Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment

The comic genius of Maggie Smith

Jane Bown's portrait of Dame Maggie Smith
‘She’d not uttered a word. Everything was registered in an ever more contorted grimace. Never forgotten. Pure comic genius.’ Photograph: Jane Bown

Dame Maggie Smith was already in her late 70s when I chaired a Q&A for the film Quartet, in which she co-starred with Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins (Obituary, 27 September). After first warming up a distinguished panel, which included the film’s director, Dustin Hoffman, I threw it open to an audience of international press. From the middle of the throng, a young man from South America raised his arm and declared: “Dame Maggie, in my country we have a sandwich named after you.”

My panel looked at each other with some bemusement before Dame Maggie, at her most Downton Abbeyish and still sharp as a tack, retorted breezily: “Might that be ham, dear?”
Quentin Falk
Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire

• Maggie Smith’s entrance in Jean Cocteau’s The Infernal Machine at London’s Lyric theatre in 1986 was via a rope from the flies. It took her several minutes to descend. By the time her feet hit the stage, the audience was laughing uncontrollable hysterically. She’d not uttered a word. Everything was registered in an ever more contorted grimace. Never forgotten. Pure comic genius.
Tony Humphries
Bromley, London

• I have always found that dealing with a difficult situation or person is easier if I channel my inner Dame Maggie Smith.
Sue Ball
Brighton, East Sussex

• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.