Oscar-winning actress Dame Maggie Smith died in hospital this morning aged 89 after an incredible 70-year acting career.
Her death has sparked an outpouring of grief from fellow thespians and Harry Potter fans around the world, with Huge Bonneville leading tributes to a ‘true legend of her generation’.
The beloved star won over Harry Potter fans later in life, when she appeared in the blockbuster franchise as the quick-witted, kind and formidable Professor McGonagall.
And in 2010 she was central to the success of ITV series Downton Abbey, in her Emmy-award winning role as the acerbic Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, which she continued to play in the films.
Her heartbroken sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, announced her death ‘with great sadness’ in an emotional statement this afternoon.
They paid tribute to their ‘extraordinary’ mother, an ‘intensely private person’ who was ‘with friends and family at the end’.
Born in Ilford, Essex, on December 28, 1934, she was an internationally recognised actress for much of her life after playing the fanatical teacher Jean Brodie in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie.
Her career of more than half a century brought her recognition almost from the beginning, and she received an early Bafta nod for promising newcomer in 1959 for the crime film Nowhere To Go.
Maggie Smith beaming for the camera in a fashion campaign for Loewe in what would end up being her last photo
Dame Maggie Smith attends the Wimbledon Tennis Championships on July 15, 2023
Dame Maggie Smith appears in the 2005 film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Dame Maggie Smith arrives for the world premiere of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in London on July 7, 2011
Dame Maggie Smith played the Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey
Dame Maggie Smith attending the 2022 Wimbledon Championships on July 9, 2022
Dame Maggie Smith attending the Royal and World Premiere of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel at the Odeon in Leicester Square, London on February 17, 2015
Dame Maggie Smith in the 1976 film Murder By Death which also starred Alec Guinness
As news of her death broke, it emerged:
- Dame Maggie Smith’s last picture as beloved star posed for Loewe fashion campaign
- How Maggie Smith’s beloved sons followed in her footsteps to star in James Bond and Outlander – despite no help from her to crack into the industry
- Her Harry Potter and Downton Abbey co-stars Rupert Grint and Hugh Bonneville lead tributes to the ‘great dame’ of acting
- What Maggie Smith said about playing one the most popular characters in Downton Abbey
- How Dame Maggie Smith went from ‘spiky’ Essex girl to global superstar
- Maggie Smith’s most iconic moments have been revealed – with her scene-stealing performances leaving audiences in awe
- Maggie Smith’s long-running health struggles revealed, from breast cancer to Grave’s disease
- Inside her romance with Beverley Cross who she met aged 18 and continued to grieve 26 years after his death
This was followed by Bafta nominations for Young Cassidy in 1966, Death On The Nile in 1979, California Suite in 1980, Quartet in 1982, The Secret Garden in 1994, Tea With Mussolini in 2000, Gosford Park in 2002, and The Lady In The Van in 2016.
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Tributes pour in for Dame Maggie Smith after Oscar winner dies aged 89
She also won best actress gongs for The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, A Private Function and The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne.
Her final roles included The Miracle Club, which follows a group of women from Dublin who go on a pilgrimage to the French town of Lourdes, and 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era, in which Violet dies.
Larkin and Stephens, her sons from her first marriage, said in their statement: ‘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.
Maggie Smith alongside Miriam Margolyes, Richard Harris and Alan Rickman in 2002 film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Dame Maggie Smith is made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour by Queen Elizabeth II during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on October 17, 2014
Maggie Smith on the stage of the Old Vic in London, on April 8, 1970, during an intermission of rehearsal of The Beaux’ Stratagem
Make up and hair artists add the finishing touches to Maggie Smith before she faces the camera with Peter Ustinov in the comedy ‘Hot Millions’ being filmed in 1968
‘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.
‘We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.
‘We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time.’
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What Dame Maggie Smith said about her role as one of the most popular characters in Downton Abbey
Among the first to pay tribute was her friend Gyles Brandreth, who said: ‘The saddest news: the death of Dame Maggie Smith marks the end of a golden era and a quite extraordinary life.
‘She was a truly great actress, ‘one of the greats’ and simply the best company: wise, witty, waspish, wonderful. One of a kind in every way and consequently irreplaceable.’
British theatre owner and producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh told the PA news agency: ‘It is with enormous sadness that today, British theatre has lost one of its greatest stars – the incomparable Dame Maggie Smith.
‘Many of Maggie’s finest performances have been on the stages of theatres now in my care – one of the dress circle boxes in the Sondheim Theatre is proudly named after her.
‘Over the decades, I have been privileged to see many of her unforgettable performances from her early days in revue, in the late-50s.
