Dame Judi Dench has shared how she planted a special apple tree in memory of her late friend and fellow acting legend, Dame Maggie Smith.
Smith died at 89 in September, and to mark what would have been her 90th birthday, the BBC aired a special programme in honour of one of the UK’s most recognisable and prominent actresses.
Maggie Smith At The BBC aired on December 28, the day Smith would have turned 90.
Oscar-winning actress and close friend Dench shared moving memories on the show, along with some other famous faces who had worked alongside Smith.
Dench has spoken before about how she plants trees in memory of her friends who have died, and revealed during the BBC look-back at Smith’s life how she had done the same for Smith.
She also added that the tree had produced fruit on the day of her funeral.
Dame Judi Dench and Damie Maggie Smith had been firm friends for decades
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“I had it in my pocket at her funeral, which was a very nice thing to have. We had such great times,” she reflected.
The actress had starred alongside Smith in several films, such as Ladies in Lavender and A Room With A View.
“I have known her for a long long time,” Dench continued. She described her late co-star as “very, very funny and unbelievably witty, and a really sweet and special friend.”
She also admitted Smith, who also starred in the Harry Potter films as the beloved Professor McGonagall, could be “quite frightening”.
Maggie Smith died in September at the age of 89
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“You didn’t want to be on the wrong side of Mags,” she quipped.
Sir Derek Jacobi agreed with the take, adding Smith was at times “terrifying because she was so gifted.”
“I was just in awe of her, but you had to get over that,” he elaborated. “Being in awe of her didn’t last because she wouldn’t let it last.”
“I think of this quite a lot, that Mags and I did Ladies in Lavender, with Charlie Dance,” Dench recalled.
“And we were in a little cottage in Prussia Cove, and it was unbelievably hot. And I have just this wonderful memory of Maggie and I being absolutely livid at lunchtime.
“We’d be sitting at the top of this little cottage playing cards, somebody would bring us lunch while the whole of the crew – because it was so hot – just dived into the sea.
Dame Judi Dench recalled memories of her friend Dame Maggie Smith
BBC
“They were having the most wonderful time in the sea, my idea of bliss. And Mags and I were just furious in this top room. It’s a very nice memory to have.”
Gavin and Stacey star Ruth Jones also appeared in the show, revealing she had dreamt about Smith as she prepared to play Mother Superior in Sister Act, the role Smith had portrayed in the 1992 film.
Jones, 58, added that in the dream she had informed Smith she would be playing the character with a Welsh accent, which had left her “absolutely horrified”.
“She went, ‘Welsh? You’re playing her Welsh? Oh no, no, no, no, no.’ So yeah, I was very honoured that she visited me in my dreams,” Jones laughed.
