The Harry Potter and Downton Abbey actress has died at the age of 89

Actress Maggie Smith, best known for the Harry Potter and Downton Abbey films, has died at the age of 89, her family said.

She is a legend of British stage and film, winning two Oscars during her career – for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1970 and California Suite in 1979.

It received four further nominations, and won seven BAFTA Awards.

Introducing the tribute, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Dame Magee was “beloved by so many for her great talent, and has become a true national treasure whose work will be cherished for generations to come.”

In the Harry Potter films, Lady Maggy was played by the acerbic Professor Minerva McGonagall, famous for her pointed wizard's hat and strict manner with the younger wizards at Hogwarts.

In the hit ITV drama Downton Abbey, she played Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, a grand matriarch who excelled at delivering one-liners throughout the show's six series.

A statement issued by her sons, Toby Stevens and Chris Larkin, said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Mrs Maggie Smith.

“She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27 September.

“She was a very private person, always with friends and family. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.”

They thanked the “wonderful staff at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their continued care and kindness during her final days.”

They added: “We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time.”

The stars participating in it were also honored.

Hugh Bonneville, who appeared in Downton Abbey, said: “Anyone who has shared a scene with Maggie will attest to her keen eye, keen wit and immense talent.

“She was a true legend of her generation and thankfully she will live on in many wonderful on-screen performances. My condolences to her children and wider family.”

Lady Maggie also reprized her role in both Downton Abbey films.

In the 2022 film Downton Abbey: A New Era, her character died from an illness that she revealed at the end of the 2019 film, much to her family and friends' upset.

Downton followed the success of the 2002 historical drama Gosford Park, which earned Dame Maggie Oscar and BAFTA nominations for her role as the Dowager Countess of Trentham.

In his statement on Friday, the Prime Minister said Dame Magee “introduced us to new worlds through the countless stories she represented over her long career.”

“Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones. May God have mercy on her,” he wrote.

Dame Kristin Scott Thomas, who starred alongside Dame Maggie in 2005's Keeping Mum and 2014's My Old Lady, said she “took acting seriously but saw through the bullshit and the hype”.

“She really doesn't want to deal with that,” Ms. Christine added.

“She had a sense of humor and wit that could turn me into a puddle of caustic laughter. She had no patience with fools. So you had to be a little careful. I absolutely adored her.”

“The last time I saw her, she was so angry about being so old. I think she said, 'Crazy,' I loved her so much, she was so admired, she couldn't be replaced.”

A National Theater spokesman said her career “spanned the worlds of theatre, film and television without equal”.

Praising her theatrical performance, the statement added: “She will forever be remembered as one of the greatest actors this country has ever had the priceless pleasure of watching.”

“Her profound intelligence, effortless virtuosity, fine craftsmanship, and keen wit were simply legendary.”

BAFTA added that she was a “legend of British stage and screen,” praising her five competitive BAFTA Awards, in addition to the special award and fellowship she received from the organization.

Dame Magee's career spanned eight decades, and she received early acclaim when she received her first BAFTA nomination for Nowhere to Go in 1958.

In 1963, she was offered the role of Desdemona in Othello at the National Theater by Laurence Olivier, and two years later it was made into a film and Smith was nominated for her first Academy Award.

The actress's other memorable roles included the 1985 Merchant Ivory film A Room With a View, in which she played escort Charlotte Barlett, accompanying Helen Bonham Carter's Lucy Honeychurch to Italy.

The role earned her another Academy Award and BAFTA nomination.

Along with another national treasure, Dame Judi Dench, she appeared as an Englishwoman living in 1930s Italy in the 1999 film Tea with Mussolini.

The two ladies also shared screen time in A Room With a View and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Lady Magee played the firm but fair mother priest in Sister Act, starring Whoopi Goldberg as nightclub singer Dolores Wilson, who takes refuge from the mob in San Francisco by pretending to be a nun at a local convent.

Goldberg described Ms. Magee as “a great woman and a wonderful actress,” adding: “I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to work with ‘One of a Kind’.”

Rob Lowe, who starred as Mrs Maggie in 1993's Suddenly Last Summer, recalled the “unforgettable experience of working with her”.

“Participating in two shots was like pairing up with a lion,” he said.

“She could eat anyone alive, and often did. But she was a great, funny company. She took no fools.”

“We'll never see another. God bless you, Mrs. Smith!”

The veteran actress also played an old woman who spent 15 years living in a van outside Alan Bennett's house in the 2015 film adaptation of the author's novel The Lady in the Van.

Her recent roles include the 2023 film The Miracle Club, which follows a group of women from Dublin who go on a pilgrimage to the French city of Lourdes, co-starring Kathy Bates and Laura Linney.