On September 27, Dame Maggie Smith passed away at the age of 89.
The prolific British actress was a force both on stage and on screen, earning the Academy Award for Best Actress at 35 for her titular role in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (1969).
In the twilight of her career, Smith was perhaps best known for her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the “Harry Potter” franchise and as the bitingly sharp dowager countess Violet Crawley in “Downton Abbey.”
After her passing, Hugh Bonneville — who played Violet’s son Robert Crawley — said “anyone who ever shared a scene with Maggie will attest to her sharp eye, sharp wit and formidable talent.”
“She was a true legend of her generation and thankfully will live on in so many magnificent screen performances,” Bonneville said in a statement.
As co-stars, directors, and fellow friends memorialize Smith’s career, Good Good Good looked back on her most underrated role yet: as a long-standing charitable figure.
From disaster relief efforts to her devotion for the theater community, here are a few of the organizations that Smith supported throughout her life.
The actress provided disaster relief in New Zealand.
On February 22, 2011, an earthquake rocked the South Island of New Zealand, causing extensive damage and resulting in the deaths of 185 people.
In the aftermath, the Court Theatre – the largest theater company in the country – was damaged beyond repair and subsequently shuttered.
On September 15, 2011 local news station 3 News reported that Smith had become a patron of the theater, and was going to help raise “the $4.6 million needed to get the theater up and running again before the end of the year.”
When it came to rebuilding the theater community of Christchurch, Smith was joined by acting peer Sir Ian McKellan, who raised funds for another theater institution — Isaac Theatre Royal — through his one-man show: “Shakespeare, Tolkien and You!”
Smith was a key member of the Royal Theatrical Fund.
Until her passing, Smith was a long-standing member of the Royal Theatrical Fund board, and served as a vice-president alongside fellow actors Bill Nighy and Leslie Phillips.
The Royal Theatrical Fund is a charitable organization that was first founded under Charles Dickens in 1839 as a way for the acting community to support one another during times of strife. Today, the organization continues to raise funds for actors who are injured, ailing, or experiencing a mental health crisis.
“I am proud to have witnessed first-hand how the fund has come to the aid of so many ailing members of what we already knew was an insecure profession,” The Royal Theatrical Fund president Robert Lindsay recently said in a statement.
“Since our humble beginnings in 1839, the fund has assisted countless individuals and families, bringing hope in the darkest of times.”
Smith remained an active member of The Royal Theatrical Fund until the end. In April 2021, Smith starred in a streaming event with fellow actress Kathleen Turner, with all ticket proceeds going to the organization.
Smith was a patron of glaucoma research.
Throughout her life, Smith grappled with several health scares; she was diagnosed with Grave’s disease in 1988 and battled breast cancer from 2007 until 2009.
In 2012, at the age of 77, Smith announced that she was suffering from glaucoma the same year that she became a patron for the International Glaucoma Association — now known as Glaucoma UK.
According to their official website, the charity funds “sight-saving research” and campaigns to “end preventable sight loss” through early disease detection.
In a 2016 interview with The Telegraph, she confirmed that glaucoma had caused her to go blind in one eye when she said: “Forgive me for looking at you like this. It's because I'm blind in one eye, not being furtive.”
Smith joined a celebrity auction for Cats Protection.
In 2012, Smith joined “Downton Abbey” co-stars Bonneville and Phyllis Logan in tracing “paw prints” of their hands to auction off for Cats Protection, the largest cat welfare charity in the United Kingdom which rescues and rehomes shelter pets.
“Cats Protection’s Celebrity Paws Auction raises much needed funds for the charity, which helps over 235,000 cats and kittens a year,” the charity said in a press release.
But, Smith was not just a cat lover. For many fans, she was synonymous with cats.
In the “Harry Potter” films, Smith’s character Professor McGonagall had the ability to transform into a tabby cat, and the magical moment stuck out to young fans.
In 2016, during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the actress said that a small child had once come up to ask her: “Were you really a cat?”
“And I heard myself say, ‘Just pull yourself together!’” Smith recalled, laughing. “‘How could I have been?’”
Smith joined Ian McKellan, Judi Dench, and more for a charity event on Zoom during COVID-19 lockdown.
In November 2020, Smith joined McKellen, Kenneth Branagh, Dame Judi Dench, and Sir Derek Jacobi for a conversation on Zoom.
The online event, titled “For One Knight Only,” raised funds for the charity Acting for Others, a partner organization of The Royal Theatrical Fund.
In the streaming event, the actors — who Branagh described the group as “the greatest quartet of Shakespearean actors on the planet” — traded advice for aspiring thespians and took a stroll down memory lane.
Surrounded by her peers — and friends — Smith shared her humble origins as a theater usher, balancing hot teapots “and dreary biscuits” on trays, and reminisced about how far her acting career had taken her.
Header image via Wikipedia / Public Domain
