Maggie Smith, ‘Downton Abbey’ and ‘Harry Potter’ star, dies at 89
FILE – Actress Maggie Smith holds her Oscar for best supporting actress in the film “California Suite” in Los Angeles, April 9, 1979. Smith, who won an Oscar for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” in 1969 and won new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in “Downton Abbey,” has died at 89. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)trending
LOS ANGELES – Maggie Smith – best known for her roles in the “Harry Potter” movie franchise and “Downton Abbey” – has died in London. She was 89.
Her career in stage, film and television that spanned seven decades has brought her global recognition, as well as two Oscars and eight British Academy (BAFTA) Awards.
Smith was considered one of the preeminent British actors of her generation with Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench.
Smith’s sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, said in a statement that Smith died early Friday in a London hospital.
“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 issued through publicist Clair Dobbs.
She made her film debut in the 1950s, won Oscars for work in the 60s and 70s and had memorable roles in each subsequent decade, including an older Wendy in Peter Pan story “Hook” (1991) and a mother superior of a convent in Whoopi Goldberg’s comedy “Sister Act” (1992).
She won two Oscars, one for best actress in “Jean Brodie” in 1969 and one for best supporting actress in “California Suite” in 1978. She also won a BAFTA for her work in “Jean Brodie.”
Smith won the supporting actress Oscar for “California Suite” in 1978, Golden Globes for “California Suite” and “A Room with a View,” and BAFTAs for lead actress in “A Private Function” in 1984, “A Room with a View” in 1986 and “The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne” in 1988.
She also received Academy Award nominations as a supporting actress in “Othello,” “Travels with My Aunt,” “A Room with a View” and “Gosford Park,” and a BAFTA award for supporting actress in “Tea with Mussolini.” On stage, she won a Tony in 1990 for “Lettice and Lovage.”
From 2010, she was the acid-tongued Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in hit TV period drama “ Downton Abbey,” a role that won her legions of fans, three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe and a host of other awards nominations.
She was the stern Professor Minerva McGonagall in the “Harry Potter” movies.
Smith married fellow actor Robert Stephens in 1967. They had two sons, Christopher and Toby — who both grew up to be actors — and divorced in 1975. The same year she married the writer Beverley Cross, who died in 1998.
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