Being a master of sass – with a tongue as sharp as a dagger – and perhaps one of the warmest presences most of us can remember on screen: that is Maggie Smith’s unique gift.

The formidable, talented actress died in London on Friday at the age of 89. Her acting career started at the age of 17 and never stopped. She won two Oscars, four Emmys, a slew of theater awards and the distinction of Dame Commander of the British Empire for her. cultural contributions.

The last decades of her life and career capitalized on that warm sass – like boiling tea – to produce some of her greatest successes. Due to the recency of the projects, many people will remember her for her roles in Downton Abbey and as Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter franchise. They will fondly remember the plane rides they spent watching The best exotic marigold hotel and its sequel, which I think we showed a global collective experience as films in flight.

She is one of the first actresses to impress me, with the one-two punch of her roles Hook And Sister Act. (Watch her reading of “I Lied” as Mother Superior, and applaud.) I echo culture writer David Mack’s take on X: “What’s crazy about Maggie Smith is that I vividly remember how I saw her on the hook as a kid and thought, wow, that’s the OLDEST person I’ve ever seen. That movie came out in 1991!! She really leaned into this era of her career.

No one had a better perspective on that late-in-life career advantage than Smith himself. Watch her in this clip from the glorious documentary Tea with ladiesin which she and Judi Dench marvel at the longevity of their careers, with Smith falling in love with Dench’s insistence, “You’re always asked first, if I may say so.” Juicy. Hot.

But one of the great things that happens after an actor’s death is that people start posting all kinds of memories and videos of their favorite performances. I’m so happy, in Smith’s case, that so many people are highlighting her Oscar-winning work The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

In the 1969 film, she plays a teacher at a Scottish girls’ school in the 1930s, whose free-spirited passion for education becomes dominant as her romanticism collides with delusions, threatening her position.

If you haven’t seen the film yet, a certain clip has been circulating since news of Smith’s death broke. It’s probably the scene that won her the Oscar. Fifty-five years later, it’s still fascinating. As she erupts at the headmistress asking her to resign, she is both surprisingly unhinged yet completely in control. The anger erupts from her like a geyser, an excessive outpouring of emotion, harnessed into a stunning display of manipulation.

Check it out here:

“I’ve watched this so many times – every time I’m absolutely fascinated,” one user wrote on X. “Every cell in her body is this charismatic, dangerous mentor. This film, this performance still resonates.

“What an amazing speech and delivery: spine-tingling,” wrote another user. Another fan summed it up: “The definition of haughty,” followed by a crown emoji.

That could be a perfect summary of Smith’s gifts: the queen of pride.