Downton Abbey- Silly old photos of the actors

Downton Abbey Season II

Well, word is that the new series of Downton Abbey is brilliant. Hmmmmmm....I wouldn't know as I am being good and waiting until the darkest days of January for this wonderful show to reappear on PBS.

So in the meantime, I am amusing myself by posting silly old photos of the stars. Here is the one which started me off:

Mr. Bates?

OK, Brendan Coyle (Mr. Bates) with floppy Hugh Grant hair from the 1990s. I don't know whether to laugh or whether to ...mmmmm....not bad actually ....kinda sexy...and the guy in the back looks mighty jealous of that hair!

Then I tried to find an old photo of Julian Fellowes, illustrious writer of Downton Abbey. I Googled "old photos of Julian Fellowes" and even "Julian Fellowes with hair" and all the photos looked like they were taken last week. Apparently this guy has always been bald, chubby and middle aged. So I settled on this one:

Julian Fellowes as Monarch of the Glen

Not sure if it is the hat (tam?) or if it is the pompous look on his face, but it gave me a little giggle! After all,  this is the man who used the word grandiloquent in his Emmy speech!

Then I ran into the same problem with Hugh Bonneville (aka the Earl of Grantham). Even way back to Notting Hill in 1999 where he played the adorable Bernie he looked basically the same as he does now. So I had to settle on this photo:

Hugh Bonneville as Mr. Rushworth in Mansfield Park

OK, whoever thought up the bouffant hairdo to make Hugh Bonneville look totally ridiculous as the air-headed Mr. Rushworth was brilliant. I would have run off with Henry Crawford too if I were Maria!

Jim Carter? Really?

And I wouldn't have recognized the baritone voiced Jim Carter (Mr. Carson) from this photo in a million years! The mustachio is magnifique!

Now, "Where are the ladies?" I hear you crying. Well here is the baby faced Elizabeth McGovern (Cora, the Countess of Grantham), who apparently has always had a penchant for period drama:

Elizabeth McGovern in Ragtime

As you see, I had to choose a cropped version of this photo from Ragtime. There are many photos online with full frontal nudity (Elizabeth!) but I'll try to keep it PG13 here at the Jane Austen Film Club.

Maggie Smith in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Now as Maggie Smith (Violet, the Dowager Countess) has been gorgeous throughout her entire career (including now) I had to settle for one with sixties hair that reminded me of my mother when she was young. Yes, this was the Jennifer Aniston hairdo of the day back then. Everyone had one!

Penelope Wilton

Penelope Wilton (Isobel Crawley) is another lady who looks good in almost any photo. So here is her false eyelash look from the 1960s I think. What a glamour shot!

And as for all the younger ones, well...they just look normal in all of their photos because they haven't aged yet and the styles haven't changed enough for a giggle. But just you wait...

Dame Maggie Smith- Actor of the Week

Dame Maggie Smith as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey

Maggie Smith can entertain me like few other actresses of any age. Whether she is firing off hilarious acerbic one liners in Downton Abbey as Violet the Dowager Countess ("What is a weekend?") or when she does witchcraft as Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter with a twinkle in her eye ("I've always wanted to use that spell").

Maggie Smith as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter series

"It's true I don't tolerate fools but then they don't tolerate me, so I am spiky. Maybe that's why I'm quite good at playing spiky elderly ladies."

Maggie Smith as Constance Countess of Trentham and her maid Mary from Gosford Park

As for her role as Violet, the Dowager Countess, Maggie Smith remarks, "It is very satisfying to play a character such as Violet...Julian (Fellowes) is good at those sorts of ladies. This is the third old lady I've played for him, so I am getting the hang of it now," Smith laughs.

Maggie Smith in her Oscar winning performance with Michael Caine in California Suite 1978

This wonderful actress has won 2 Academy Awards (for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 1969 and for California Suite 1978) and has been nominated for 3 more as well as being made a Dame Commander (DBE) in 1990. She has two sons by her first marriage to actor Robert Stephens (one of whom is the yummy Toby Stephens from Jane Eyre) and had a very happy second marriage to playwright Beverley Cross who died in 1998.

Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judi Dench in A Room with a View

I remember her first for her spate of Agatha Christie mysteries (or spoof of same by Neil Simon) from the 1970s (Murder by Death, Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun) but one of her best will always be as prim passive-aggressive chaperone Charlotte Bartlett from A Room with a View.

Charlotte Bartlett: I shall never forgive myself.
Lucy Honeychurch: You always say that, Charlotte. And then you always do forgive yourself.

Maggie Smith surprises Rupert Grint with a kiss at the London premiere of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince 2009

She may be spiky but that's OK. We adore you Maggie!!!!

I don't know about you but I can't wait for season 2 of Downton Abbey!