By Abigail Holliday
Staff Writer
Dame Margaret “Maggie” Natalie Smith died at age 89 in London in a hospital in England, announced in a statement made by her two sons.
According to the New York Times, Smith was born in Essex, England, to Margaret and Nathaniel Smith. She grew up in Oxford studying at the Oxford High School for girls, where her father was a teacher. She later went on to join the Oxford Playhouse in 1952, where her acting career first began.
Since her debut in 1956 as a party guest in “Child in the House,” she has starred in over 60 movies and television series including: “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,”“Sister Act,” “California Suite,” the “Harry Potter” series and “Downton Abbey.”
Smith noted on “The Graham Norton Show” that she slowly began to be recognized in public after her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall, the transfiguration teacher at the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the famed book and movie series, “Harry Potter.” She continued to star in the movies from 2001 to 2011.
In 1988, Smith was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, an auto-immune disorder that causes the thyroid gland to produce too much thyroid hormone. She underwent surgery and radiotherapy to overcome this disease.
Nearly 20 years later, in 2007, Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer while filming "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince," the sixth movie in the franchise. She had surgery a second time to remove the tumor, and endured rounds of chemotherapy to recover, according to IMDb.
In 2010, she landed her role as Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham in the hit show “Downton Abbey,” which is set between 1912 and 1925 and follows the Crawley family, who are British aristocrats, as well as their servants.
The New York Times detailed how the effect of the show on her was instantaneous. Running for six seasons, her and her character became instantly loved by the public. She once said to Mark Lawson, a journalist at the British Film Institute and Radio Times Television Festival, “It’s ridiculous. I’d led a perfectly normal life until ‘Downton Abbey.’ Nobody knew who the hell I was.”
Before “Downton Abbey,” she was mainly only recognized by young children questioning her about her role as Professor McGonagall in “Harry Potter.”
IMDb recounts her many achievements, detailing how Smith had won 50 awards over the course of her career, and has been nominated over 100 times. She won four Emmys, two Oscars, three Golden Globes, a Tony and many more awards.
She is also one of only 17 actresses to win an Emmy, an Oscar and a Tony, otherwise known as the “Triple Crown of Acting.” Other famous winners include Liza Minnelli, Audrey Hepburn, Helen Mirren and Viola Davis.
Alongside her many awards, The New York Times described how she was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1969, as well as being made a dame in 1990. She was also inducted into the Order of the Companions of Honor in 2014.
Her death has not only impacted the acting community, but she also affected the lives of many, including the Royal Family. According to Royal Central, King Charles wrote in a statement on X, “My wife and I were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Dame Maggie Smith. As the curtain comes down on a national treasure, we join all those around the world in remembering with the fondest admiration and affection her many great performances, and her warmth and wit that shone through both on and off the stage.”
Additionally, her former co-star Rupert Grint, Ron Weasley in the “Harry Potter” franchise, have both paid tributes to the actress. Grint posted on Instagram, “Heartbroken to hear about Maggie. She was so special, always hilarious and always kind. I feel incredibly lucky to have shared a set with her and particularly lucky to have shared a dance. I'll miss you Maggie. Sending all my love to her family.”
