Harry Potter and Downton Abbey actress dies at 89

Dame Maggie Smith, the Harry Potter and Downton Abbey actress, has died at the age of 89, her family has announced.

A legend of British stage and screen, he won two Oscars in his career – for Miss Jean Brody’s Prime in 1970 and California Suit in 1979.

He received four nominations and won seven BAFTA awards.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who led the tribute, said Dame Maggie was “beloved by many for her outstanding talent and became a true national treasure whose work will be admired for generations”.

In the Harry Potter films, Dame Maggie played the acerbic Professor Minerva McGonagall, popular with young wizards at Hogwarts for her pointed witch’s hat and stern demeanor.

In the hit ITV drama Downton Abbey, she played Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grandham, excelling in wading one-liners through the show’s six series.

Her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin said in a statement: “It is with great sadness that we must announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith.

“He passed away peacefully in hospital in the early hours of Friday, September 27.

“An intensely private person, he was with friends and family to the end. He leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.”

They thanked the “wonderful staff at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and immeasurable kindness during her final days”.

They added: “We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time.”

His co-stars also paid tribute.

Hugh Bonneville, who appeared in Downton Abbey, said: “Anyone who has ever shared a scene with Maggie will attest to her sharp eye, sharp wit and formidable talent.

“He was a true legend of his generation and will hopefully live on in many wonderful screen performances. My condolences to his boys and extended family.”

Dame Maggie reprized her role for both Downton Abbey films.

In 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era, her character died of an illness she revealed at the end of the 2019 film, much to the chagrin of her family and friends.

Following the success of the 2002 period drama Gosford Park, Downton earned Dame Maggie Oscar and BAFTA nominations for her portrayal of the Dowager Countess of Trentham.

In her statement on Friday, Prime Minister Dame Magee said she “introduced us to new worlds through the countless stories she played in her long career”.

“Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones. May she rest in peace,” he wrote.

Dame Christine Scott-Thomas, who starred alongside Dame Maggie in 2005’s Keeping Mum and 2014’s My Old Lady, said she “took acting very seriously but saw through the silliness and the rascals”.

“She really didn’t want to deal with it,” Dame Christine added.

“She had a sense of humor and a wit that would make me burst out laughing. And she had no patience for fools. So you had to be a little careful. I absolutely adored her.

“When I last saw her, she was old. ‘Crazy’ I think she said. So loved, so admired and so irreplaceable.”

A National Theater spokesman said his career “spanned unevenly across the worlds of theatre, film and television”.

Appreciating his stage performances, the statement added: “He will forever be remembered as one of the greatest actors this country has ever witnessed.

“Her deep intelligence, effortless dexterity, sublime craft and sharp intelligence are simply legendary.”

Bafta added that he was a “legend of British stage and screen”, hailing his five competition BAFTA wins and the special award and fellowship he received from the organisation.

Dame Maggie’s career spanned eight decades, with early acclaim coming in 1958 when she received her first BAFTA nomination for Nowhere to Go.

In 1963, she was offered the part of Desdemona in Othello at the National Theater by Laurence Olivier, and two years later it was made into a film and Smith was nominated for her first Oscar.

The actress’ other memorable roles include the 1985 Merchant Ivory film A Room with a View, in which she played the chaperone Charlotte Barlett opposite Helen Bonham Carter’s Lucy Honeysearch du Italia.

The role earned him another Oscar nomination and a BAFTA.

She appeared alongside another national treasure, Dame Judi Dench, in the 1999 film Tea With Mussolini as an Englishwoman living in 1930s Italy.

The two dames also shared screen time in A Room With a View and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Dame Maggie starred as the firm but fair Reverend Mother in the two Sister Act films, while Whoopi Goldberg played nightclub singer Dolores Wilson, who sought refuge from mobsters in San Francisco as a nun at a local convent.

Goldberg called Dame Magee “a great woman and a brilliant actress,” adding: “I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to work with ‘one of a kind’.”

Rob Lowe, who co-starred with Dame Maggie in 1993’s Suddenly, Last Summer, recalled “an unforgettable experience working with her”.

“Sharing two shots is like pairing with a lion,” he said.

“She’ll eat anybody alive, and often. But fun and great company. And enjoys no fools.

“We shall see no other. God speed, Mrs. Smith!”

The veteran actress starred in the 2015 film adaptation of the author’s The Lady in the Van as an elderly woman who lived in a van outside Alan Bennett’s home for 15 years.

Her final roles included 2023’s The Miracle Club, which follows a group of women on a pilgrimage from Dublin to the French city of Lourdes, co-starring Kathy Bates and Laura Linney.