Maggie Smith, Star of ‘Downton Abbey,’ ‘Harry Potter,’ Dies at 89
British stage and screen actress Maggie Smith, the “Downton Abbey” and “Harry Potter” star who numbers two Oscars, three Emmys and countless stage awards to her credit, died Friday in London. She was 89.
“It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith,” her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin said in a statement provided to the BBC. “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.”
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In her late 70s, Smith drew an entirely new legion of fans thanks to her starring role in the hugely successful series “Downton Abbey,” a hit for ITV, PBS’ “Masterpiece” and around the world. She picked up two Emmys and was nominated for two more for her role as the Dowager Countess.
And like virtually every other British actor or actress, Smith appeared in a number of entries in the “Harry Potter” film franchise, playing Professor Minerva McGonagall.
A master at classical and contemporary roles who was as renowned for her subtlety as for her broad-stroke mannerisms, the red-haired Smith delighted several generations of theatergoers on both sides of the Atlantic with signature performances in “Mary, Mary,” “Hedda Gabler,” “Othello,” “Private Lives,” “Night and Day” and “Lettice and Lovage,” and audiences around the world for her work in such films as “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” “California Suite,” “A Room With a View,” “Travels With My Aunt,” “Hot Millions,” “A Private Function,” “Gosford Park,” “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and its sequel.
In 2015 she starred in “The Lady in the Van,” Alan Bennett’s adaptation of his play, based on his true experiences, and directed by Nicholas Hytner, who had helmed the play.
In 1990, she was named Dame Commander of the British Empire, one of only a handful of her generation, including Judi Dench and Diana Rigg, to be so honored.
A British reviewer once credited her with the “power to make you look and listen all the time, laconic and nervous, super in comedy, touching in pathos, a gem of an actress.” Even her detractors, who complained that her mannerisms — perpetually protruding elbows, flying hands, triple takes, swooping vocal inflections — marred some of her performances (particularly in long-running plays) could not dispute the impact of her theatrical energy. Annoyed by such complaints, she responded that it was better to do too much onstage than too little.
Like other amazingly talented actors — Brando is one who springs to mind — the depth and breadth of her talent sometimes took her over the edge. But when she was on her game, she was unforgettable, deftly commanding the audience’s attention and stealing scenes from all those around her. Unlike other actors of her generation, Smith was not of the declamatory Laurence Olivier school of acting; she was seen as fresh and light-hearted. It turned out to be a mixed blessing: When young she had to convince others that she was a serious actress capable of holding her own with the classics.
Margaret Smith was born in Ilford, Essex, and attended the Oxford School for Girls before studying theater at the Oxford Playhouse School. By 1952 she was appearing in Oxford U. stage productions, revues in particular, such as “On the Fringe,” with which she sometimes traveled. When “On the Fringe” reached the West End, American producer Leonard Sillman saw her and asked her to join the Broadway variety show “New Faces of 1956”; she was the only Brit.
“New Faces” led to another comedic role in the revue “Share My Lettuce” in 1957 and a small film, “Nowhere to Go.” She returned to the stage in “The Stepmother” and then joined the Old Vic, where she began to establish her serious acting credentials in productions of “The Double Dealer,” “As You Like It,” “Richard II,” “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “What Every Woman Knows.” In 1960, she co-starred for the first time with Olivier in Eugene Ionesco’s “Rhinoceros.” Then she appeared in “Strip the Willow,” Anouilh’s “The Rehearsal” and readings of Sean O’Casey’s “Pictures in the Hallway,” which would later lead to a role in the film “Young Cassidy,” with Rod Taylor as O’Casey.
Smith’s first Evening Standard award came for Peter Shaffer’s “The Private Ear/The Public Eye.” Her next triumph was Jean Kerr’s “Mary, Mary.”
Hollywood began to take notice of the actress at about this time: She held her own in a supporting role in the Richard Burton-Elizabeth Taylor vehicle “The V.I.P.s” in 1963 and was equally effective the following year in drama “The Pumpkin Eaters,” starring Anne Bancroft. Olivier then asked her to join his National Theatre Company as his Desdemona in “Othello,” which brought her theatrical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for the film version. For the National Theater, she racked up such productions as “The Recruiting Officer,” “The Master Builder,” a triumphant “Hay Fever,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Miss Julie,” “Black Comedy,” “A Bond Honoured” and an Ingmar Bergman-directed “Hedda Gabler,” which brought her another Evening Standard Award in 1970.
