60 Minutes (1968) s45e21 Episode Script

Iron Dome is a technological marvel, a cutting-edge weapon of war that even some pacifists might come to love.
Instead of killing people, Iron Dome saves them -- by intercepting rockets loaded with explosives before they can land on innocent civilians.
And it does all this in less time than we've just spent explaining it.
The system was developed by Israel, with hundreds of millions of dollars of support from U.
S.
taxpayers.
It's been called "a game-changer," that might relieve military pressure on Israel and make it easier to achieve peace in the Middle East -- and that was something we decided we had to see for ourselves.
Over the past 11 years, more than 15,000 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israel by Hezbollah in Lebanon, and by Hamas in the Gaza strip.
Until recently, the only thing Israeli civilians could do was run for cover but in the latest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas late last year, some people stopped running and tried to get some good pictures because this time when Hamas fired rockets from Gaza at Israeli cities, Iron Dome fired missiles to intercept them in the sky before they could do any damage on the ground.
You're looking at an Iron Dome missile on its way.
You can't see the Hamas rocket it's going after, but watch how the missile will adjust its course to get close to the Hamas rocket and blow it up.
At night, the images of Iron Dome are even more spectacular.
This video was taken at a wedding in southern Israel.
As squadrons of Iron Dome missiles could be seen hunting salvos of Hamas rockets, the wedding music played on despite the battle above.
Bob Simon: Do you think that people in Tel Aviv and Ashkelon feel safer today than they did six months ago? Ehud Barak: By far.
Ehud Barak is a legendary Israeli commander and general and Israel's defense minister.
We interviewed him just before Israel's recent elections.
Bob Simon: Now, people are not running to shelters so much? They're staying in their cafes-- Ehud Barak: No.
I don't think so.
Probably some-- probably in Tel Aviv where no rocket actually landed.
But there is less anxiety deep in their minds.
Because after all, everyone knows the statistics that basically, most probably, the incoming rocket will be intercepted.
It really looked like Israel was in for it in November when Israelis leaders, fed up with rocket attacks from Gaza, assassinated Hamas' military commander.
Hamas and Islamic jihad responded by firing more than 1,500 rockets at Israel.
The Israeli Air Force says Iron Dome destroyed 85 percent of the rockets headed towards Israeli towns and cities.
There's no way to independently confirm that figure, but the fact that Iron Dome could shoot down a short-range rocket travelling between 500 and 1,000 miles per hour is remarkable in itself.
It's like a bullet shooting down another bullet which is why, when Iron Dome was just a concept on a drawing board several years ago, many Israeli strategists didn't think it could be done.
Ehud Barak: It sounded extremely dramatic, to make two bodies meet together when both of their relative velocities are immense.
Bob Simon: We understand that it-- again, even the Israeli Air Force was against it? Ehud Barak: Yeah.
There were many, many corners of resistance.
Because people didn't see it as natural.
To see how Iron Dome works, we paid a visit to one of Israel's five operational batteries.
Each battery has its own radar, command-and-control center, and launchers that fire the intercepting missiles.
The equipment's worth about $50 million.
It's sitting in a potato field, manned by what appear to be college kids.
Shai Kogensky is the battery commander.
Bob Simon: How old are most of your soldiers? Shai Kogentsky: Between 18 to 21 years old.
Bob Simon: That's pretty young.
Shai Kogensky: Yes, yeah.
Bob Simon: And you're the commander? Shai Kogensky: I'm the commander.
I am 32.
Bob Simon: You're 32.
Shai Kogensky: Yeah.
Bob Simon: So you're the old man here.
Shai Kogensky: Yes, I'm the old man.
When Hamas launches a rocket, Iron Dome's radar detects it, and its computers calculate where it will land.
If it's headed for an empty field, Iron Dome won't waste an interceptor on it.
But if it's going towards a populated area, the system will figure out the best place to intercept the rocket, so that the falling shrapnel won't do any harm.
Iron Dome will then ask one of those kids for permission to fire.
Bob Simon: So you've got three-to-five seconds to decide-- Shai Kogensky: Yes, because-- Bob Simon: --whether or not to intercept it.
