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 ]
Actor Matthew McConaughey has the #1 book in the country with ‘Greenlights.’ Plus books on baking and escapist photography help ease the lockdown blues, and a new edition of ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ pops up. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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After shaky start in lockdown, Bloomsbury sales soar as people pick books over box setsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe Harry Potter publisher, Bloomsbury, has reported its most profitable first half in more than a decade, after a nation tiring of box sets fuelled... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-10-27 12:22:12 UTC ]
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It smelled like Clinton’s emails redux. Last Wednesday, the Murdoch-owned New York Post published a bizarre story, sliming Joe Biden and his son Hunter, that it said was based on files (including, yes, emails) from a laptop that a man who may or may not have been Hunter left in a Delaware... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-10-19 12:20:19 UTC ]
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SUSANNA CLARKE FIRST BURST on the scene with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in 2004 on a wave of publicity partly fueled by comparisons with Harry Potter. However, while both stories are set in England and concern magic, the similarities end there: Jonathan Strange presents a complex, dark,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-10-18 17:00:59 UTC ]
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IN THE LATE 1990s and early 2000s, millennials in the United States were tweens and teens, and the Harry Potter phenomenon hit hard. There was nothing so comforting in the face of overseas wars and 9/11 as a bit of Blairite neoliberalism from abroad: the British school novel wrapped up with a... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-09-19 15:00:45 UTC ]
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The long-rumored Harry Potter open-world game finally has a release date. Hogwarts Legacy will come out sometime in 2021. Sony shared a lengthy cinematic trailer during its PlayStation 5 showcase detailing what you’ll do the game. You’ll play as a wi... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2020-09-16 20:27:10 UTC ]
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With books delayed by the pandemic reaching shops alongside other titles aimed at the Christmas market, the trade has seen sales boomBooksellers up and down the UK are reporting a boom in sales since readers returned to bookshops after the lockdown, with the first avalanche of Christmas titles... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-09-11 12:40:19 UTC ]
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Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling says she is returning an award from a human rights group linked to the Kennedy family after the president of the organization criticized her comments about transgender issues. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2020-08-28 20:34:31 UTC ]
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A poster supporting the Harry Potter author, paid for by an anti-trans activist, was removed from an Edinburgh train station for being too political. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-07-31 17:57:33 UTC ]
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This week Dave Miller, who hosts a daily talk show on Oregon Public Broadcasting, interviewed “two very tired people”: Tuck Woodstock and Sergio Olmos, both independent journalists. Since late May, daily protests in solidarity with Black lives and against police brutality have taken place in... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-07-24 12:18:51 UTC ]
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The Day faced legal action from author after implying that her comments on gender harmed trans peopleA news website aimed at British schoolchildren has agreed to pay an unsubstantiated amount after it implied that JK Rowling’s comments on gender caused harm to trans people.The Day, which is... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-23 16:33:19 UTC ]
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Figures for last year show sales of £6.3bn, up 20% on 2015, but the Publishers Association says sector needs government support to weather coronavirusBook sales in the UK hit record levels in 2019, driven by a surge in audiobook and nonfiction titles, according to new figures released as... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-21 23:01:08 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury says books were a lockdown hit, with children’s division revenue up 27%The backlash against JK Rowling’s views on transgender law reform has failed to dent the popularity of the Harry Potter author’s books, with publisher Bloomsbury saying they have proved a lockdown hit, pushing... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-21 12:29:43 UTC ]
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Three mission-driven indie bookstores well-known for their commitment to social justice have ceased stocking books written by J.K. Rowling, accusing the Harry Potter author of promoting hatred towards transgender people. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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J K Rowling's agency The Blair Partnership has lost four of its author clients over the controversy surrounding the Harry Potter author's views on transgender law reform. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-22 05:27:06 UTC ]
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In order to create the Ultimate Summer 2020 Reading List, we’ve ventured into unfamiliar territory and employed… math. | Lit Hub How JK Rowling betrayed the world she created: Gabrielle Bellot on growing up with the Harry Potter universe. | Lit Hub “The pace and frequency of Trump’s falsehoods... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-10 10:30:25 UTC ]
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After the author’s widely criticized round of gender identity tweets over the weekend, the actor spoke up on behalf of transgender women. The creator of Harry Potter seems to have lost Harry Potter himself, as Daniel Radcliffe comes to the defense of trans women in the wake of J.K. Rowling’s... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2020-06-09 10:00:07 UTC ]
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"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling is releasing her new book, "The Ickabog," in free online installments. The first two chapters are out now. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-05-26 19:33:57 UTC ]
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Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is releasing her latest book as a free online serial for kids "needing distraction during the strange and difficult time we're passing through" — and she's also calling on young fans to help create illustrations... Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2020-05-26 15:57:26 UTC ]
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The Harry Potter series creator is also asking her young readers to supply illustrations for the print version of the novel, available in November. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-26 15:11:00 UTC ]
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