Dame Maggie Smith, one of the most well-known actresses in Britain, has away, according to a statement released by her sons and relayed by their publicist Clair Dobbs. Smith’s lengthy career included parts in “Harry Potter” and “Downton Abbey,” in addition to appearing opposite Laurence Olivier in “Othello” on stage and screen.
She was eighty-nine.
We must announce the passing of Dame Maggie Smith with deep regret. She died quietly this morning, Friday, September 27, in the hospital. She was a deeply private individual who passed away surrounded by loved ones, according to the statement. “The loss of their extraordinary mother and grandma has crushed her two sons and five adoring grandkids. We would want to use this chance to express our gratitude to the amazing team at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.”
In 1934, Smith was born in the middle-class east London district of Ilford. The family relocated to Oxford, where her father was employed as a pathologist at Oxford University, just before the outbreak of World War II.
Following her high school graduation, Smith studied at the Oxford Playhouse School from 1951 to 1953. She debuted on stage in a production of William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” by the Oxford University Dramatic Society.
After that, she made appearances on Broadway in “New Faces of 1956” and from 1957 to 1958, played the lead comic in the London revue “Share My Lettuce.” She immediately started making frequent appearances in plays at London’s The Old Vic theater.
She performed as Desdemona in Olivier’s Othello in 1964, and the following year she returned to the part for the motion picture adaptation. Smith’s portrayal of an eccentric schoolteacher in the film “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” earned her her first Academy Award for best actress in 1969.
Her portrayal in Neil Simon’s “California Suite” brought her a second Academy Award in 1978, this time for best supporting actress. In addition, she has won British Academy Film Awards for her performances in the films “A Room with a View” (1985) and “The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne” (1987).
Smith became well-known as Dame Maggie Smith after being named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1990.
Her biggest parts, however, were still to come. One of them was the lead in the iconic 1999 film “Tea with Mussolini,” which was directed by Franco Zeffirelli and followed a group of English ladies of the upper middle class in fascist-era Florence, Italy.
Maybe the most memorable thing about her will be that she was an actress who lived a long life and even became more well-known later in life.
Her role as the tough yet fair witchcraft instructor Minerva McGonagall in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001) and her appearances in other “Harry Potter” sequels brought her to the attention of younger fans.
Her portrayal as the sharp-tongued Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham in the critically acclaimed historical drama “Downton Abbey” garnered her praise once more on both sides of the Atlantic. For the character, she won three Emmy Awards, and in 2019 she returned to play it in a feature-length movie.
Smith’s elegant aging became an inspiration to many as she aged, and she did it with her characteristic charm and wit.
In 2017, Smith was questioned by the UK magazine “Women’s World” about why she had not attended more award shows. She said, “I really believe that if I went to Los Angeles, for instance, I think I’d scare people.” Older folks are not seen by them.
Smith was married twice: first to playwright Beverley Cross from 1975 until his death in 1998, and then to actor Robert Stephens, from whom he divorced in 1974.
