Remembering Maggie Smith. May She Rest In Peace.

Dame Maggie Smith has passed. In this era when British treasures are assaulted, vandalized and trashed, Maggie Smith’s performances are treasures cherished throughout the world that deserve preservation and protection for as long as possible. Her performances – whether the stern Hogwarts teacher and part-time cat, the easily addled and flummoxed chaperone, Miss Charlotte Bartlett of “A Room With A View,” or the forceful Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham of “Downton Abbey” and dozens of other roles will hopefully be watched, studied, and enjoyed for centuries to come.

I am fortunate to have several of her performances on DVD and Blu-ray. When I need a dose of sanity from our current perverse and sometimes demonic culture, I will pop in a disc of “Downton Abbey” to immerse myself in a bygone era of grace, style, and manners that values tradition, honor and loyalty, even amidst occasional scandal and subterfuge. Julian Fellows, Downton Abbey’s creator, was surely inspired by the earlier “Upstairs/Downstairs,” an equally compelling, brilliantly acted and staged series that unfortunately was made in an era lacking some of the budget and filmmaking advancements that the producers of Downton Abbey utilized in the show’s cinematography, location shooting, costuming—not to mention the use of the grand Highclere Castle, a home so fitting for the Grantham family and the Dowager Countess to grace.

Thank you, Maggie Smith. May you rest in peace.