
Died at 91
female
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith CH DBE (December 28, 1934 − September 27, 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in comedic roles, she had an extensive career on stage and screen over seven decades and was one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actresses. She received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award as well as nominations for six Laurence Olivier Awards. Smith was one of the few performers to earn the Triple Crown of Acting. Smith began her stage career as a student, performing at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952, and made her professional debut on Broadway in New Faces of '56. Over the following decades Smith established herself alongside Judi Dench as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. On Broadway, she received Tony Award nominations for Noël Coward's Private Lives (1975) and Tom Stoppard's Night and Day (1979), and won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Lettice and Lovage (1990). She won Academy Awards for Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite (1978). She was Oscar-nominated for Othello (1965), Travels with My Aunt (1972), A Room with a View (1985) and Gosford Park (2001). She portrayed Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series (2001–2011). She also acted in Death on the Nile (1978), Hook (1991), Sister Act (1992), The Secret Garden (1993), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), Quartet (2012) and The Lady in the Van (2015). Smith received newfound attention and international fame for her role as Violet Crawley in the British period drama Downton Abbey (2010–2015). The role earned her three Primetime Emmy Awards; she had previously won one for the HBO film My House in Umbria (2003). Over the course of her career she was the recipient of numerous honorary awards including the British Film Institute Fellowship in 1993, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1996 and the Society of London Theatre Special Award in 2010. Smith was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990. Description above from the Wikipedia article Maggie Smith, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Maggie Smith

Deborah Duchess of Royston
for Deborah Duchess of Royston in Thunderbirds
Suggested by celticrailwaytravell

The Shadow Syndicate of Public Enemy No. 1 - "The Hood" - has lost a prominent ally with the loss of Hudatvia to WIN and seeks to become the richest and most powerful army in the Solar System. The Hood's younger, nobler half-brother Kyrano Belangant and his family have found sanctuary with billionaire industrialist and ex-ISC astronaut Jeff Tracy and his own family. Accompanied by Hiram K. "Brains" Hackenbacker and his son Fermat; Jeff and Kyrano take their families including Jeff's sons (Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon and Alan) and mother Ruth along with Kyrano's wife (Onaha) and daughter (Tin-Tin) to an uncharted tropical archipelago in the South Pacific. It is here they build the secret headquarters of International Rescue, dedicated to helping those in need whenever disasters strike. Along with Lady Penelope and Parker in England, International Rescue is known by their machines to counter the Hood's operations - the Thunderbirds.