Oscar-winning star of stage.and screen Smith dies at 89

The celebrated actor Maggie Smith, who won two Oscars and seven Baftas, has died aged 89.

- JOE SOMMERLAD

The star of stage and screen, known for her prominent roles in Harry Potter and Downton Abbey, as well as her performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, died in hospital yesterday morning, her sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens said.

Stephens and Larkin said in a statement: “It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith. She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning. 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.”

In a stellar career spanning 60 years she won two Oscars: for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1970 and California Suite in 1979. Smith gave life to a host of memorable characters, from Muriel Spark’s passionate Edinburgh girls’ school teacher Jean Brodie, to Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter series and Violet Crawley in the ITV drama Downton Abbey.

Her other film hits include the Sister Act franchise and Steven Spielberg’s Hook. Over her career, Smith worked with theatrical greats including Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud, Alan Bennett and Dame Judi Dench, while maintaining a prolific film and television presence from the 1960s onwards.

Tributes have poured in since her death was announced. The King and Queen said: “As the curtain comes down on a national treasure, we join all those around the world in remembering with the fondest admiration and affection her many great performances, and her warmth and wit that shone through both off and on the stage.”

Sir Keir Starmer called her a “true national treasure”; theatre producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh said she was the “master of the zinger”, while the National Theatre’s Rufus Norris said her “sublime craft and sharp wit were simply legendary”.