‘Whatever she was in, every line was electric – she was the master of the zinger.
‘I, and everyone at Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, salute a truly great artist. Maggie was a brilliant original who can never be replaced or ever forgotten.’
Paying tribute to his former co-star, Harry Potter’s Rupert Grint updated his Instagram profile picture to a sweet throwback of the pair
Gyles Brandreth shared a photo of him with Smith on X, formerly Twitter , and wrote: ‘The saddest news: the death of Dame Maggie Smith marks the end of a golden era’
Dame Maggie was described as a ‘legend of British stage and screen’ by BAFTA after she won five of their awards during her illustrious career
Dame Maggie starred as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter franchise while Rupert played Ron Weasley (pictured at a premiere in 2009)
Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville also paid tribute, saying: ‘Anyone who ever shared a scene with Maggie will attest to her sharp eye, sharp wit and formidable talent’
Dame Maggie Smith attends the 65th Evening Standard Theatre Awards at held at the London Coliseum on November 24, 2019
Dame Maggie Smith in the royal box at the Wimbledon Championships on July 11, 2019
Dame Maggie Smith at the Evening Standards Drama Awards in London on November 28, 1997
The official Downton Abbey twitter page called Dame Maggie a ‘true British icon’
The creator of Downton Abbey Julian Fellowes said on Sky News he was ‘very pleased that with Downton we gave her a busy last act of such an extraordinary stellar career’
The creator of Downton Abbey Julian Fellowes said on Sky News he was ‘very pleased that with Downton we gave her a busy last act of such an extraordinary stellar career’.
He added: ‘She was always quite dry – very witty and rather dry,a nd a very good analyst of people.
‘She could make you laugh with describing people. She was very subtle in her appreciation of characters and of course her life was understanding character.
‘She was a great person, I have no hesitation with saying that. A great person and it has been a privilege for me to have worked with her.’
The National Theatre’s director and co-chief executive Rufus Norris has hailed her as ‘one of the greatest actors this country has had the inestimable pleasure of witnessing’.
Dame Maggie first treaded the National Theatre boards in its debut season in 1963 and went on to work with Lord Laurence Olivier at the Old Vic, as well as being in productions including Hedda Gabler, Miss Julie and Hay Fever.
In a statement to the PA news agency, Mr Norris said: ‘She will forever be remembered as one of the greatest actors this country has had the inestimable pleasure of witnessing.
‘Her deep intelligence, effortless dexterity, sublime craft and sharp wit were simply legendary.
Keir Starmer paid tribute to Maggie Smith on Twitter
Oxford High School paid tribute to Dame Smith on Twitter
Queen Elizabeth II appears with actors Charles Dance, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench at the Royal performance of Ladies in Lavender which was directed by Charles Dance in 2004
Maggie Smith appears at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on April 23, 2005
Dame Maggie Smith in a photocall for her play The Lady From Dubuque at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London on March 12, 2007
Ralph Fiennes presents Dame Maggie Smith with a Bafra award for Best Supporting Actress for the film ‘Tea With Mussolini’ at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on April 9, 2000
‘The National Theatre is reeling today and we send our deepest condolences to Maggie’s family and her legions of admirers across the world and in every generation.’
British actress Kristin Scott Thomas said Maggie Smith ‘saw through the nonsense and razzmatazz’ of acting, and ‘had a sense of humour and wit that could reduce me to a blithering puddle of giggles’.
American actress Whoopi Goldberg has paid tribute to Dame Maggie Smith and said she felt ‘lucky’ to have worked alongside her.
The actors starred together in Sister Act, where Dame Maggie played Reverend Mother Superior while Goldberg portrayed Deloris Van Cartier.
The US actress shared an old picture of the two on set of Sister Act, dressed as nuns, on Instagram and described her as a ‘great woman’.
She wrote in her post: ‘Maggie Smith was a great woman and a brilliant actress. I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to work with the ‘one-of-a-kind’. My heartfelt condolences go out to the family… RIP.’
Dame Maggie was one of the most versatile, accomplished and meticulous actresses of her generation, her repertoire ranging from Shakespeare to character parts in Harry Potter.
She was a performer of contrasts, with an astonishing capacity to switch imperceptibly from radiance to melancholy, from quiet to boisterous, from graciousness to mischief within seconds.
Although she was a tour de force in leading roles on the West End stage, she was equally happy – even during the years of her mega-stardom – to accept supporting roles, particularly in films.
Truly professional and as near a perfectionist as she could be, she treated these roles with as much detailed and careful attention as she did her major parts.
