Famed British actress Dame Maggie Smith has passed away in London, U.K. at the age of 89.

Dame Maggie was born in Ilford, Essex on December 28th, 1934.

She would begin her career in acting at 17 as Viola in Twelfth Night with the Oxford University Dramatic Society. In 1957, she starred in Share My Lettuce alongside Kenneth Williams.

Dame Maggie became famous when she starred in the movie, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1969. She would late become well known, again, for her roles as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies and as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in the TV series (and movies), Downton Abbey.

In Canada, she appeared in Dustin Hoffman‘s directorial debut, Quartet, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Between 1976 and 1980 she appeared at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, including as Cleopatra in Anthony and Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth in Richard III,and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth.

Dame Maggie won many awards during her career, including two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award, and six nominations at the Laurence Olivier Awards. She was one of 24 people to win the Triple Crown of Acting (Academy Award, Emmy Award, Tony Award.)

Dame Maggie received the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1970, and was made a Dame in 1990.

She is survived by her sons Chris and Tony.

Dame Maggie passed away at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London on September 27th, 2024.