Dame Maggie Smith, best known for the Harry Potter films and Downton Abbey, has been remembered as “a true legend” of acting following her death at the age of 89.
The king and prime minister, as well as many co-stars from her long career, have paid tribute to her.
King Charles described her as “a national treasure”, while Sir Keir Starmer said she was “beloved by so many people for her great talent”.
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe remembered her “fierce wit” and “brilliantly sharp tongue”.
Miriam Margolyes said she was “the best of the best”, with a mix of “ferociousness, flashes of mischief, delight and tenderness”.
“And so much courage. I’m very impressed with her, as are all her colleagues,” Margolis told BBC News.
“I saw what a kind person she could be – as well as absolutely terrifying.” Obituary: A formidable star on stage and screen
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Dame Maggie was known for her sharp tongue on and off screen during her varied and acclaimed career spanning eight decades.
In the Harry Potter films, she played the acerbic Professor Minerva McGonagall, famous for her pointy witch’s hat and tough demeanour with young wizards at Hogwarts.
Paying tribute, Radcliffe said: “She had a fierce wit, a razor-sharp tongue, she could intimidate and charm in the same moment and, as everyone will tell you, she was hugely funny.
“I will always count myself as amazingly lucky to have had the chance to work with her and spend time with her on set.
“The word legend is overused but if it applies to anyone in our industry it applies to her. Thank you Maggie.” Emma Watson said she didn’t like it at all that young Hermione was sharing the screen with “the true definition of greatness” until she was an adult. Posting on Instagram, she remembered the star for being “genuine, honest, funny and self-respectful”. “Maggie, there are so many male professors and by the grace of God you kept your place.” In the hit ITV drama Downton Abbey, she played Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, the grand matriarch who dished out the best one-liners through the show’s six series. Elsewhere in her career, she won two Oscars – for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1970 and California Suite in 1979. She received four other nominations, and received seven Bafta Awards. In a statement, the King and Queen said: “As the curtain falls on a national treasure, we join all those around the world who remember with the highest admiration and affection her many great performances and the warmth and wit that shone on and off stage.” The Prime Minister agreed that Dame Maggie was “a true national asset whose work will be cherished by generations to come”. Sir Keir said she had “introduced us to new worlds with countless stories over her long career”. Hugh Bonneville, who played the Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey, said: “Anyone who has ever shared a scene with Maggie will attest to her keen eye, sharp wit and formidable talent. “She was a true legend of her generation and thankfully will live on in many great screen performances.” ‘There’s no one like Maggie’ Dame Maggie reprised her role for two Downton Abbey films. In 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era, her character dies from the illness she revealed at the end of the 2019 film.
Co-star Dame Harriet Walter told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme that she was adept at comedy as well as drama.
“She was a true comedian but I’ve also seen her play some incredibly touching, deep, tragic characters, which is a huge range for an actress like her,” he said.
“If she was just funny or just tragic, she wouldn’t have made the same kind of impact.”
Michelle Dockery, who wrote the film, said: Dame Maggie’s on-screen granddaughter Lady Mary Crawley, who played her, told the BBC: “There was no one quite like Maggie.
“I feel extremely lucky to have known such a unique person. She will be greatly missed and my condolences are with her family.” Lesley Nicol, who played Downton Abbey’s cook Mrs Patmore, told BBC Radio Ulster: “It’s a very close group of people so we are all devastated to think she is no longer with us.” Downton Abbey creator and writer Julian Fellowes told Variety magazine that writing for her was “a joy; subtle, many-layered, intelligent, funny and heartbreaking”. Downton followed the success of the 2002 period drama Gosford Park, in which Dame Maggie received both Oscar and Bafta nominations for playing the Dowager Countess of Trentham. Dame Kristin Scott-Thomas, who starred alongside Dame Maggie in Gosford Park, said she “took acting very seriously but understood the nonsense and the slapstick”. “She didn’t really want to deal with it,” Dame Kristin said. “She had a sense of humour and wit that made me feel like an absurd puddle of laughter and a fool.”
Announcing the news of her death “with great sadness” on Friday, her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin said she “passed away peacefully in hospital this morning”. They added: “An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves behind two sons and five lovely grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother”. They thanked “the wonderful staff at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and infinite kindness during her final days”. They added: “We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time”. Dame Maggie began her career in the 1950s and was nominated for her first Oscar in 1965 for playing Desdemona opposite Laurence Olivier in Shakespeare’s Othello. The actress’ other memorable roles include the 1985 Merchant Ivory film A Room With a View, which earned her another Oscar nomination and a Bafta. She appeared as an Englishwoman living in 1930s Italy in the film Tea With Mussolini, released in 1999; and was the firm but fair Reverend Mother in two Sister Act films.
Sister Act co-star Whoopi Goldberg called Dame Maggie “a great woman and a brilliant actress”, and added: “I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to work with ‘one-of-a-kind’.”
Rob Lowe, who starred opposite Dame Maggie in 1993’s Suddenly, Last Summer, recalled the “unforgettable experience of working with her”.
“Sharing a two-shot was like being paired with a lion,” he said.
“She could eat anyone alive, and often did. But fun, and great company. And didn’t suffer fools.”
“We’ll never see another. God bless, Ms Smith!”
The veteran actress also played the old woman who spent 15 years living in a van outside Alan Bennett’s home in a film adaptation of the author’s The Lady in the Van in 2015.
Alex Jennings, who plays Bennett, told Radio 4 she was “fearless” and praised her “fantastic technical abilities” as an actress.
