear a pin drop on set that day.”
Michelle added that her scenes with Maggie were always “very special.”
© SkyHugh Bonneville
Hugh Bonneville penned a first-person piece for Literary Hub in 2022, in which he reflected on his time with Maggie.
“I was as intimidated and intrigued by her on my last day of shooting with her as I was on my first,” he noted.
“Her reputation preceded her, of course. A living legend. Famously waspish, razor-sharp intelligence and utterly instinctive comic timing, with the ability to turn to pathos and even to deep emotion in a heartbeat.
For Hugh, it was the day they filmed Violet Crawley’s death that stands out in his memory.
“The kaleidoscope of all these memories flickered across my mind as the Dowager Countess took in first her cousin, played by Imelda Staunton, then her grandchildren (Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael) and then, as she turned her head towards me, her screen son, she did something I don’t think she had done in the entire series,” he said.
“For the first time in the decade and more that she had played my mother, Maggie Smith reached out, took my hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. From then on, no acting required.”
© ShutterstockJulian Fellowes
Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey, has called Maggie a “blessing in my life.”
In an interview with The Telegraph, Julian noted that he’d first become familiar with the stage and screen star in 1964, after watching Maggie perform alongside Laurence Olivier in a theatre production of Othello.
It wasn’t until 2001 that Julian would first meet with Maggie. They crossed paths on the set of Gosford Park, which Julian had penned, and in which the actress starred.
“She was polite, precise and professional, always prepared, always meticulous. I remember she asked me a single question during the week: ‘What is it about bought marmalade that is feeble?'” Julian mused.
“We went through the success of the film together, when we were both nominated, partying in Hollywood and the like, and I will never forget her real delight, clapping furiously, as I walked down the aisle to collect my prize. When I think of it now, it makes me cry.”
