The death of Dame Maggie Smith, even at the age of 89, is a real tragedy; however, she leaves behind a remarkable string of roles. In celebrating her, it’s easy to focus on her most famous projects — for an entire generation, she’ll always be Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter, and her work in Downton Abbey, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Gosford Park, and other acclaimed projects have ensured her legacy as a beloved and brilliant actress.
Yet her career went back decades, with some of her most exciting performances occurring in projects you may not be familiar with (or forgot she was in). Some of her most important early movies, like 1969’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (for which she won the Oscar for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress), are not currently available for streaming or VOD. However, there are still plenty of great deep cuts out there that reveal how incredibly lucky we were to have her on our screens for so many decades.
What stands out about Smith’s career is that while she often fell into the persona of maids, housekeepers, or spinsters, none of her characters feel too similar to the others. Instead, she was able to bring remarkable range and depth to each role, drawing out their innate humanity in powerful ways. Below are seven movies that are currently available for streaming that might not be as well known as some of the projects mentioned above, but represent high points of Smith’s career.
