She was a national treasure with several awards to her name. But somewhat surprisingly, Dame Maggie Smith never liked the spotlight.

“I’m never shy on stage, I always shy away from it,” she once described herself to critic Nancy Banks Smith.

She never saw herself in Downton Abbey. Famously, she didn’t even show up to receive her first Oscar.

And in a rare interview for the British Film Institute in 2017, she lamented that she could no longer walk down the street without being stopped by adoring fans.

Although she had been an acclaimed stage actress since the 1960s and had a varied and successful career on the big screen, she insisted she had led ‘a completely normal life’ until her role in Downton Abbey.

The ITV drama, loved by viewers around the world, had elevated her to new levels of superstardom late in her life – and she admitted she regretted what she had lost as a result.

The drama, which aired between 2010 and 2015, saw Dame Maggie play Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, the great matriarch who excelled in scathing one-liners.

“It’s ridiculous,” she said of the way public recognition changed during that time.

Recalling life before downtown, she said, “I went to theaters by myself, to galleries and things like that. And now I can’t. And that’s terrible.”

She added that Fulham Road, in south-west London, was ‘dodgy’ enough without walking along it.

That’s not to say she never enjoyed being approached by fans.

Her role as the fearsome Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films won her legions of younger fans – something she seemed to relish.

“A lot of little people said hello to me and that was nice,” she said during an interview on the Graham Norton Show in 2015.

“They were very different people,” she said, noting that to them it was as if she had never existed before.

“She loved that children recognized her from Harry Potter,” added Nick Hynter, the stage and film director who directed Dame Maggie in The Lady in the Van. “She loved that.”

For those who have worked with her, it is understandable that they initially felt some trepidation, given her enormous reputation.

Lesley Nichol, who appeared as the chef on Downton Abbey, said she was “terrified” when she first heard she would be working with Dame Maggie.

“I’ve never worked with anyone of that caliber before,” she told BBC Radio Ulster. “And I thought, I don’t know what I’m going to say to her, it’s going to be really awkward, God, she’s probably going to be really great.”

But Nichol said she quickly realized none of that was true.

“She wasn’t looking for anyone to fear her or be in awe of her, she just wanted to be part of the gang.”

Nichol said it was always “glorious” to spend time with Dame Maggie, and said they would spend time between takes playing the word game Bananagrams.

“She was terrifying and very competitive at it, and very good at it,” she said.

“But that’s how she was, standing in the middle of the crowd and just really happy to be part of it.”

Dame Maggie was known for her sharp tongue, both on and off screen.

But that shouldn’t spoil her fun, Hynter told BBC News.

“Everyone knows how witty she was, she had an extremely quick, super intelligent, biting wit,” he said.

“But it was fun hanging out with her, even when you were on the receiving end of her biting humor you couldn’t help but laugh.

“She was so smart, she was also capable of extraordinary sweetness and was a wonderful companion at concerts, ballet and theater.”

Harry Potter stars also remember how much fun Dame Maggie was on set.

On Saturday, Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley in the film series, posted a photo of him dancing awkwardly with Dame Maggie.

“She was so special, always hilarious and always kind,” he wrote.

“I feel incredibly lucky to have shared a set with her and especially to have shared a dance.”

Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games.

Asked in her BFI interview to reflect on the most tormented thing she’s ever done, Dame Maggie recalled a time during the filming of Harry Potter, when she was stuck in a trailer in the snow for a week “with that funny hat on my head.” .

“And when you sit in that trailer day after day and not being used (while you wait for her next scene), you don’t feel so happy. That was a horrible thing,” she said.

‘But there were also other people in the caravan who moaned, like Miriam Margolyes. You’re not alone if you’re moaning.’

Margolyes, who also shared the screen with Dame Maggie in Ladies in Lavender, said the actress always had a “glitch of mischief”.

“I saw what a kind person she could be, but also absolutely terrifying,” she said.

“I wouldn’t say I was a friend of hers, I was an acolyte, and she allowed me to be.”

Margolyes, who played Professor Sprout in the wizard series, recalled a time when she was absent from filming because she had ended her role on the show.

“(Lady Maggie) said ‘nonsense! If I’m in a scene I want you to be there, so please come back’. And she spoke to the producer and got me back, so I got some more money.”

She admitted that she was sometimes afraid of her. “But you can forgive a man for being the best of the best, can’t you, if he has a bit of a temper.”

From small stage to big screen, Dame Maggie’s moving performances always stole the show.

But she was also extremely dedicated. Even later in life, she was known for never showing up on set without memorizing her lines perfectly.

“I never saw her on set with a little script, she knew it before she came here,” Lady Carnarvon, who lives in Highclere Castle where Downton Abbey was filmed, told BBC Breakfast.

“She worked so hard, getting up at crazy hours… and wearing corsets for hours,” she said, adding that she continued to work until the end of her life.

“I think there was fear inside about doing it right,” Margoyles said. “But she always did that.”

Through it all, she remained famously private.

She rarely did interviews. And Margolyes notes that Dame Maggie “didn’t like being on chat shows” despite being good at them.

When she won her first Oscar in 1970 for her performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, she skipped the awards ceremony.

She was acting in a play in London at the time. Many other actors would have let the understudy take over the night, but not Dame Maggie.

She did turn up to receive her Special Award Bafta in 1993, but her speech lasted just 30 seconds.

“If it is possible to be in movies without taking off your clothes or killing people with machine guns. It looks like I have indeed succeeded,” she said.

It all paints a picture of an actress who found the whole idea of ​​being a star somewhat embarrassing, despite having an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to the number of awards she has won.

“She was a very private person,” Lady Carnarvon added.

“I always wanted to respect that and not cross boundaries. I think she was too, just like her character on TV.”

But despite being determined to stay under the radar where possible, Dame Maggie definitely left her mark on everyone she met.

Perhaps her old friend, the late actor Kenneth Williams, put it best in his diary entry about Dame Maggie in December 1962.

“The cold weather, the gloomy and mediocre audience made (Dame Maggie’s) departure dull and unexciting. I didn’t say goodbye or anything, because I would have cried.

“But that girl has a magic and a dexterity in comedy that makes you truly grateful, and she is capable of a generosity of spirit that is beautiful.

“She’s one of those rare people who suddenly make things and places great just by being there. She’s adorable.”