It-- and you have to do something.
The soldier has to do something.
It will not be automatic.
Shai Kogensky: No, no, no, it's not automatic.
The soldiers are intercepting the rockets.
They have to make a decision.
Bob Simon: This is the Iron Dome interceptor.
Once it's launched, it has a mind of its own, and this is the mind right here -- the brains.
It guides the missile very close to the enemy rocket and explodes, blowing the rocket out of the sky and keeping it far away from an Israeli town.
A rocket fired from the Gaza strip will take just seven to 15 seconds to land in the Israeli town of Sderot.
The Israelis say Iron Dome has knocked down many of those rockets.
The rocket scientists who invented iron dome can't -- for security reasons -- show their faces on camera.
But Didi Ya'ari, the CEO of Rafael, the lead manufacturer of the system, is under no such restriction.
As he showed us what the inside of an Iron Dome command center looks like, he told us more fire was directed at southern Israel during the eight-day battle in November than during all of Israel's previous wars.
Bob Simon: People have called the development of the Iron Dome a "game changer.
" Does that mean anything? Didi Ya'ari: It does.
Definitely.
You know, people go to work.
Harbors are working.
Cars are moving, trains are moving.
Nothing stops.
And still, you have circumstances where in the past you would consider as full war.
Israel was ready for full war.
Seventy-five thousand soldiers and hundreds of armored vehicles were called up ready for an invasion of Gaza.
It didn't happen.
BOB SIMON: Is it because of Iron Dome that the Army didn't have to invade Gaza? Didi Ya'ari: By all means without Iron Dome we'll-- we were inside Gaza, you know, after two days.
Bob Simon: And the casualties on both sides would have been higher? Didi Ya'ari: Yeah.
While Iron Dome worked well against Hamas's rockets, no one knows how it would do in the North, against Hezbollah's larger, more sophisticated arsenal.
And there's expense.
Each Iron Dome interceptor is believed to cost more than $75,000.
A Hamas rocket can be built for as little as $500.
Bob Simon: What if the next time around, Hamas fires a hundred at once, or 500, and half of them are-- Ehud Barak: I don't want to go into extremely kind of-- extreme kind of scenarios.
But basically, that was a question mark that was raised by critics, "How come that you're launching something that might cost $50,000 or $100,000 against something that costs $500 or $5,000 dollars?" And I say, that's not the right way to look into it.
Basically there is high price that I put on our capacity to run normal life, to let the people live as normally as possible, to let the economy flourish and move forward.
Barak argues that if Iron Dome makes Israelis feel more secure, less threatened, they'll be more willing to make peace with the Palestinians.
You wont find many Palestinians who agree.
Husam Zomlot: Before the Iron Dome, they felt no pressure to make any concessions.
After the Iron Dome, they will feel the pressure to make concessions? Of course not.
Husam Zomlot is a PLO diplomat and a professor at Bir Zeit University.
Bob Simon: What's this demonstration here? As we walked with him through the streets of Ramallah on the West Bank, a group of protesters marched right past us.
Husam Zomlot: Certainly it will not be the Iron Dome.
Bob Simon: Right.
Husam Zomlot: This will not be the area, you know, of security.
It might be about prisoners.
Most likely it is about prisoners.
It was about prisoners -- Palestinians arrested by the Israelis.
People here have many complaints about their political and economic situation, but unlike Hamas in Gaza, the Palestinian authority on the West Bank hasn't fired any rockets at Israel and has been praised by Israeli officials for maintaining law and order.
But a more peaceful situation in the West Bank hasn't led to renewed peace talks, and each side blames the other for the gridlock.
Husam Zomlot: Life is very normal in Tel Aviv.
People are jogging on the beaches of Tel Aviv.
There is a wall that's separating from whatever happening there.
It doesn't concern them whatsoever.
And this is the dynamics we are faced with.
The reality is, until the Israeli society feels some sort of a sense of crisis, a sense of an urgency, we will go nowhere.
Bob Simon: Surely, you're not suggesting that it would be better if rockets fell on Tel Aviv, or are you? Husam Zomlot: Absolutely not.
I think the U.
