Dame Maggie Smith, one of the world’s most distinguished actresses and a legend of British cinema, passed away on Friday at the age of 89.
Smith's sons, Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin, confirmed her passing in a heartfelt statement saying, "It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith."
Their statement continued saying, "She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September. 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."
Smith was an icon of cinema and snagged two Academy Awards for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and California Suite. Smith also won four Golden Globe Awards in a career that spanned seven decades.
She was also nominated for several Oscars and a litany of other awards between her debut in 1952 all the way to 2023 with The Miracle Club.
While many recognize Smith for her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series and Violet Crawley in the Downton Abbey series, Smith has been acting for decades and those roles were simply a resurgence of an already successful career.
Smith would make her stage debut in 1952, playing Viola in a stage production of Twelfth Night. That role would launch decades of roles in film, television, and theater.
Four years after her stage debut, Smith scored her first film credit in Child in the House in 1956. She would get a proper role in the 1959 crime drama Nowhere to Go.
Smith's early career would hit its prime when she won an Oscar for Best Actress in 1969 for her role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
She wasn't done with that as she would go on to win another Oscar for California Suite in 1979.
By the 1990's, Smith's profile had grown so significantly that she was made a dame by Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of her contributions to the performing arts.
News of Smith's passing has spread quickly and those who worked with her are coming forward with many stories about working with Dame Smith.
Richard Eyre, who directed Smith in a television production of Suddenly, Last Summer stated that Smith was, "intellectually the smartest actress I’ve ever worked with. You have to get up very, very early in the morning to outwit Maggie Smith.”
Smith was a professional and took her work very seriously with director Peter Hall stating that Smith wasn't “remotely difficult unless she’s among idiots. She’s very hard on herself, and I don’t think she sees any reason why she shouldn’t be hard on other people, too."
Smith herself said, "It's true I don’t tolerate fools, but then they don’t tolerate me, so I am spiky. Maybe that’s why I’m quite good at playing spiky elderly ladies."
While she may have been spiky and venomous in many of her on-screen roles, Smith was a beloved figure who left her mark and will be missed dearly by fans and family alike.
