English stage and motion-picture actress, noted for her poignancy and wit in comic roles.

Smith studied acting at the Oxford Playhouse School and began appearing in revues in Oxford in 1952 and London in 1955. She first achieved recognition in the Broadway revue New Faces of 1956 and held the lead comedienne role in the London revue Share My Lettuce (1957–58). She then began appearing regularly in plays at the Old Vic Theatre in London. Her work in Jean Anouilh (Anouilh, Jean)'s The Rehearsal (1961), Peter Shaffer (Shaffer, Sir Peter)'s linked comedies The Private Ear and The Public Eye (1962), and Jean Kerr (Kerr, Jean)'s Mary, Mary (1963) solidified her reputation. She joined Britain's National Theatre Company in 1963, where she played Desdemona opposite Laurence Olivier (Olivier, Laurence, Baron Olivier of Brighton)'s Othello in 1964. She repeated that role in Olivier's motion-picture version of the play in 1965 and appeared with the National Theatre in such roles as Silvia in George Farquhar (Farquhar, George)'s The Recruiting Officer (1963).

Smith had made her screen debut in 1958 in Nowhere to Go, but she only achieved international fame with her performance in the title role of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), for which she received an Academy Award for best actress. Her subsequent stage appearances with the National Theatre included roles in William Wycherley (Wycherley, William)'s The Country Wife (1969), Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem (1970), and Henrik Ibsen (Ibsen, Henrik)'s Hedda Gabler (1970). Smith left the National Theatre in the early 1970s and appeared for several seasons at the Stratford (Ontario) Festival. She also played in both the London and New York productions of Noël Coward (Coward, Sir Noël)'s Private Lives (1972, 1975) and of Tom Stoppard (Stoppard, Tom)'s Night and Day (1979).

In 1978 Smith starred in California Suite, an adaptation of Neil Simon (Simon, Neil)'s Broadway play. Her performance as an Oscar-nominated actress who bickers with her husband (played by Michael Caine (Caine, Sir Michael)) earned her an Academy Award for best supporting actress. Smith also received Oscar nominations for her roles as a chaperone to a young woman traveling in Italy in A Room with a View (1985) and as a countess in Gosford Park (2001). Her other films include the comedy Sister Act(1992), which also starred Whoopi Goldberg (Goldberg, Whoopi); The Secret Garden (1993), an adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett (Burnett, Frances Hodgson)'s novel; Ladies in Lavender (2004) with Judy Dench (Dench, Dame Judi); and Becoming Jane (2007), a drama that imagines a possible romance that later inspired author Jane Austen (Austen, Jane). In the early 21st century Smith played Professor Minerva McGonagall in the film adaptations of J.K. Rowling (Rowling, J.K.)'s popular Harry Potter series. Smith was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1990.