S.
should tell them that our money comes with our advice.
"If you take our money, you better take our advice.
For the last 25 years, you have been taking only our money and putting our advice aside.
The $270 million the U.
S.
has provided Israel to help build Iron Dome is in addition to the three billion dollars Israel gets annually from the U.
S.
in military aid.
Palestinians complain that while all this U.
S.
support is being given to Israel, the Israeli government has repeatedly defied U.
S.
policy and approved the construction of new settlement blocks in the West Bank.
Bob Simon: The Americans have already given $270 million dollars.
Ehud Barak: More than this, I believe, along the, yeah.
Bob Simon: And they're promising just the Iron Dome another $660 million-- Ehud Barak: Yeah.
Yeah.
$680-- probably $211 might be given in the coming fiscal year.
Bob Simon: While the Americans are helping you so much in your defense.
Israel goes on building settlements, which is exactly what the Americans don't want.
How does that work, when you're asking America for help and doing exactly what the Americans don't want you to do? Ehud Barak: You know, Bob, I prefer not to answer this question right now.
You know, we are in the height of the election period.
I basically think that the relationship, especially between our intelligence communities and our defense establishment, is extreme-- are extremely close.
Bob Simon: You mean, between the Israelis and the Americans? Ehud Barak: Yeah.
Extremely close.
And of course, we have certain differences.
Bob Simon: But how does it work? I mean, right now, Israel has just announced the building of a gigantic settlement project.
This is at the same time that the Americans are providing the money for Israel's most important defense system.
Ehud Barak: You know, we are highly grateful to the administration, to American people as a whole for this support.
I don't think that it's relevant to the issue of Iron Dome.
Israelis argue that America's commitment to their security must be kept separate from political disagreements between the U.
S.
and Israel.
Six Israelis were killed in this latest battle with Hamas.
The UN says more than a hundred Palestinians perished as the Israeli Air Force and Navy pummeled targets in Gaza .
But Hamas never surrendered.
Despite Iron Dome, it kept firing rockets, and after a cease fire was negotiated, Hamas' long-exiled leader made a triumphant visit to Gaza, claiming victory.
So who won? Depends who you ask.
The loser, again, is any prospect of peace, and no machine, however brilliantly designed, can fix that.
Around the world, countless millions suffer with diseases that could be easily cured if those patients could reach modern medical care.
For a fortunate few, there is a lifeline called "Africa Mercy.
" She is the largest civilian hospital ship on the seas.
But she is also the closest thing to a time machine you're ever likely to see.
Her largely American crew brings 21st century medicine to people who believe that illnesses are caused by evil spirits.
The patients' beliefs may seem archaic but their courage is to be admired.
They suffer from diseases unseen in America-illnesses that can make you believe in curses.
Spend a few days, as we did, aboard the Africa Mercy and you will see how two worlds meet at the intersection of courage and compassion.
She can be described in the usual dimensions of a ship; 500 feet in length, eight decks, a crew of 450.
Or you can reckon Africa Mercy as a hospital; 90 nurses, 15 doctors, 78 beds and six operating rooms.
One of the first doctors who invited us into surgery was Gary Parker, a maxillofacial surgeon, who came to the ship on lark.
Gary Parker: And I remember saying to myself, "When I get an opportunity I want to come, maybe for a few months, and just see what this is about.
" See if I'm cut out of the right fabric for that kind of life.
Scott Pelley: And how long have you been here? Gary Parker: Twenty-six years.
You'll understand why he stayed when you see the ship at work, as we did, in Togo, West Africa.
A lot of ways here haven't changed in centuries, most live on two dollars a day.
There are few medical facilities.
When the ship comes in, folks line up by the thousands for free dental surgery, eye surgery, and maxillofacial procedures for cleft palates and other deformities.
Africa Mercy makes port in countries all along the arc of West Africa.
Eighteen hundred miles where slave ships used to land.
Scott Pelley: Trace that coastline and you've put your finger on several of the poorest countries on Earth.
Here in Togo, the lack of development and the poverty mean that one out of 10 children, one out of 10, dies before the age of five.
