It’s a sad day today for film and television fans. Dame Maggie Smith, known to many for her portrayal of Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter franchise and as Violet Crawley in “Downton Abbey,” has passed away at the age of 89.
Her sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens issued this statement to the Daily Mail via a publicist.
“It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith. 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.
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.”
Maggie Smith was born in Ilford, Essex, on December 28, 1934.
She started by going to school for theater at the Oxford Playhouse School, leading to her first appearance in 1952. Her first film was in the 1958 production “Nowhere To Go.”
Over the years, she starred in dozens of shows and films, including “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” “Death on the Nile,” “California Suite,” “Sister Act,” “Gosford Park,” the “Harry Potter” franchise, “Downton Abbey,” and many more.
Many are sending condolences and sharing their sadness about Maggie Smith’s Passing on X.
If there is such a thing as a national treasure, Maggie Smith was one. Just wonderful. She was in so much that I watched from my earliest memories. Hard to imagine a world without her. https://t.co/hIRtlHc1zN
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) September 27, 2024
RIP Prof
They have been reunited pic.twitter.com/FRvl7JlD2g— Iamtakudzwazambezi.btc (@takudzwazambe) September 27, 2024
A legend 😔🖤 pic.twitter.com/lffPxZnrWg
— Giɴ (@Demeter_Erinia) September 27, 2024
Everyone will be talking about Harry Potter and Downton, but early years Maggie Smith was so so good. pic.twitter.com/YC8YlP5nFp
— Tom Wilson 🇺🇦 (@feedthedrummer) September 27, 2024
Dame Maggie Smith (1934-2024)
“Murder by Death” “Mother Superior” “Dowager Countess” “Clash of the Titans”
“Gosford Park”Rest In Peace RIP Queen, RIP Legend. RIP Granny Wendy. pic.twitter.com/0RY6bRxeZw
— AJ Huber (@Huberton) September 27, 2024
It’s a sad day indeed.
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