{"id":56790,"date":"2024-09-30T10:33:41","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T14:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=56790"},"modified":"2025-02-21T01:11:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T06:11:33","slug":"remembering-maggie-smith-and-how-she-helped-me-win-250000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=56790","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Maggie Smith…And How She Helped Me Win $250,000"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The death last week of Dame Maggie Smith<\/a> at the age of 89 triggered a rush of online pieces saluting the two-time Academy Award winner and her memorable roles on stage, screen, and television. When I learned of her passing, it triggered a rush of gratitude in me, because it was thanks to Smith being such a memorable performer that I was able to become a living, breathing piece of TV quiz show trivia.<\/p>\n

Confession time: In March of 2001 I managed–after almost a year and a half of daily calls to the program’s 800 number–to become a contestant on the original ABC primetime run of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire<\/em>. And, in an even more unlikely scenario, I made it into the Hot Seat and got to banter over the course of two nights with host Regis Philbin<\/a>. You can watch the whole surreal spectacle here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Because I was not (and am not) a big Jim Carrey<\/a> fan, I needed help from the audience on the $16,000 question concerning his occupation in The Truman Show <\/em>(Insurance Salesman; made sense for the character). The next movie-related question didn’t come along until the quarter-million-dollar mark, and it read as follows: “Who is the only actor to win an Academy Award for playing an actor who loses an Academy Award?” My four choices were Judy Garland, James Mason, Bette Davis, and Maggie Smith. Let’s look at each one and why they were given as a possible answer.<\/p>\n

\"\"Judy Garland<\/a> and James Mason<\/a>: This was a twofer linked, of course, by the 1954 version of A Star Is Born<\/em>. In an emotional scene, Vicki Lester (Garland) wins an Oscar for her role in the fictitious “A World for Two,” only to have her acceptance speech interrupted by the sudden appearance of her drunken husband, Norman Maine (Mason). Maine proceeds to give an embarrassing rant to the attendees until he accidentally slaps Vicki in the face. I remembered the scene, and so I ruled the duo out.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bette Davis<\/a>: Davis did–rather surprisingly–receive a nomination for her none-too-subtle performance in the 1952 melodrama The Star<\/em>, in which she played Maggie Elliot, an Oscar-winning actress whose career is in decline as she approaches middle age. After a DUI arrest (with her award right alongside her) and having her belongings sold at a public auction, Maggie must come to terms with the end of her career. While it was far from the end of Bette’s career, she didn’t take home the golden statue that night (Shirley Booth did, for Come Back, Little Sheba)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Maggie Smith: Smith, who in 1970 won the Best Actress Oscar for the title role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie<\/em>, would claim a second Academy Award–this time for Best Supporting Actress–nine years later thanks to playwright Neil Simon’s ensemble romp California Suite<\/em>. Smith plays Diana Barrie, a veteran British stage performer and first-time Oscar nominee whose stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel with her estranged bisexual husband Sydney (Michael Caine<\/a>) is marked with heavy drinking, trading barbed insults, and some hard insights into their relationship. When she won her award, Smith said, “I would very much like for Michael Caine to be here with me. It should be split down the middle.”<\/p>\n

After ruminating on the foursome, I correctly guessed Maggie Smith and made it to the $250,000 plateau (No need to go into what happened next; let’s just say I should have brushed up on the Punic Wars, or at least where the old city of Syracuse is located). Ever since then, I’ve have a fond place in my heart for the woman who went on to bring Professor McGonagall, Muriel Donnelly, Violet Crawley, and so many other notable characters to life. Thanks, Dame Maggie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The death last week of Dame Maggie Smith at the age of 89 triggered a rush of online pieces saluting the two-time Academy Award winner and her memorable roles on stage, screen, and television. When I learned of her passing,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9748,"featured_media":56792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,5527],"tags":[1453,6493,3282,6753],"coauthors":[11329],"class_list":["post-56790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-articles","category-tv-articles","tag-bette-davis","tag-james-mason","tag-judy-garland","tag-maggie-smith"],"yoast_head":"\nRemembering Maggie Smith...And How She Helped Me Win $250,000 - MovieFanFare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Want to hear how answering a question featuring Maggie Smith won me $250,000 on a TV quiz show? 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