Photo credit: Reuters
September 27, 2024
Famous British actress Maggie Smith, best known outside the country for her roles in the Downton Abbey series and the Harry Potter film saga, has died at the age of 89. Her family announced the death of the actress.
Maggie Smith is a legend of the English stage and British cinema.
Her best-known roles to modern audiences came during the latter part of her professional career.
Smith gained millions of fans around the world after she played Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film saga and Dowager Countess Violet Crawley in the Downton Abbey series.
Photo by Ronald Grant
photo captionProfessor Minerva McGonagall is one of the roles that made Smith a star for a new generation of moviegoers
However, great success came to Smith much earlier. She has won two Oscars, for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1970 and California Suite in 1979, as well as eight British Bafta Awards.
“It is with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith. She passed away peacefully in hospital in the early hours of Friday 27 September,” her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin said in a statement.
According to her family, the actress was a very private person and spent her last days surrounded by family and close friends.
She is survived by five grandchildren, who are devastated by the loss of their grandmother, the statement said.
“We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy during these times,” the actress’s sons wrote.
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From understudy to star
Margaret Natalie Smith was born in Ilford, Essex, on December 28, 1934, the daughter of a pathologist.
As World War II approached, the family moved to Oxford and young Maggie attended Oxford Girls’ School.
Her theatrical career began in one of the Oxford theaters, where she sold theatrical programs, and then became an understudy. But in one interview, she humorously said that she never went on stage, because no one in that theater ever got sick.
Maggie Smith’s real theatrical debut took place on the stage of one of the London theaters in 1952.
In 1963, Laurence Olivier offered her the role of Desdemona in the play, where he himself played the main role – Othello. The play played to sold-out audiences at the National Theater in London for two years, after which a film was made with the same cast.
In total, she has about 60 film roles to her credit.
In various interviews, she often said that she had never reviewed films with her participation.