She won the coveted title role in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” over actresses who had performed it onstage such as Zoe Caldwell and Vanessa Redgrave and took home the Oscar for it. She was not at the ceremony but appearing in “The Beaux Strategem” in London at the time. During the period she also acted in films including “The Honey Pot,” “Hot Millions” and “Oh! What a Lovely War.”
Joining the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Smith starred in “Antony and Cleopatra,” “The Way of the World,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “As You Like It,” among other productions. She also appeared in 1976 with Brian Bedford in “The Guardsman” in Los Angeles and returned to Broadway in Tom Stoppard’s “Night and Day,” which brought her a second Tony nomination (the first was for “Private Lives”).
A second Oscar nomination came for George Cukor’s “Travels With My Aunt.” She was revealing in Neil Simon’s “California Suite,” so much so that she won a second Oscar, this time for supporting actress. Other film roles from the period included “Clash of the Titans,” “Quartet,” “Evil Under the Sun” and “Better Late Than Never.”
But it wasn’t until the mid-’80s that she appeared in movies that matched her abilities: “A Private Function,” written by Alan Bennett, and “A Room With a View,” which brought her a fifth Oscar nomination. Both “A Private Function” and “The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne,” which had its admirers, earned her BAFTA Awards for best actress.
Onstage, even her most difficult assignments, like Jean Cocteau’s “The Infernal Machine,” were worth seeing. Her “Virginia” (as in Woolf) brought her another Evening Standard award in 1981 and “The Way of the World” yet another in 1984. Alan Bennett wrote the brilliant monologue “Bed Among the Lentils” for her, and she received acclaim when she performed it on television in 1988.
Shaffer wrote “Lettice and Lovage” for her. This wonderful comedy was totally suited to her talents. She triumphed in London and then brought it to New York, where she finally won her Tony. It was at about this time that she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, which compromised her health thereafter, curtailing her ability to work as frequently or for extended periods of time.
Nonetheless, she racked up some impressive performances, particularly her award-winning “Three Tall Women,” written by Edward Albee, on the London stage in 1994. She appeared in several films including Steven Spielberg’s “Hook,” the mainstream hit “Sister Act” and its sequel, “The Secret Garden,” “The First Wives’ Club,” “Washington Square” and, impressively, the Ian McKellen fascist take on “Richard III.” She also appeared in the light-hearted “It All Came True” with Michael Caine and alongside Cher in “Tea With Mussolini.” On television she was unforgettable in “Memento Mori” and “Suddenly Last Summer” (which brought an Emmy nomination), along with appearances in telepics “All the King’s Men” (about a WWI tragedy) and “David Copperfield” (another Emmy nom).
She earned an Emmy in 2003 for the HBO telepic “My House in Umbria,” was nominated again in 2010 for “Capturing Mary,” then earned two more for her regular role as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in the celebrated U.K. TV series “Downton Abbey.”
In the 2000s, Smith made a solid impact in mainstream features with supporting roles in “Gosford Park,” “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” “Becoming Jane,” “Keeping Mum” and “Nanny McPhee Returns.” She was introduced to the masses of J.K. Rowling fans when she played Minerva McGonagall in the “Harry Potter” movie series. However, amid production of the “Potter” pics, Smith, at age 74, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She made a full recovery and returned to the big and small screen.
Her work continued with a role in 2009’s “From Time to Time,” voicework in the 2011 animated pic “Gnomeo and Juliet,” as well as appearances in hit film “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and its sequel. In 2012 Smith starred in the Dustin Hoffman-directed “Quartet,” Ronald Harwood’s adaptation of his own play about folks at a retirement home for opera singers, and she starred in “My Old Lady,” Israel Horovitz’s feature directorial debut based on his own play.
Smith married actor Robert Stephens in 1967. After divorcing Stephens she married writer Beverly Cross in 1976; he died in 1998. She is survived by two sons, actors Christopher Larkin and Toby Stephens, and grandchildren.
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