Maggie Smith, the esteemed actress renowned for her Oscar-winning performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and for captivating a new generation as the Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey, has passed away at the age of 89, her publicist announced on Friday.
Smith's sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, shared in a statement that she 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 expressed through publicist Clair Dobbs.
Maggie Smith's legacy is both rich and diverse. To millennials worldwide, she is fondly remembered as the sharp-tongued Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey and as Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films. Her illustrious career, which began on the stage in the 1950s, saw her achieve the rare feat of winning an Oscar (two), an Emmy (four), and a Tony.
Smith's first Academy Award nomination came for her role as Desdemona opposite Laurence Olivier's Othello in 1965. She secured her first Oscar for portraying an Edinburgh schoolmistress in 1969's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Her second Oscar followed in 1978 for her supporting role in California Suite, a performance so outstanding that co-star Michael Caine remarked, "Maggie didn't just steal the film, she committed grand larceny."
Throughout her career, Smith delivered numerous critically acclaimed performances, including her portrayal of Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest on the West End stage, a 92-year-old battling senility in Edward Albee's play Three Tall Women, and her role in the 2001 black comedy Gosford Park.
In 1990, Smith was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and became a Dame, frequently recognized as the preeminent British actress of her generation, alongside peers such as Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench.
