Maggie Smith, Iconic Oscar Winner Who Starred in 'Harry Potter' & on 'Downton Abbey,' Dies at 89

Dame Maggie Smith, one of the most acclaimed actors of the stage, screen, and TV, has died at 89.

The New York Times confirmed with Smith's family that she died Friday in a London hospital. No cause of death was offered. Smith had been a breast cancer survivor.

Her career was among the most storied in her field, and demonstrated her range as she tackled iconic roles in everything from "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" and "California Suite" — both of which resulted in Oscar wins — to "Harry Potter" and "Downton Abbey," the projects that extended and multiplied her fame, taking it to new heights.

Smith was born in Ilford, Essex, England, on December 28, 1934. She had no origin story to explain her drive to act — and could never produce a single performance or film or play that led her to her calling.

In a wide-ranging 2017 interview with BFI, Smith said, "I wasn't aware of [the theatre] at all, as a child. I can only think that it started at school with the English teacher I had, who encouraged me, because I was so fascinated by — we only read Shakespeare, obviously, at school, and I was never in any school plays, which always drove me insane, I used to get furious — but it was really down to her."

"I just knew I had to do it, which is weird."

She first took to the stage in 1952, and made her debut on Broadway in "New Faces of '56." She was soon in the upper echelon of British theater actors, alongside Joan Plowright, Eileen Atkins and Judi Dench. In the documentary "Tea with the Dames" (2018), in which the great ladies chatted about their careers, when Dench joked, "We're gonna work forever if we're asked," Smith interjected, "But you're always asked first, if I may say so. I'm turning on you. It's all coming out now."

Smith's stardom on the stage — she would eventually receive Tony nominations for Broadway's "Private Lives" (1975) and "Night and Day" (1979), winning for "Lettice and Lovage" (1990) — was soon eclipsed by her movie work.

She had an elegance that she could effectively undercut with sharp humor, becoming a unique presence on the big screen. Following her film debut in 1956, she garnered an astonishing 18 BAFTA nominations and six Oscar nominations, winning a Best Actress Oscar for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1969), about a self-possessed girls' school teacher, and picking up Best Supporting Actress for the Neil Simon farce "California Suite" (1978).

Among her most important films were "The V.I.P.s" (1963), with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Orson Welles; "The Pumpkin Eater" (1964); "Travels with My Aunt" (1972); "Murder by Death" (1976); the star-studded Agatha Christie mysteries "Death on the Nile" (1978) and "Evil Under the Sun" (1982); the original "Clash of the Titans" (1981); "A Room with a View" (1985); "Hook" (1991); "Sister Act" (1992) and "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" (1993); "Richard III" (1995); "The First Wives Club" (1996); "Tea with Mussolini" (1999); "Gosford Park" (2001); seven "Harry Potter" films as Professor McGonagall (2001-2011); "Nanny McPhee Returns" (2010); "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" (2011) and its sequel (2015); "The Lady in a Van" (2015); and "The Miracle Club" (2023).

With her characteristically devastating wit, she often complained about the physical toll the "Harry Potter" films took on her, recalling long, boring stretches spent in trailers on location in "godforsaken" places.

Smith became a sensation all over again on the PBS television series "Downtown Abbey" (2010-2015), on which she played prickly Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham. With lines like, "What is a weekend?," she endeared herself to a whole new audience.

"It's ridiculous!" she exclaimed of the series' popularity in 2017. "I led a perfectly normal life until 'Downton Abbey.'"

The show led to two feature films: "Downton Abbey" (2019) and "Downton Abbey: A New Era" (2022).

Smith was married twice, first to actor Robert Stephens, from 1967-1975, and then to playwright Alan Beverly Cross in 1975. Cross preceded her in death in 1998.

She is survived by her sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, both of whom are actors, and by her five grandchildren.