Remembering Maggie Smith
Oscar-winning actress Maggie Smith has died, aged 89.
Image courtesy of Loewe
Maggie Smith, the British actor best-known to modern audiences for her roles in the Harry Potter films and Downton Abbey, has died, aged 89. The news was announced to the press by her two sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, via a statement this afternoon.
“An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end,” the statement said. “She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.”
Smith’s ability to translate scripts into witty dialogue through her comedic timing was one of the many reasons for her long and successful career. Beginning with her first role on stage in 1952, aged 17, it took less than six years for Smith to earn her first prominent award nomination, a Bafta for best newcomer for Nowhere to Go. Throughout her career, which spanned more than six decades, Smith earned two Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and five BAFTAs.
However it was in her later years that Smith shot to international icon status through her roles as the dry humoured Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, and the cheeky Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey.
More recently, and with signature wit, Smith appeared in a Loewe pre-spring 2024 campaign shot by Juergen Teller, cementing her status as an international treasure.