dowager

In hit ITV drama Downton Abbey, Smith played Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, the grand matriarch who excelled at withering one-liners through the show's six series.

When we think of Dame Maggie Smith she fits that descriptor since, to the average American, she is Professor Minerva McGonagall from the “Harry Potter” movies or Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham on “Downton Abbey.”

That script cast her as Constance, Dowager Countess of Trentham, whose sense of humor sparkled beside other diamonds.

She expressed woe at no longer being able to tour the stores or shop for groceries, which is both utterly normal and difficult to picture given her close association with the Dowager Countess.

In the drama, which aired between 2010 and 2015, Dame Maggie played Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, the grand matriarch who excelled at withering one-liners.