Maggie Smith, Star Of ‘Harry Potter’ & ‘Downton Abbey,’ Dies At 89

Acting legend Dame Maggie Smith, known for her iconic performances of resilient, determined women, has died at 89.

Smith was born on December 28, 1934, in Essex, England. Her cause of death has not been revealed. Her sons, Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin, shared the news on Friday.

The statement stated, “It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith. 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.”

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank 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 message concluded.

Smith had an illustrious career that spanned almost seven decades. She first made her acting debut in a 1952 stage production of Twelfth Night as Viola. Her first appearance on screen, in 1956’s Child in the House, went uncredited. A more significant role followed that performance in the 1959 film Nowhere to Go.

With over 50 film appearances, Smith won many accolades throughout her career. In 1990, she won a Tony Award for portraying Lettice Douffet in Lettice and Lovage. Later that year, Queen Elizabeth II made Smith a dame for her contributions to the performing arts.

In the 2001 hit Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Smith introduced her acting prowess to a younger crowd of moviegoers who would develop a deep affection for the actress and her portrayal of the stern and dignified Professor McGonagall. She reprised this role throughout the series’ seven movies. Smith returned to adult roles in 2010 when she took on the Downton Abbey character of the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley for six seasons and two movies until 2015.

Not unlike her notoriously no-nonsense characters, Smith had previously declared herself to be “spiky” – put in her words to a reporter in a previous interview, “I don’t tolerate fools, but they don’t tolerate me…maybe that’s why I’m so good at playing spiky elderly ladies.”

Smith’s most recent appearance on screen was in The Miracle Club, released last year in the U.K.

Smith married actor Robert Stephens in 1967. They divorced eight years later after they welcomed their two sons. Smith had previously said that as she navigated the complicated waters of her divorce, she intended to use the event as an opportunity to show her children a world where women are allowed to give space to their feelings.