Dame Maggie Smith, venerable British actress, dies at 89

Maggie Smith, the venerable British actress whose career on stage, film and television spanned more than 60 years, has died. She was 89.

Her sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, confirmed she had died in a statement to the Press Association.

Having appeared in more than 50 films, Smith was considered one of Britain’s best known actresses and was beloved by recent generations for her roles as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the “Harry Potter” films and the Dowager Countess of Grantham on television’s “Downton Abbey.”

In addition to winning two Academy Awards, Smith earned five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globes, five Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Tony Award. In 1990, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Born in Ilford, Essex, Smith moved with her family to Oxford when she was 4 years old. Her father, a public health pathologist, worked at Oxford University. Smith attended Oxford High School until age 16 when she left to study acting at the Oxford Playhouse.

In 1952, she made her stage debut with the Oxford University Drama Society. A decade later, she was acting opposite Laurence Olivier and earning her first Oscar nomination for 1965’s “Othello.”

By 1979, she had won her first Oscar for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.” Another followed in 1979 for “California Suite.”

Smith appeared in a variety of films throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including 1985’s “A Room with a View” and the 1993 comedy “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” with Whoopi Goldberg. But she became a worldwide star in the autumn of her career after starring in the “Harry Potter” film franchise, which ran from 2001 to 2011.

In 2010, she was cast as the witty Dowager Countess in “Downton Abbey,” earning her a slew of awards, including three Emmys and a Golden Globe.