They die of diseases that we just don't see in the United States, including a particular kind of facial tumor that is a specialty of the ship.
What you're about to see is very hard to look at, but if you're patient, it will be worth it.
Gary Parker is the chief surgeon and one of his patients, Edoh, was back for a check up disfigured now, but in 1995, at the age 9, a tumor destroyed her face and it was crushing her windpipe.
Gary Parker: She was struggling to breathe.
I was amazed at the sense of community.
Lots of people were waiting outside the gate and many with problems of their own.
But when they saw Edoh, they picked her up, put her over her-- over their heads and literally passed her through the crowd, over the gate, and into the screening because they recognized her needs were greater.
These tumors aren't cancer, they're benign.
In fact, it's tooth enamel that won't stop growing.
In the U.
S.
, a dentist would remove it before it shows.
But here, it's understood to be a curse.
Gary Parker: These are people that go out at night and they forage for food.
And then, in the day, they hide.
They can't go to the market.
They certainly can't go to school.
They are isolated.
Scott Pelley: So these patients arrive and they're coming up the gangway.
What do you imagine that's like for them? Gary Parker: I've seen it happen over and over and over again that when they are greeted on the ship, or when they're greeted at screening and someone comes and shakes their hand, it's like "Somebody recognizes that I'm inside here.
" You know, "I'm trapped.
I can't get away from this tumor.
But I'm still in here.
" And the healing begins when they get acceptance based on who they are, no conditions, just, "we know you're in there, Fatimata, we know you're in there.
" And that's what he told a woman named Marta who's been trapped behind a tumor that has been growing for three years.
Her husband had banished her from the home.
Scott Pelley: She could die over time from this? Gary Parker: Oh yeah.
Why, in 2012, should people be dying of benign disease? There are lots of reasons, there are no good reasons but there are lots of reasons that that's the case.
Scott Pelley: So you're going to replace her jaw with a titanium jaw essentially? Gary Parker: Yeah.
And then some months later, bone from the hip is taken and put around the titanium.
And that grows into new jaw bone.
We followed Marta's progress over several months and in a moment, we'll show you the change.
Gary Parker: The uniform that's put on people when you have these terrible deformities is, "You're rubbish.
You're worthless.
You're spiritually cursed.
You're .
" And when you can change the uniform, it's huge.
And the person starts to imagine that they might not be rubbish after all.
No one in our world is rubbish.
Edoh, that first patient we met, who came as a child, reclaimed her humanity with four surgeries in 17 years.
Scott Pelley: I understand that you're in school.
What are you studying? Translator: She wants to become a nurse to help other people too.
Scott Pelley: She wants to be a nurse.
Translator: Yes.
Scott Pelley: She's met a lot of good nurses in her life.
Translator: Yes.
And we met a lot of good nurses, too.
Ali Chandra is from New Jersey.
Scott Pelley: You know, you could be a nurse anywhere.
You could be a nurse back home.
I wonder why you do this work? Ali Chandra: I could never be a nurse back home anymore.
I could never go back.
There's just this sense of real community that I would really, really miss if I ever left this.
One of her jobs in this community is to care for the sickest patients.
[Ali Chandra: You're alright, baby, you're alright.
.]
This is Esther, another one of the tumor patients, as her breathing tube was being removed.
Esther's tumor was massive and her recovery a desperate struggle.
[Ali Chandra: Hey I hear your voice, I hear your voice, that's so good.
.]
Esther could not understand the language but the touch was unmistakable.
[Ali Chandra: Good job, sweetheart.
.]
Scott Pelley: You know that there are some people watching this interview who are saying to themselves, "I could never do what she does.
Those poor people are terribly disfigured.
I can't look at them.
" Ali Chandra: People have been saying that to these people their whole lives and someone has to look at them.
Someone has to look them in the eye and tell them that you're human and I recognize that in you.
It's really interesting when -- sorry -- when new nurses come.
A lot of the times they're very shocked and you can tell that, this is, oh I remember that, the first time I saw that it was kind of shocking but you, it gets to the point where you don't-- you don't see it anymore.
You don't see the tumor.
You just can see the person's eyes.
