Dame Maggie Smith, ‘Harry Potter’ Star, Dead at 89

Dame Maggie Smith, best known for her roles in the Harry Potter films and Downton Abbey , has died at age 89, her family reported to BBC .

Smith passed away early on the morning of Sept. 27, her sons, Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin, said in a statement. "It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith…An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.”

One of the most celebrated and recognizable actors of any generation, Smith is best known to modern audiences as Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies and as Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey . In addition to playing Mother Superior in Sister Act and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit , Smith was nominated for six Academy Awards and won twice for Best Actress. She first took the honor in 1969 for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie , and again in 1978 for California Suite . She also had an active career in live theater, appearing in nearly 100 plays between 1952 and 2019. Smith received Best Supporting Actress nominations for the classic British films A Room with a View (1988) and Gosford Park (2002).

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Smith’s cause of death has not been publicly announced.

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days,” Stephens and Larkin said of their mother. "We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time."