Harry Potter and Downton Abbey star Dame Maggie Smith dies aged 89
King Charles and JK Rowling led tributes for ‘national treasure’ Dame Maggie Smith, known for playing Professor McGonagall and the Countess of Grantham.
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Dame Maggie Smith, known for her roles in Harry Potter and Downton Abbey, has died at the age of 89.
The King, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, author JK Rowling, co-stars and Harry Potter fans worldwide led tributes to the “true national treasure” and “legend of her generation”.
Ms Smith, who was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1990 by Queen Elizabeth II, died peacefully in hospital surrounded by loved ones.
King Charles said was “deeply saddened” by Dame Maggie’s death, which comes exactly one year after Harry Potter co-star Michael Gambon, who played Albus Dumbledore, died on the same day in 2023.
“As the curtain comes down on a national treasure, we join all those around the world in remembering with the fondest admiration and affection her many great performances, and her warmth and wit that shone through both on and off the stage.”
A message of condolence from His Majesty The King following the passing of Dame Maggie Smith. pic.twitter.com/SiKw8EEHva
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 27, 2024
Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who created the character Minerva McGonagall, shared a short but sweet tribute: “Somehow I thought she’d live forever. RIP Dame Maggie Smith.”
Star Daniel Radcliffe said she was a “fierce intellect, a gloriously sharp tongue, [who] could intimidate and charm in the same instant and was, as everyone will tell you, extremely funny”.
Miriam Margolyes, who played Professor Sprout, posted: “There’s nobody of her talent... a remarkable all-round wizard.”
Tributes are also flowing in from Hollywood glitterati, with legend Whoopi Goldberg heralding Dame Maggie as “a great woman and a brilliant actress”.
Dame Maggie’s sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephensin thanked everyone for their “kind messages and support”.
“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,” they said in a statement.
“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.”
Dame Maggie won two Oscars in the 1960s and 1970s, Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and best supporting actress for California Suite. She also won a Tony, three Golden Globes and five BAFTAs
But she became best known to new fans as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise, and as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in hit PBS series Downton Abbey.
Born on December 28, 1934, the daughter of an Oxford professor of pathology, Smith made her stage debut in 1952 with the Oxford University Dramatic Society.
British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer led tributes to the “true national treasure”.
“Dame Maggie Smith introduced us to new worlds with the countless stories she acted over her long career,” he said.
“She was beloved by so many for her great talent, becoming a true national treasure whose work will be cherished for generations to come. Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones. May she rest in peace.”
Actor Hugh Bonneville, who starred alongside Dame Maggie in Downton Abbey, said she was a “true legend of her generation”.
“Anyone who ever shared a scene with Maggie will attest to her sharp eye, sharp wit and formidable talent,” he told the BBC.
Her “magnificent” screen performances will live on, he added.
American actor Rob Lowe, described his co-star, from the 1993 BBC drama Suddenly, Last Summer, described her as a “lion” who could “eat anyone alive”.
“I had the unforgettable experience of working with her; sharing a two-shot was like being paired with a lion,” he said.
“She could eat anyone alive, and often did. But funny, and great company. And suffered no fools. We will never see another.”
The BAFTA TV and film academy said in a statement that it was “saddened” to hear of her death, calling her “a legend of British stage and screen”. It gave her a special award and fellowship to acknowledge her acclaimed career,
Famed for her scene-stealing charisma, Smith’s long and successful career got started with a string of successes in London’s West End and on Broadway in the 1950s.
She famously appeared opposite Laurence Olivier in an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Othello” in 1959.
This led to her joining Olivier’s celebrated 1960s National Theatre company where she earned critical acclaim alongside her husband, the actor Robert Stephens.
Smith’s marriage to heavy-drinking Stephens, with whom she had her two sons, collapsed in 1973 and they divorced two years later.
She remarried shortly after to the screenwriter Beverley Cross, who died in 1998.
In recent decades, some of her best known films included “Gosford Park” (2001), “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” (2012) and “The Lady in the Van” (2015).
Her work on the wildly popular “Downton Abbey” and the “Harry Potter” films also introduced her to a younger generation.
Such was the appeal of “Downton Abbey” she said in 2017 she could no longer go out without being recognised.
“It’s ridiculous — I led a perfectly normal life until Downton Abbey,” she told the British Film Institute.
“I would go to theatres, I would go to galleries and things like that on my own. And now I can’t,” she said.
– With AFP
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