Or if they only have one eye because the other one is a tumor, you find their eye and you find a way to connect with them.
That personal connection can last for years.
A lot of these patients need multiple surgeries and they'll come back again and again as the ship returns.
The idea for all of this, set sail back in charity he calls Mercy Ships.
Scott Pelley: So how did you find this ship? Don Stephens: We found her in Denmark.
She was a rail ferry Africa Mercy replaced three earlier vessels.
And Stephens says that over 35 years, hundreds of thousands of patients have been aboard his ships.
Scott Pelley: Where does the money come from? Don Stephens: We've got corporate sponsors that we couldn't do what we do without them.
Secondly, by the crew themselves.
We have a unique business model.
We charge everyone for the privilege of volunteering.
Scott Pelley: And you pay them nothing? Don Stephens: Everyone pays their own way.
Doctors, nurses and crew pay their own way with donations from home, mostly from churches.
You're often reminded onboard that this is a Christian charity.
[Ali Chandra: God you are good.
Gary Parker: We pray for your protection over her.
Nurse: And we pray for a complete recovery.
.]
A charity that treats patients of any faith.
West Africa is a territory of tribes and the ship is a tribe unto itself.
There's no help out here.
The crew drills for every emergency.
It's a tight community.
Many stay for years.
They raise their children in the ship's school, and return to America on vacation.
Ali Chandra's been on board four years.
Now, she's pregnant but she plans to stay.
Scott Pelley: I wonder do you think of this as a sacrifice that you're making? Ali Chandra: No.
Not at all.
There's things I miss from home.
I miss strawberries and I miss fresh milk.
And I miss my family.
Not in that order.
You have no idea how awesome this life is.
I get to see the world.
And I get to take care of incredible people.
And why would you wanna live in a house on land? This is way more fun.
Scott Pelley: You met your husband here? Ali Chandra: I did.
Yep.
I am one of the Mercy Ships' romances.
Not the only one.
Scott Pelley: Are there a lot of those? Ali Chandra: They call it the Love Boat.
Yeah.
Scott Pelley: Who calls it the Love Boat? Ali Chandra: I know-- a lot of-- any of us who have found our-- our loves here.
She found Phil, a ship's electrician.
Gary Parker met his wife, Susan, onboard.
And they've raised Wesley and Carys in a 630 square foot cabin.
Susan found out how long they were staying, on TV.
Susan Parker: Somebody had asked him the question, "How long do you plan to be here?" And Gary looked straight in the camera and he said, "I hope for the rest of my life.
" And we looked at each other and sucked in our breath.
And we started a journey of adjusting our expectations from that point.
Scott Pelley: The first time you saw him after you saw the documentary, did you say-- Susan Parker: Yeah, I did.
And he said, "You never asked.
" Scott Pelley: You never asked The only life the kids have known makes them strangers back home.
Susan Parker: A couple of years ago we were in Santa Barbara visiting Gary's mom.
And, I gave Carys a letter and I said, "Would you go down and mail this for me?" And she was gone for about 20 minutes.
And when she came back she said, "I don't know what a mailbox looks like.
And I thought, okay, we're in trouble here.
Scott Pelley: And today you do not wish you were somewhere else.
Susan Parker: No, you know there's nothing wrong with living at home, but I don't think it's what we're supposed to do.
That conviction tends to be renewed with every life that is changed.
The quickest change we saw came in the patients who were slowest up the gangway, each step taken on trust.
They're blind.
Cataracts.
The surgery takes half an hour.
Cataract out.
New lens in.
Some of them had been blind for decades now they can see in 24 hours.
A cause for celebration.
The maxillofacial patients are years from healing completely.
This was Marta before her jaw was replaced.
And this is how she looked after surgery.
The tumor is gone; it won't grow back.
And when the ship returns she'll have cosmetic surgery for the scars.
Africa Mercy spent five months in this port.
whole, and 794 blind patients returned to sight.
With that Africa Mercy threw off her bonds to Togo and steamed for another desperate point on the African coast.
Of all the great British actors of the past half century none are more respected or honored than Dame Maggie Smith.
She is most familiar now as the Dowager Countess on "Downton Abbey," which concludes its third season later tonight on PBS.
