Maggie Smith, 'Harry Potter' and 'Downton Abbey' Actress, Dead at 89

Academy Award-winning screen legend Maggie Smith has died. She was 89.

According to the Washington Post, her family announced that the beloved actress passed away in London on Sept. 27, but did not provide further details about the circumstances.

Smith's career began on the stage. At age 16, she left Oxford High School to study acting at the Oxford Playhouse, landing her first role on stage in Twelfth Night at 17 years old. She went on to make her Broadway debut in New Faces of 1956, where she portrayed various roles in different sketches.

Her first movie role was in the 1958 British crime film Nowhere to Go, and she appeared in various other movies throughout the '60s. However, for many years, her focus remained the theater.

In 1962, she was invited by Laurence Olivier to be part of the National Theatre Company as one of its first members. She remained with the company for nearly a decade, eventually returning to Broadway in 1975 for the comedic play Private Lives, for which she received her first Tony Award nomination. Four years later, she received her second Tony Award nomination for her role in Tom Stoppard's play Night and Day.

Though she had small roles on TV in the '50s and '60s, it wasn't until the 1980s that Smith's career in television flourished. She played Mrs. Silly in the anthology series All for Love in 1983, which earned the actress a BAFTA TV Award nomination. 10 years later, she received her first Emmy nomination for portraying Violet Venable in PBS' TV movie Suddenly, Last Summer.

Though Smith has acted for half a century, two of her biggest roles came later in life. Her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter franchise turned a new generation into fans and allowed her to reunite with fellow National Theatre Company alum Michael Gambon.

She also received plenty of accolades for her role as Violet Crowley in the hit British drama Downton Abbey, including three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.

She became very close with co-stars Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael on that set, with the latter telling Parade in 2019 that Smith was "a dear, dear friend."

As Smith never got into the social media craze, the two sweetly created a "Pictures for Maggie" file where they would store "funny memes of cats" and other "silly things to make her laugh."

“She’s a legend," Carmichael said at the time. "...the fact that she is also a funny pal who told us naughty jokes is great.”

In addition to her illustrious career, Smith was named a dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1989.

Smith was married twice. She divorced her first husband, actor Robert Stephens, in 1975, after eight years of marriage. She then married playwright Beverley Cross the same year as her divorce from Stephens; they were together until he died in 1998. Smith is survived by two sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens.

Next: Maggie Smith’s Top 20 Downton Abbey Quotes: ‘What Is a Weekend?’