Maggie Smith was an Oscar, Emmy, and Tony-winning actress known for roles in “Downton Abbey” and the “Harry Potter” series, along with dozens of other notable movies, television shows, and stage performances.
- Died: September 27, 2024 (Who else died on September 27?)
- Details of death: Died at a hospital in London at the age of 89.
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Maggie Smith’s legacy
After getting her start on the British stage in the early 1950s, Smith became known to a broader audience in the 1960s when she starred as Desdemona in “Othello” (1965), receiving her first Oscar nomination. She would win her first Oscar, as well as her first BAFTA, for her performance in the title role of 1969’s “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.” A second Academy Award followed in 1978, for “California Suite.” Smith was frequently seen on stage and screen throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, with notable films including “A Room with a View,” “Hook,” “Sister Act,” and “Richard III.”
A new generation got to know Smith as she took on the role of Professor Minerva McGonagall in the “Harry Potter” film series beginning in 2001. In the same year, she played a memorable role in “Gosford Park,” for which she won a SAG Award as part of the film’s ensemble cast. As the “Harry Potter” series wound to a close, Smith took on another high-profile role in 2010 as she played Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in the popular period drama television series “Downton Abbey.” Smith won three Emmy Awards during the show’s six-season run.
Long after the age when good roles become hard to get for most actresses, Julian Fellowes wrote the role of the dowager countess in “Downton Abbey” with the in-demand Smith in mind. The show’s creator and writer, who told the Guardian in 2014 that Smith was his muse, had seen her deliver his lines before – he wrote 2001’s “Gosford Park,” which inspired “Downton Abbey.” When he envisioned the dowager countess, he saw Smith’s similarly haughty character in “Gosford Park.”
The casting of Smith in the hit television series brought new life to an already vibrant and full career, making Smith an even bigger star. But Smith admitted to the Los Angeles Times in 2016 that she hadn’t watched “Downton Abbey” – “Why do I want to see it? I’m doing it. I know the story of it.”
Smith on acting
“The energy comes from the people who are around you and one’s director. Something has always happened to me when I go in front of a camera or on stage. The energy flows back and I put it all into a character.” —from a 2016 interview with Ritz magazine
Tributes to Maggie Smith
Full obituary: The New York Times
