‘Coveney is the only writer who could get under Smith’s skin, capturing her steeliness and vulnerability’ INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
From West End comedy to Alan Bennett, Harry Potter to Downton Abbey, Academy Award-winning actor Dame Maggie Smith cemented herself as one of Britain’s best-loved figures over a career spanning seven decades.
But despite her public stature, Smith was an enigmatic figure for much of her life, rarely appearing in public and carefully guarding her considerable talent. Drawing on personal archives, interviews and encounters with the actress, as well as conversations with immediate family and dear friends, Michael Coveney’s biography is a captivating portrait of the real Maggie Smith: the closest biography ever written of one of acting’s greats.
From West End comedy to Alan Bennett, Harry Potter to Downton Abbey, Academy Award-winning actor Dame Maggie Smith cemented herself as one of Britain’s best-loved figures over a career spanning seven decades.
But despite her public stature, Smith was an enigmatic figure for much of her life, rarely appearing in public and carefully guarding her considerable talent. Drawing on personal archives, interviews and encounters with the actress, as well as conversations with immediate family and dear friends, Michael Coveney’s biography is a captivating portrait of the real Maggie Smith: the closest biography ever written of one of acting’s greats.
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Reviews
As [Michael] Coveney portrays her in this informative, well-crafted biography, Smith brings to her role as Dowager Countess [in Downton Abbey] the acerbic wit, sly irreverence, and masterly technique that has served her throughout her long career. Steeped in theatre history, and with full cooperation from Smith; her husband, actor Beverley Cross; family and colleagues, including her close friend Judi Dench, Coveney seamlessly melds Smith's personal and professional lives into an engrossing narrative ... An authoritative and perceptive portrait
[A] revealing biography of the sublime life and loves of Maggie Smith
Dame Maggie Smith - now 81 - is a national treasure, her unforgettable asperity a delight in every role ... [Coveney's] knowledgeable, elegant biography examines the qualities of the woman in the spotlight ... But he also gently probes Smith's closely guarded privacy, with revealing anecdotes from friends, fellow thespians and Smith's sons, the actors Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens
A satisfying read ... [P]leasantly gossipy and a very valuable addition to the history of British theatre
From early days in the theatre to Miss Jean Brodie and Downton's formidable Dowager, Maggie Smith has endeared herself to millions. This engaging and fascinating biography reveals the life and career of one of our finest actresses
Coveney has written a magnificent book that beautifully illuminates the talent and the irreducible personality of a great artist
Wonderful insight into the life of a wonderful actress - READERS' CHOICE FOR BEST MEMOIR OF THE YEAR
[A] solid and admiring portrait of a beloved actor's craft and career
Coveney enticingly lists and quotes from her most remarkable roles, and forbears to intrude on Smith's determinedly private life. Hers is a fascinating story, a true swan hatched from the unlikely nest of a dour Methodist accountant mother and a lab technician father who moved to Oxford during the war.
Michael Coveney's affectionate [biography] provides the best account we are likely to get of this reserved grand dame, who surely stands alone in having her 'witty' elbows and wrists so often singled out for praise
The conundrum of what Smith does haunts Coveney's Maggie Smith: A Biography, on a brilliant journey from Shakespeare's Viola to J.K. Rowling's Professor McGonagall. Coveney's admiration is never in doubt, being of a rare critical type that cares for the actor's craft with infectious enthusiasm
Michael Coveney isn't afraid to elucidate on her reputation for being difficult, but there's much more here, from a revelatory Hedda Gabler to The Lady In The Van. Coveney is the only writer who could get under Smith's skin, capturing her steeliness and vulnerability