She has won two Oscars, three Emmys and a Tony Award, all wrapped around a long and illustrious career on the British stage.
At age 78, she is at the peak of her fame, much in demand and quite bankable.
Last spring's "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" was a surprise hit and there is a new film out, "Quartet," directed by Dustin Hoffman.
She doesn't have much time -- or much interest in giving interviews -- which she's compared to testifying in court.
They are a rarity.
We were fortunate enough to get one.
Steve Kroft: You seem to have no interest in celebrity and fame.
Maggie Smith: Absolutely none.
I mean, why would I? Steve Kroft: Do you accept the fact that you're a star? Maggie Smith: If you say so.
Yes.
I do-- I don't feel any different to the way I felt before and I'm not quite sure what it means.
I am familiar to people now, which is what I was not before.
That is entirely due to the television set.
She's talking about "Downton Abbey," the highbrow British soap opera that follows the intrigues of an aristocratic family and their servants at the turn of the last century.
It's drawn critical acclaim and record audiences in Britain and for PBS's "Masterpiece" series here in the U.
S.
due in large part to Maggie Smith's portrayal of Violet, the imperious, sharp-tongued Dowager Countess of Grantham.
[Clip from "Downton Abbey:" "Mama, may I present Matthew Crawley and Mrs.
Crawley, my Mother, Lady Grantham.
" "What should we call each other?" "Well we could always start with Mrs.
Crawley and Lady Grantham.
".]
Her role as a privileged matriarch coping with the intrusions of the modern world has become one of the most memorable in a storied career and has already won her two Emmy awards.
[Clip from "Downton Abbey:" "I'm so looking forward to seeing your mother again.
When I'm with her I'm reminded of the virtues of the English.
" "But isn't she American?" "Exactly.
".]
Steve Kroft: Did you have any idea that "Downton Abbey" was going to be this successful? Maggie Smith: No, I didn't, no.
A whole very startled group of people, you know.
I mean very pleased, but very amazed.
Steve Kroft: You're proud of it? Maggie Smith: Yes-- well, yes, of course I am.
I was just thinking-- pausing because I haven't actually seen it, so I don't sit down and watch it.
Steve Kroft: Never? Maggie Smith: No, I haven't watched it.
Steve Kroft: You must be the only person in England who's not watching it.
Maggie Smith: Well, that's a record then, isn't it? Of some sort.
Steve Kroft: Don't you have a desire to see how the whole thing turned out? You do it in bits and pieces.
Maggie Smith: I will look at it when it's all over, maybe.
Because it's frustrating.
I always see things that I would like to do differently and think, "Oh, why in the name of God did I do that?" Video courtesy of Carnival Films/Masterpiece on PBS The Downton Abbey series is available for purchase on PBS Steve Kroft: But if you don't watch the finished product, what do you get out of it? Maggie Smith: It's the delight of acting.
It was a childhood obsession that turned into a 60-year career, despite early advice from her grandmother that she wasn't pretty enough to be an actress and should learn to type.
She made her Broadway debut at 21 and was later recruited by Sir Laurence Oliver to join Britain's National Theatre.
She was already one of Britain's preeminent actresses when she first came to the attention of most Americans with "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," a film about a spirited teacher who becomes embroiled in scandal at an all girls' school.
It won her the Academy Award for best actress.
[Clip from "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: "If scandal is to your taste Miss McKie, I shall give you a feast.
" "Miss Brodie!" "I am a teacher! I am a teacher first, last, always.
Do you imagine that for one instant I will let that be taken from me without a fight?".]
Steve Kroft: It's been 44 years since you won your first Oscar.
Maggie Smith: Jesus, is it? Steve Kroft: Uh huh (affirm).
1969.
Maggie Smith: Good God.
Yeah Steve Kroft: What do you think your greatest talent is? Maggie Smith: I really don't know.
If I knew I would maybe teach or something, but I'm glad I have it, but I don't-- I really don't know what it is.
And I don't think any actors can actually put a finger on it.
Steve Kroft: You've worked with every-- I mean you've worked with Oliver Gielgud.
