Maggie Smith, Harry Potter Star And Oscar Winning British Actress, Dies At 89

London: Actress Dame Maggie Smith, best known for Harry Potter’s Professor McGonagall and Downton Abbey died at the age of 89, her family has said. She passed away early September 27 in the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London. The news was confirmed by her two sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephen, although, the reason for her death has not been disclosed yet.

Maggie Smith's family requests for privacy

In the statement issued by Maggie’s sons, the two-time Oscar winner died “peacefully” in hospital. “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. 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. 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." the statement reads.

What do we know about Maggie Smith?

Smith, who earned widespread fame owing to her acting prowess in her career spanning seven decades, started her journey as a stage performer at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952. Later, she made her professional debut on Broadway in New Faces of 56. Over the following decades, she established herself alongside legendary actress Judi Dench as one of the most established British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

She also received Tony Award nominations for Noël Coward's ‘Private Lives’ and Tom Stoppard's Night and Day and later won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Lettice and Lovage in the year 1990. In the same year, Maggie was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and officially she attained the title of Dame (an honorific title given to women in the British honours system and other Commonwealth realms).

In the upcoming years, Maggie became one of the most prominent personalities in the Film industry as she clinched Academy Awards for Best Actress for 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' in 1969 and Best Supporting Actress for 'California Suite'. She was also nominated for her 1965 cult classic Othello helmed by Stuart Burge. Later she gained another momentum after she portrayed Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series and later in the 2010 historical drama Downtown Abbey in which she portrayed the role of Violet Crawley.  

Smith was last seen in the 2023 movie The Miracle Club, starring Laura Linney, Kathy Bates, and Stephen Rea. The plot follows a group of working-class women from Dublin on a pilgrimage to Lourdes in France.

-With Inputs From IANS-