Iconic British actress Maggie Smith passes away

Maggie Smith, a longtime icon of the British film industry, has passed away at the age of 89. She had the most amazing career, starting out as an actress at the age of just 17.

As a teen, Smith started her long career by playing Viola in the Shakespeare play Twelfth Night. From there she won a small uncredited part in the 1956 movie Child in the House, and then she was given a lead role in the crime film Nowhere to Go. Her skills were immediately obvious, and she was nominated for a BAFTA for her performance. This would be the first of many, many accolades.

More and more movie roles followed, and Smith proved herself to be an absolute scene-stealer. She was so good at it that actor Richard Burton once described her methods as “grand larceny,” and unsurprisingly, Oscar glory was on the horizon. Smith won in 1970 for her performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, where she played a teacher. Smith was very good indeed at playing teachers—she just had that air of authority about her.

And she racked up Oscar nominations at an incredible rate. Throughout the 60s and 70s she was nominated for her roles in Othello (1965), Travels with My Aunt (1972), and California Suite (1978), which she won. Nominations for A Room with a View (1985), and finally the period drama Gosford Park (2001) followed.

Smith continued to do theater work in addition to her work in movies, and she was every bit as successful there. She won a Tony in 1990 for her performance in Lettice and Lovage. And yet, she wasn’t focused on fame – the work was more important to her, as was her family. She had two sons with the actor Robert Stephens, who she divorced in 1975, and both sons went on to be actors: the older son Chris Larkin has been in shows including Doctor Who and Outlander, while younger son Toby Stephens is best known as Captain Flint from Black Sails. After divorcing Stephens, Smith married writer Alan Beverly Cross, and they remained married until his death in 1998.

Smith began to be known to a wider audience as the new millennium dawned. In 2001, the now-Dame began playing Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series, and soon became a fan favorite. Then at the end of the decade, in 2010, she was cast as the Dowager Countess, Violet Crawley, in Downton Abbey. Her fandom grew ever bigger as time went on.

The whole entertainment world is feeling her loss, but especially her co-stars. Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey released a statement saying, “Anyone who ever shared a scene with Maggie will attest to her sharp eye, sharp wit and formidable talent. She was a true legend of her generation and thankfully will live on in so many magnificent screen performances.”

And Rob Lowe, who starred alongside Smith in in 1993 drama Suddenly, Last Summer, wrote on X: “Saddened to hear Dame Maggie Smith has passed. I had the unforgettable experience of working with her; sharing a two-shot was like being paired with a lion.”

“She could eat anyone alive, and often did. But funny, and great company. And suffered no fools. We will never see another.”

There are no details yet about the cause of death, but Maggie Smith was a very private person, and that extended to the end of her life.