Burton.
Michael Caine.
Albert Finney.
Judi Dench.
Alan Rickman.
Michael Gambon.
I mean there're so many.
Do you have any favorites? Maggie Smith: I'd be mad if I said.
Steve Kroft: Michael Caine said that you steal every movie that you're in.
Maggie Smith: Oh, that's not-- that's far from true.
He's a pretty good scene stealer.
They worked together in 1978 in the film "California Suite.
" [Clip from "California Suite:" "Where are you going?" "I need another drink.
".]
She played Diana Barrie -- a strung-out Oscar nominated actress -- in Los Angeles for the Academy Awards.
Michael Caine played her bisexual husband.
[Clip from "California Suite:" "I've never hidden behind closed doorsBut I am discreet.
" "Discreet -- you did everything but lick his artichoke!".]
In the film, Maggie's character did not win the Oscar, but Maggie did for her performance best supporting actress.
Steve Kroft: That looked like it was fun.
Maggie Smith: I found the director a bit tricky.
A bit spiky.
Steve Kroft: What does that mean, "spiky?" That's a British term.
People have called you spiky.
Maggie Smith: --sort of-- yes, they do.
He was jagged.
He was very difficult but when I got upset somebody said, "Try not to be because it happens to a lot of other people and Walter Matthau left the set the other day in tears.
" So that cheered me up a bit.
I realized I wasn't the only one being picked on.
Steve Kroft: Is it alright to libel this man? Is he-- is he above-- Maggie Smith: He's no longer with us.
But I had nothing to do with his demise.
Really I didn't.
She once said, "I don't tolerate fools and they don't tolerate me" [Clip from "Murder by Death:" "Oh that's tacky, really tacky.
" Clip from "Becoming Jane:" "Leave it.
".]
She's made a career playing spiky characters.
And given her stature as an actress and the pressure she puts on herself for perfection, she admits being terrified before every take.
She can be an intimidating presence on the set.
Steve Kroft: So everybody says you're a real professional.
Maggie Smith: Oh, I hope so.
It's about time now isn't it? Steve Kroft: That-- you're a perfectionist.
That you take it very seriously.
That you have no time for low standards.
Maggie Smith: You're trying to say that I'm-- what everybody says, they always seem to think that I'm scary.
And I understand that totally.
Old people are scary.
And I have to face it.
I am old and I am scary.
And I'm very sorry about it but I don't know what you do.
Steve Kroft: I was concerned enough to ask somebody who had worked with you if he had any advice and he said, 'Don't let her smell your fear.
'" Maggie Smith: Who said this? Steve Kroft: I can't tell you.
Maggie Smith: I insist upon knowing who this dreadful person was.
Well, it wasn't Julian Fellowes, the writer and creator of "Downton Abbey.
" He agrees that Maggie can be difficult, but he says it is always about the work.
Julian Fellowes: It's never about having a pink dressing room.
You know, that's not it at all.
It's about whether or not the scene works.
Is this the right prop? You're hurrying.
That thing is wrong.
For me, her bothering is worth attending to and listening to because she ends up with a better product.
Lady Grantham from "Downton Abbey" is not the first role that Fellowes created with Maggie Smith in mind.
[Clip from Gosford Park: "Ooh yummyYummy yummy yummy.
".]
She was also the inspiration for the Countess of Trentham in "Gosford Park" -- a performance that earned her one of her six Oscar nominations.
Julian Fellowes: She has a style as an actress which is very, very rewarding for a writer.
She's very dry.
She has this strength, this kind of emotional strength, that is also underlying every laugh she gets.
So if you write her a funny line or you know a reasonably funny line, she'll make it very funny.
[Clip from "Downton Abbey:" "Don't worry.
Your turn will come.
" "Will it? Or am I just to be the maiden aunt?" "Don't be defeatist dear, it's very middle class.
".]
Steve Kroft: How important is Maggie Smith to "Downton Abbey"? Julian Fellowes: Maggie is probably-- the hardest one to replace, could we put it like that.
She would be, I think, the greatest loss.
Don't worry, it's not in the script or on the story boards and Dame Maggie has signed on for Season Four of "Downton Abbey" which is now filming.
