12:24 AM EDT 04/14/2013
Elizabeth McGovern
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Downton Abbey's Maggie Smith & Elizabeth McGovern: Before They Were Stars
Originally posted 01/14/2013 10:30AM
Everyone has a past ... even the actors on Downton Abbey.
Long before they were cast as members of the aristocratic Crawley family, Dame Maggie Smith and Elizabeth McGovern appeared in a variety of films, and Snakkle.com has the photos to prove it.
As Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, Smith reigns over her costars, often offering some comic relief in the form of barbs. But prior to Downton and long before her iconic roles in Sister Act and the Harry Potter films, Smith was a fresh-faced girl engulfed in her studies.
(Smith, 78, won a Golden Globe Sunday night and is nominate ford a SAG Award for her role on Downton.)
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Lady Mary Set to Wed as Third Season of Downton Abbey Premieres (Photo)
Originally posted 01/06/2013 11:00AM
It looks like Lady Mary will finally make a fetching and stylish bride.
New photos posted by EW.com show Mary in her wedding gown as she is set to marry distant cousin – and heir to the family's fortune – Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) in the third season of Downton Abbey, which returns to American television on Sunday night (9 p.m. ET) on PBS.
The show's costume designer, Caroline McCall, went all out for the bride's period wedding ensemble, making it what EW says is the show's most expensive outfit to date. A vintage veil will be anchored on Mary's head by a 45-carat floral diamond tiara, valued at $200,000, from U.K. jeweler Bentley & Skinner.
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Emmy Nominations: PEOPLE TV Critic's Take
Originally posted 09/22/2012 06:40PM
If you ask why I am crying, it's because Madeleine Stowe, star of ABC's Revenge, is not among the Emmy nominees. In fact, I am crying just as she would: My eyes are ringed with big, ready-to-drop tears of wrath and sorrow.
Otherwise, the latest batch of nominees is pretty satisfying.
It's great to see Lena Dunham and her fantastic HBO comedy Girls up for best actress and show. (But nothing for the supporting cast?) Dunham, who plays a smart, funny, self-absorbed young writer, is running against her comic antithesis: Zooey Deschanel of FOX's New Girl, on which she plays (and plays very well) a cupcake.
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Shirley MacLaine Didn't Know What Downton Abbey Was Before She Filmed It
Originally posted 07/24/2012 01:30PM
British TV import Downton Abbey has found many fans in the States, but until recently Shirley MacLaine was not one of them.
"I walked in to my hairdresser lady's place in Malibu and they were talking about [the show]," MacLaine told reporters Saturday at the TCAs in Los Angeles. "I said, 'What do they mean?' Then I saw [the show], and I had three months of [filming] it."
The screen legend, 78, is joining the hit PBS series for its third season – playing Martha Levinson, the American mother of Elizabeth McGovern's character, Lady Grantham. The third season kicks off on PBS January 2013.
"I didn't know anything about Martha Levinson, but my hairdresser did," MacLaine said about her character, who was referenced to but never seen in the first two seasons. "Along with the great acting and writing that is why I [took the part] – to see if my hairdresser was right!"
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Shirley MacLaine Joins the Cast of Downton Abbey
Originally posted 01/30/2012 05:15PM
Look who's coming to Downton!
Shirley MacLaine will join the cast of British period drama Downton Abbey for its third season, producers confirmed Monday.
MacLaine, 77, will play Martha Levinson, the American mother of Elizabeth McGovern's wealthy countess, Lady Cora Grantham. The Oscar-winning screen legend will go toe to toe with Maggie Smith, who portrays the tart-tongued Dowager Countess Violet, according to the show's producers.
Gareth Neame, managing director of Carnival Films, which produces the series, said the new character "will be a wonderful combatant for Maggie Smith's Dowager Countess and we are excited at the prospect of Shirley MacLaine playing her."
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