The real-life dame and on-screen dowager countess, who has died aged 89, earned fame in her 70s and 80s for blockbuster roles. But her early work at the National Theatre marked her out as a talent for the agesDame Maggie Smith’s trophy cabinet reflected her extraordinary achievements across theatre, film and television – and in the biggest arenas of British and US culture, from the BBC to Hollywood, the West End to Broadway. A measure of her versatility and durability is that, in the 1960s, she played nine major roles in the formative years of the National Theatre, but also, from the start of the 2000s, appeared in five series of Downton Abbey, the ITV Sunday night series that became one of the biggest popular hits of the new millennium.Her role in that show was Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, who lived in such a bubble of exclusive comfort that, in trademark one-liners, she would drawl in mystification, for example: “What is a ‘weekend’?” That acerbic superiority was a signature throughout Smith’s career, including the part that brought her first Academy award in 1970, against a shortlist also featuring Liza Minnelli and Jane Fonda, for the title role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, adapted from Muriel Spark’s novel about a maverick, arrogant schoolteacher in Edinburgh. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-09-27 13:37:47 UTC ]
Publisher hits £161.5m takings, driven by Potter sales and Lose Weight for GoodThe evergreen Harry Potter franchise and the popularity of TV chef Tom Kerridge’s Lose Weight for Good has driven book publisher Bloomsbury’s revenue to the highest level in its 32-year history.Bloomsbury Publishing... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Virago is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Modern Classics series with the publication of 13 "deluxe" illustrated paperbacks, showcasing authors such as Muriel Spark, Angela Carter and Patricia Highsmith. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the 20 years since Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone â the first novel in JK Rowling's global publishing phenomenon â was released, the bespectacled boy wizard has achieved many, many revolutionary things. Most importantly, he has transformed children's passion for reading â and... Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2018-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury will release a ‘house edition’ of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second book in the Harry Potter series, in June. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Overwhelming demand for the book has generated wait lists that rival such all-time bestsellers as 'Harry Potter' and 'Fifty Shades of Gray.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While women dominate the charts, it’s been the year of the comeback kings: Philip Pullman, Jamie Oliver, Margaret Atwood …Last year JK Rowling reclaimed the No 1 spot in the bestseller charts by returning from mundane reality to the Potterverse (with the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SERIES Movie Night With Karlie Kloss The supermodel and her celebrity guests watch flicks, play games and gab in this new series. First up, 2002’s “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” 6:30 p.m. Freeform The Perfect Suspect The debut installment of this true-crime series tells the tale of... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales in the children’s/young adult segment fell 36.8% in July, compared to same period a year ago, according to figures release by the AAP. The decline is due, in large part, to the fact that July 2017 did not see a hit like July 2016, when 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' was dominating... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Niantic Labs, the creator of free-to-download augmented reality game Pokemon Go, is to launch a new game based on Harry Potter in conjunction with Warner Bros. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Magic is in the air at the British Library here — specifically the magical world of one of the most famous characters in modern literature, Harry Potter. “Harry Potter: A History of Magic,” a recently opened exhibition spotlighting rare books and artifacts that detail traditions of folklore and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Acting children's editor and Harry Potter fan Caroline Carpenter gives her verdict on the British Library's new Harry Potter exhibition. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A 52% decline in Scholastic's children’s book publishing group was blamed on the absence of a major bestseller. In fiscal 2017, the publisher's sales were driven by 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' which was released during the first quarter of last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While July sales last year were mightily padded by the release of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' which came out July 31, 2016, July 2017 saw no such blockbuster. Thanks in large part to this, July 2017 sales were down 1.9%, compared to the same time last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The BBC will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter with “rarely seen documents from J K Rowling’s archives, revealing her magical inspirations” in the run up to the British Library’s exhibition next month. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jumping on bandwagons is my least favorite activity. Don't force me to tell you all the must-see movies I've skipped ("Forrest Gump" is all you'll get out of me), the No. 1 best-sellers I've bypassed (I discovered the world of "Harry Potter" only after it became a play) or the platinum records... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The screenings of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone" at Durham Cathedral has broken all of the city’s book festival records with 1,500 tickets selling out in one day. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books in the week ended Aug. 6, 2017, were down 17% from the similar week in 2016 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The decline was due entirely to the release last year at this time of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which sold about 2.5 million... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Sphere) has bewitched the UK Official Top 50 for a second week, holding the number one spot with 23,711 copies sold, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As her wizarding world returns to the stage and screen, Rowling’s $95m pushes James Patterson into second place with $87mJK Rowling will need to reserve a particularly large vault at Gringotts bank after a bumper year for the Harry Potter novelist magicked her back to the No 1 spot on Forbes’... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown) has Wingardium Levoisa’d straight into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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