Oscar-winning British actor Maggie Smith, a star of stage and screen for more than seven decades, died at the age of 89 in hospital in London yesterday, her sons, actors Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, announced, prompting a flood of tributes.
Smith ‒ who won a Tony, two Oscars, three Golden Globes and five Baftas ‒ achieved late-career international fame for her depiction of the acerbic Dowager Countess of Grantham Violet Crawley in the hit television series “Downton Abbey”.
The Bafta TV and film academy said in a statement that it was “saddened” to hear of her death, calling her “a legend of British stage and screen”.
It gave her a special award and fellowship to acknowledge her acclaimed career.
She won a best actress Oscar for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” in 1969 and for best supporting actress for her depiction of Desdemona in “Othello” in the same year.
“An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end,” her sons said, describing her loss as devastating.
Famed for her scene-stealing charisma, Smith’s long and successful career got started with a string of successes in London’s West End and on Broadway in the 1950s.
In recent decades, some of her best known films included “Gosford Park” (2001), “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” (2012) and “The Lady in the Van” (2015).
Her work on the wildly popular “Downton Abbey” and the Harry Potter films also introduced her to a younger generation.
Such was the appeal of “Downton Abbey” she said in 2017 she could no longer go out without being recognised.
“It’s ridiculous ‒ I led a perfectly normal life until Downton Abbey,” she told the British Film Institute.
Actor Hugh Bonneville, who played the son of the dowager duchess in the period drama, said: “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. My condolences to her boys and wider family.”
Smith was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1990 by Queen Elizabeth II.
AFP