With no history of acting in the family, Maggie Smith enrolled in drama school at age sixteen. Following performances in student revues and in cabaret, she joined London's Old Vic Theater alongside Laurence Olivier before moving on to London's National Theatre. No stranger to MASTERPIECE, Maggie Smith has appeared in such productions as David Copperfield, Memento Mori, All for Love, and All the King's Men. She has two sons, also actors, Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin, both with MASTERPIECE credits of their own. Adding to her array of awards, including two Oscars, Smith has, in both 2011 and 2012, won the Primetime Emmy for best supporting actress in a miniseries for her Downton Abbey role as Violet, the Dowager Countess.

Recent big-screen performances include The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, with fellow MASTERPIECE alums Judi Dench (Cranford), Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey), and Bill Nighy (Page Eight); and Dustin Hoffman's 2012 feature The Quartet, with Michael Gambon (Page Eight) and Pauline Collins (Bleak House). A veteran of the Harry Potter films, Smith is also widely known for her performance in the Julian Fellowes film Gosford Park.