Oscar-winning actress Dame Maggie Smith who starred in Downton Abbey and Harry Potter dies aged 89

Actress Dame Maggie Smith, best known for her roles in Harry Potter and Downton Abbey, has died at the age of 89.

Her sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens confirmed the Oscar-winning actress died in hospital on Friday.

While she began her career in theatre, she went on to have an extensive career on stage and screen that spanned over seven decades.

Her first Oscar nod came in 1965 for her role at Desdemona opposite Laurence Olivier’s Othello.

She went on to win two Oscars during her career for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1970, and California Suite in 1979.

She had four other nominations, and also received eight Bafta awards for roles including A Room with a View and Tea with Mussolini.

Margaret Natalie Smith was born in Ilford, Essex, on December 28, 1934. She was educated at Oxford High School for Girls and later the Oxford Playhouse School, and first appeared on the stage as a girl of 18 in Twelfth Night.

She made an early mark in revues, as a singer and dancer. One fan who saw her on Broadway in New Faces of ’56, said he laughed so much he ended up banging his head on the seat in front of him.

She was spotted by Laurence Olivier, who saw her as much more than just a vaudeville performer and invited her to join the newly-formed Royal National Theatre Company in London.

Some of her best known work came later in her career, when she starred as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series.

Dame Maggie Smith as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter series of films. Warner Bros.

Her role as Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey also became one of her best known performances, for which she earned her three Primetime Emmy Awards.

Other film roles include her portrayal of a drunken Oscar loser in California Suite, the dying older lover in Love, Pain And The Whole Damn Thing, the tragic lodger in The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne, and the so-called “funny old bat” in Gosford Park, which brought her a sixth Oscar nomination.

Even in smaller roles she could upstage the film “giants”. In one film, Richard Burton described her scene-stealing as “grand larceny”.

She starred alongside Dame Judi Dench in the 2004 film Ladies In Lavender, and on stage in the David Hare play The Breath Of Life.

One of her most famous roles was as a bag lady in The Lady In The Van, the 2015 adaptation of Alan Bennett’s memoirs.

She recently starred in the 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era, where Violet’s health deteriorates and she dies in an emotional end to her character.

The next year, she appeared in The Miracle Club, which follows a group of women from Dublin who go on a pilgrimage to the French town of Lourdes.

Dame Maggie’s second husband, the playwright Beverley Cross who she married in 1975, died in 1998.

In a statement issued via their publicist, her family said: “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, September 27.

“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.”