Multi-award-winning actress and Downton Abbey star Maggie Smith has passed away at the age of 89. She passed away peacefully in the hospital early this morning, Friday 27 September.
Dame Maggie Smith described as ‘one-of-a-kind’
The news was announced by her sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens who said that she was with friends and family at the end, as reported by The Guardian. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.
Her sons said, ‘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.’
The US actress Whoopi Goldberg, with whom Smith worked on the Sister Act films, said that she was ‘a great woman and a brilliant actress’ and that she ‘still can’t believe I was lucky enough to work with a ‘one-of-a-kind’.
“There was no one quite like Maggie. I feel tremendously lucky to have known such a maverick. She will be deeply missed and my thoughts are with her family.”
Michelle Dockery, Smith’s co-star in Downton Abbey
Smith’s prolific acting career
The Downton Abbey star made her professional stage debut on Broadway in the 1950s. In the decades that followed, she worked steadily in movies and television, while regularly returning to the theatre. Her career flourished well into her 80s.
Smith won her first Oscar for the title role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1969.
Her career spanned many years and was quite diverse, featuring a blend of both serious and funny characters.
Maggie Smith delighted audiences with her portrayal of sharp, tart-tongued and often wryly funny Englishwomen, as reported by The New York Times.
Her most recent roles included the heroic Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies and the Countess Violet Crawley in the period TV drama Downton Abbey.
In the popular Downton Abbey, Smith played a quick-tempered matriarch with sharp and cutting one-liners throughout all six seasons.
Smith becomes a dame
In 1989, Queen Elizabeth II bestowed Smith with the title of ‘dame’ for her dramatic accomplishments. The queen granted her another distinction in 2014, making her the 47th member of the Order of Companions of Honour, in the company of such other recipients as Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
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