Probably her greatest triumph was in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, for which she won her first Oscar.
But, Dame Maggie – she was made a DBE in 1990 – was self-deprecating about her abilities.
Her family background gave no indication that she would not only enter the acting profession but also become one of its leading exponents.
She said she had wanted, from childhood, to become an actress, but she did not see a play or a film until she was a teenager.
Nor did she receive much encouragement from her family, particularly one of her grandmothers, who remarked that she could not go into acting ‘with a face like that’. But none of this deterred her from her ambition.
Margaret Natalie Smith was born in Ilford, Essex, on December 28, 1934. She was educated at Oxford High School for Girls and later the Oxford Playhouse School, and first appeared on the stage as a girl of 18 in Twelfth Night.
Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judi Dench during rehearsals for their play ‘The Breath of Life’ at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London on October 9, 2002
Dame Maggie Smith arriving for a Royal Film Performance of Ladies In Lavender at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on November 8, 2004
Dame Maggie Smith rehearsing for Peter Pan with Dave Allen in an undated photograph
She made an early mark in revues, as a singer and dancer. One fan who saw her on Broadway in New Faces of ’56, said he laughed so much he ended up banging his head on the seat in front of him.
She was spotted by Laurence Olivier, who saw her as much more than just a vaudeville performer and invited her to join the newly-formed Royal National Theatre Company in London.
There, and at the Old Vic, she excelled in both tragedy and comedy, moving easily from Shakespeare to Noel Coward, to Restoration comedy to Ibsen.
As a ‘rep’ actress, she was able to develop her incredible range, skill and talent among some of Britain’s best actors, including Robert Stephens, who was to become her first husband. They married in 1967 but divorced in 1974.
The film industry began to recognise her abilities and she was given several supporting roles.
Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judi Dench arriving at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London on December 9, 2001
Queen Elizabeth II being presented to Dame Maggie Smith by Sir Laurence Olivier, when the Queen attended the charity premiere of the film Othello at the Odeon Theatre in London, on May 2, 1966
Dame Maggie Smith and Paul Scofield at London’s Hilton Hotel where they picked up their awards from the Variety Club of Great Britain at it’s 35th Annual showbusiness awards luncheon on February 3, 1987
Dame Maggie Smith arriving for the world premiere of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 on July 7, 2011
Dame Maggie Smith and her partner Beverley Cross on November 24, 1995
But she first emerged as an international star with her virtuoso performance as the fanatical teacher Jean Brodie in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie.
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Dame Maggie Smith's last picture: Beloved star posed for Loewe fashion campaign
Even in smaller roles she could upstage the film ‘giants’. In one film, Richard Burton described her scene-stealing as ‘grand larceny’.
Dame Maggie won over a whole new generation of fans when she played Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films.
In 2010 she was central to the success of ITV series Downton Abbey, in her Emmy-award winning role as the acerbic Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham.
But she later told ES Magazine: ‘I am deeply grateful for the work in (Harry) Potter and indeed Downton (Abbey) but it wasn’t what you’d call satisfying.
‘I didn’t really feel I was acting in those things.’
Dame Maggie Smith kisses Rupert Grint as they arrive for the world premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on July 7, 2009
Dame Maggie Smith arriving at the premiere of Gosford Park at the Ziegfield theatre in New York City n December 14, 2001
Jill Bennett, Tom Jones and Maggie Smith (left to right) with their silver hearts showbusiness awards from the Variety Club of Great Britain at the Savoy Hotel in London on March 11, 1969
Her numerous awards also covered her performances in Tea With Mussolini, A Room With A View, A Private Function and The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne.
Dame Maggie won a best actress Oscar for the role in 1970.
Other film roles include her portrayal of a drunken Oscar loser in California Suite, the dying older lover in Love, Pain And The Whole Damn Thing, the tragic lodger in The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne, and the so-called ‘funny old bat’ in Gosford Park, which brought her a sixth Oscar nomination.
She starred alongside Dame Judi Dench in the 2004 film Ladies In Lavender, and on stage in the David Hare play The Breath Of Life.
One of her most famous roles was as a bag lady in The Lady In The Van, the 2015 adaptation of Alan Bennett’s memoirs.
She recently starred in the 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era, where Violet’s health deteriorates and she dies in an emotional end to her character.
The next year, she appeared in The Miracle Club, which follows a group of women from Dublin who go on a pilgrimage to the French town of Lourdes.
Dame Maggie’s second husband, the playwright Beverley Cross who she married in 1975, died in 1998.
She had two sons from her first marriage, Stephens and Larkin, who are both actors.