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It’s understandable that most movie and TV fans remember Maggie Smith for her dynamic work in the “Harry Potter” films and “Downton Abbey.” More recent and far more widely seen in their time, they are worthy examples of her outstanding work.

But unknown to even some of the most knowledgeable cinephiles is most of her screen work before the 1980s beyond her two Oscar wins (Best Actress for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and Supporting Actress for “California Suite”). Her passing at 89 represents a chance to look back at not only roles that conveyed her later brilliance but also, in some cases, present a broader range than what became the standard — though always with nuance and distinctiveness — Maggie Smith role of later years.

When reviewing her film career until at least 2008, it’s critical to remember that she was first and foremost a stage actor. She joined Laurence Olivier...

British stage and screen actress Maggie Smith, the “Downton Abbey” and “Harry Potter” star who numbers two Oscars, three Emmys and countless stage awards to her credit, died Friday in London. She was 89.

“It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith,” her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin said in a statement. “She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September. An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.”

In her late 70s, Smith drew an entirely new legion of fans thanks to her starring role in...

The Big Bang Theory stands tall among the upper echelons of popular sitcoms that audiences have loved over the years. Along with Friends and How I Met Your Mother, the Jim Parsons-led show always managed to grab eyeballs and still finds new audiences. Parsons, Johnny Galecki, and Kaley Cuoco kicked off as the main leads from season 1.

A still from The Big Bang Theory | CBS

By season 3, supporting players such as Kunal Nayyar, Simon Helberg, Melissa Rauch, and Mayim Bialik became fan favorites. However, the three main leads continued to be the top earners from the show and the cast’s pay continued to be raised each season. Unfortunately, there was a huge pay gap between Bialik and other male supporting actors.

Mayim Bialik Was Paid Less Compared to The Male Supporting Actors On The Big Bang Theory

Mayim Bialik and Jim Parsons in The Big Bang Theory | CBS...

Bob Newhart, the iconic comedian and actor who launched a more than six-decade run in show business in 1960 with his introduction of a deadpan, stammering everyman character whose popularity he rode well into his 80’s with a Grammy-winning comedy album and a pair of beloved Emmy-nominated sitcoms, is dead. He was 94 and passed away at his home on Thursday following a short illness. His longtime publicist Jerry Digney announced his death in a press release.

Newhart burst on the scene in 1960 with his album “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,” the first comedy album ever to top the Billboard charts. It won three Grammy Awards in ’61, including Album of the Year, Spoken-Word Comedy Album and New Artist. Newhart’s first two albums of comedy monologues (the second called “The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!”) in fact held Billboard’s top two spots simultaneously, a rare feat.

SEECelebrity Deaths 2024: In Memoriam...

Comic legend Bob Newhart has passed away at the age of 94. His longtime publicist, Jerry Digney, confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that Newhart died in his Los Angeles home on Thursday, July 18, following a series of short illnesses. As a young man, Newhart served in the Korean War and briefly worked as an accountant, before switching careers and becoming the famous stand-up comedian and actor we've come to know and love.

He first came to prominence in 1960 with his comedy album, "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart," which he followed up with "The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back." His most famous recurring stand-up schtick was playing the straight man to an implied funny man, often pretend-talking on the phone and letting us imagine what the other person was saying. You can see this clearly in his famous routine, "Nobody Will Ever Play Baseball," where he plays a games manufacturer listening to Abner Doubleday,...

Famed comedian and actor Bob Newhart has died. The performer, known for The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, among other projects, was 94 years old. Newhart’s death was announced by his publicist Jerry Digney who revealed that the TV icon had died Thursday, July 18th after a series of short illnesses. Along with his 1970s hit series, the actor was best known for his shows like Bob and George & Leo. The comedian got his start in television when he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in the 1960s, performing standup. Newhart in Elf (Credit: New Line/courtesy Everett Collection) From there, he took on roles in films and series like The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Captain Nice, Hot Millions, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, and Catch-22. He later went on to make appearances on such classics as Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and The Don Rickles Show.

Bob Newhart, the genteel but sharply satirical comic whose TV series “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Newhart” were huge hits throughout the 1970s and ’80s, died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 94.

Newhart’s publicist Jerry Digney said he died after a series of short illnesses.

Newhart was also known to younger audiences as Papa Elf in the 2003 Christmas classic “Elf,” his guest spots on “The Big Bang Theory” and most recently appeared in three episodes of “Young Sheldon.”

“The Big Bang Theory” creator Chuck Lorre remembered Newhart, saying in a statement, “For years I begged Bob to appear on one of my shows. He always said no. But then he fell in love with ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and said yes – with two provisions. One: his character had to have an arc that spanned several episodes. And two: he wanted to win an Emmy. We delivered on both. I...

We love crime movies. We may go on and on about Scorsese’s ability to incorporate Italian neo-realism techniques into Mean Streets (1973), the place of John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle (1950) in the canon of postwar noir, The Godfather (1972) as a socio-cultural commentary on the distortion of the ideals of the American dream blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda…but that ain’t it.

We love crime movies because we love watching a guy who doesn’t have to behave, who doesn’t have to – nor care to – put a choker on his id and can let his darkest, most visceral impulses run wild. Some smart-mouth gopher tells hood Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), “Go fuck yourself,” in Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), and does Tommy roll with it? Does he spit back, “Fuck me? Nah, fuck you!” Does he go home and tell his mother?

Nope.

He pulls a .45 cannon out from...

Legendary character actor Peter Ustinov, who won two Oscars for roles in Spartacus and Topkapi, died Sunday night in Switzerland of heart failure; he was 82. Also a prolific writer, Ustinov began his acting career at the age of 17 and sold his first screenplay (for The True Glory) at 24. At age 30, he earned his first Oscar nomination for his turn as Nero in Quo Vadis?, effectively establishing himself as one of the screen's most versatile supporting actors. Though known to most moviegoers as a portly British character actor, Ustinov was a multi-talented entertainer who also wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the acclaimed 1962 film Billy Budd, wrote innumerable novels and plays (including Romanoff and Juliet), and traveled extensively as a humanitarian, raconteur and humorist. Ustinov's biographer, John Miller, once remarked that the actor, who was knighted in 1990, "had enough careers for about six other men." Though confined to a wheelchair later in his life, Ustinov continued to raise money for UNICEF and most recently appeared in the film Luther. Other notable roles include his turns as Agatha Christie detective Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile, Evil Under the Sun and Appointment with Death as well as films Lorenzo's Oil, Logan's Run, Hot Millions (for which he also received a Screenplay Oscar nomination), The Sundowners and The Egyptian. --Prepared by IMDb staff...