Maggie Smith played Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films and the fearsome Lady Violet Crawley in the Downton Abbey series.
What: Reuters
British actress Maggie Smith is dead. She died at the age of 89, her sons announced through Smith’s spokeswoman Clair Dobbs. Smith was considered one of the most outstanding British actresses of her generation and was often mentioned in the same breath as Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench.
Even in her old age, she was still in demand – and was successful as the ultra-conservative Dowager Countess Lady Violet Crawley in “Downton Abbey” and as the strict and clever professor Minerva McGonagall in the hit “Harry Potter” films.
Smith had a long career and won numerous awards
Smith won many awards throughout her career. Smith received her highest award for her role in the drama “The Best Years of Miss Jean Brodie” from 1969: She was so convincing in her performance as a charismatic and manipulative teacher at a girls’ school in Scotland in the 1930s that she was awarded the film in 1970 Oscar for Best Actress.
“The Best Years of Miss Jean Brodie” (1969)
Smith received her first Oscar in 1970 for her leading role in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (1969). In the film she plays a teacher at an Edinburgh girls’ school.
Those: Imago
Smith won a supporting role Oscar in 1979 for her role as a foul-mouthed actress in the comedy “The Crazy California Hotel,” and she was also honored for her performance at the Golden Globes. Smith was also successful on the theater stage: in 1990 she received a Tony Award for her role in the play “Lettice and Lovage”.
British director Richard Eyre once praised Smith as the “most intellectually intelligent actress” he had ever worked with. “You have to get up very, very early in the morning to outsmart Maggie Smith.”
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British Prime Minister: “Smith introduced us to new worlds”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on Platform X that Smith was loved by many for her great talent. “Dame Maggie Smith has introduced us to new worlds through the many stories she has starred in throughout her long career.” Your work will be valued for generations to come.
Posted by Keir Starmer
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Maggie Smith was a great woman and a brilliant actress.
Whoopi Goldberg, actress
Smith was born near London in 1934
Smith was born on December 28, 1934 in Ilford, near London, and grew up in Oxford because her father found work there as a laboratory technician. Her mother was a secretary and wasn’t particularly keen on her only daughter becoming an actress – “especially with a face like that”.
In 1990, the actress was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for her achievements. Smith was married twice – first to her colleague Robert Stephens, from whom she divorced in 1975 after eight years of marriage. The sons Christopher and Toby emerged from the union. In 1975 she married the writer Beverly Cross, who died in 1998.
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Source: ZDF
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Source: dpa, AP
