Maggie Smith Gets BAFTA TV Nomination
Maggie Smith’s portrayal of a snippy dowager duchess in “Downton Abbey” is on the list of nomination names for a supporting actress nod at this year’s British Academy Television Awards, the U.K.’s version of the Emmys. Smith’s turn as the dowager countess in the ITV show is the only nomination for the much-trumpeted show. Of course it’s the only nomination: the Brits think that anything with teacups and stately homes constitutes, in the words of historian Simon Schama, “cultural necrophilia,” and would much rather ignore such programs. But Dame Maggie is un-ignorable.