At 78 and a breast cancer survivor, she displays no appetite for slowing down.
"Quartet," her 53rd film which is now in theaters, is about a retirement home for opera singers.
Guess who is the diva.
[Clip from "Quartet:" "This is not a retirement home.
This is a madhouse.
".]
It was directed by Dustin Hoffman, another strong-willed actor, in his first effort behind the camera.
Maggie Smith: It was a great treat.
It was such a relief to know that the person behind the camera knew exactly how you were feeling, and when you had problems doing something, knew exactly why.
He'd been in that position himself and understood it inside out.
Steve Kroft: How did you get along? Dustin Hoffman: Perfectly.
I mean, she did what she should do.
In the middle of a scene, she'd say, "I don't know what the bleep this scene is about.
" And you know, strong and hard and the whole crew goes like this.
And I literally enjoy it when that happens.
He got Maggie Smith to say a word that she had never uttered in more than 50 movies.
The F-bomb.
And Dame Maggie delivered it with the authority of a Dame Commander of the British Empire, which she is [Clip from "Quartet:" "I'm going to say something very rude to you.
F*** you.
And you.
.]
Steve Kroft: The F-bomb scene, she said that she's never said it in a movie before.
Dustin Hoffman: Well, Maggie, you certainly said it in life.
It's one of her favorite words in life, that's one of the main reasons I love her, she's a sailor.
Hoffman and Smith have become great friends and she relaxed noticeably when he joined our interview.
Two septuagenarians still in the game.
Steve Kroft: How are you dealing with the whole aging thing? Maggie Smith: I don't like it at all, but then I don't know who does.
Noel Coward-- and I don't mean to name drop.
But he said, "The awful thing about getting old is that you have breakfast every half hour.
" And that's sort of what it is.
I can't understand why everything has to go so fast.
She has two sons from her first marriage to Robert Stevens, her co-star in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," and both of them are successful actors who visit regularly.
She remarried to playwright Beverley Cross who was the love of her life.
Steve Kroft: Your second husband passed away.
Maggie Smith: Some time ago now.
Steve Kroft: Is it lonely? Maggie Smith: I don't know.
It seems a bit pointless.
Steve Kroft: What seems pointless? Maggie Smith: Going on one's own and not having someone to share it with.
Steve Kroft: But you have no interest in finding someone else? Maggie Smith: Absolutely not.
I-- no way.
Steve Kroft: How many grandchildren? Maggie Smith: Five.
Steve Kroft: Can you deal with that? Maggie Smith: Yeah.
Steve Kroft: You like it? Maggie Smith: They're wonderful.
They're wonderful.
She lives very comfortably now, splitting time between her house in London and a place in the country.
Her only annoyances being a tricky hip and the unwanted celebrity of being a TV star.
The seven "Harry Potter" films she has appeared in provided her with what she calls her pension, and a legacy with a new generation as Professor McGonagall -- plus a decade of memories with her young co-stars.
[Clip from "Harry Potter:" "Potter, take Weasley with you.
He looks far too happy over there.
".]
Maggie Smith: It was extraordinary to see them grow up like that.
Ten years of their lives.
Half their lives that is, in fact.
Steve Kroft: And you didn't change at all? Maggie Smith; No, I just got meaner and meaner.
And spikier and spikier.
No.
I didn't change at all.
Steve Kroft: What do you look forward to? Maggie Smith: I guess just to go on.
Steve Kroft: Well, there's season four.
Maggie Smith: There is indeed season four, but I mean logically Violet must be about long she's gonna last.
I really don't.
Steve Kroft: Julian says he's never going to kill her off.
Maggie Smith: In-- and there'll be-- have to be bath chairs and various things that they can push me around in.
Steve Kroft: He said they'll send you to the seaside.
They'll never kill you off.
Maggie Smith: I think he'll have to.
Steve Kroft: Have you ever thought about retiring? Maggie Smith: I think that the date for that has gone by.
I fear that I won't work in the theater again.
I'm sad about that.
But I won't retire.
I think I'll keep going with Violet and whatever other old biddy comes along.