Maggie Smith: Dame Maggie Smith of Downton Abbey and Harry Potter Dies a

Dame Maggie Smith was an English actress with a career spanning seven decades on stage, film and television. Born Margaret Natalie Smith on December 28, 1934, in Ilford, Essex, she made her stage debut at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952.

Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite (1978). She won a Tony Award for Lettice and Lovage (1990) and three Emmys for playing the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey. She played Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films (2001-2011).

Her other notable films include A Room with a View, Gosford Park and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. She was made a Dame in 1990 and a Companion of Honour in 2014. She had two sons, actors Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, with her first husband, Robert Stephens, and was later married to playwright Beverley Cross. She died at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London on September 27, 2024, at age 89.

Achievements: Two Oscars, Tony Award for Lettice and Lovage, four Emmys, Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter, Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey.

Birth: December 28, 1934 - Ilford, Essex, England.

Profession: Actress.

Interesting Facts: She is a member of the exclusive group of performers who have won the Triple Crown of Acting. She won a record six Evening Standard Best Actress awards.