Oscar-winning British stage and screen actress Dame Maggie Smith, known for her roles as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter franchise and Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey, has died. Smith passed away “peacefully” at a hospital Friday morning, her sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens confirmed. She was 89.
“It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith. She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September,” the statement read, per the BBC. “An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.”
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Smith’s sons didn’t disclose their mother’s cause of death, but they went on to thank “the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.” They also express gratitude “for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time.”
Born Margaret Smith in Ilford, Essex in 1934, per Variety, Smith attended the Oxford School for Girls before studying theater at the Oxford Playhouse School. She began appearing in Oxford stage productions in the ’50s, and while appearing in On the Fringe on the West End, was asked by producer Leonard Sillman to join the Broadway variety show New Faces of 1956. At around the same time, she began appearing in films, her first film credit being an uncredited appearance in 1956’s Child in the House, which she followed with a role in the 1958 Seth Holt thriller Nowhere to Go.
What followed was a decade-spanning career, with Smith gaining widespread acclaim when she took home a best actress Oscar for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1969. She followed it with her second Oscar win in 1978 for and best supporting actress for California Suite. Smith received for other Oscar nominations throughout her career – best actress in Travels With My Aunt (1972), and supporting actress in Othello (1965), A Room With a View (1985) and Gosford Park (2001).
Among her most memorable roles was that of Professor Minerva McGonagall throughout the Harry Potter franchise. A fan-favorite character who first appeared in J. K. Rowling’s book series, Professor McGonagall is a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she is also the head of Gryffindor House and the deputy headmistress under Albus Dumbledore. Smith, whose passing follows the recent deaths of fellow Harry Potter stars Sir Michael Gambon (Professor Albus Dumbledore) and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), first appeared in the role in the debut film, 2001’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and reprised the role in all seven later films.
Smith was also well-recognized for her portrayal of Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in Downton Abbey. She starred in the British period drama from 2012 through 2015, winning three Emmys. She reprised her role in Simon Curtis’s 2022 historical-drama Downton Abbey: A New Era.
Smith’s numerous other credits include The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Lady in the Van, Lettice and Lovage, Sister Act, Hook, and My House in Umbria, among many others. In 1990, she won a Tony Award for Lettice and Lovage. That same year, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to the performing arts.
Smith is survived by her sons and five grandchildren.
