LONDON (AP) 鈥 , the who won an Oscar for the 1969 film 鈥淭he Prime of Miss Jean Brodie鈥 and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in 鈥 and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, died Friday. She was 89.
Smith's sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, said in a statement that Smith died early Friday in a London hospital.
鈥淪he leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother,鈥 they said in a statement issued through publicist Clair Dobbs.
Smith was frequently rated the preeminent British female performer of a generation that included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench, with two Oscars, a clutch of Academy Award nominations and a shelf full of acting trophies.
She made her film debut in the 1950s, won Oscars for work in the 60s and 70s and had memorable roles in each subsequent decade, including an older Wendy in Peter Pan story 鈥淗ook鈥 (1991) and a mother superior of a convent in Whoopi Goldberg's comedy 鈥淪ister Act鈥 (1992).
A commanding stage actor, she played Shakespearean tragedy 鈥 1965 adaptation 鈥淥thello鈥 鈥 and voiced Shakespeare-inspired animation in 鈥淕nomeo & Juliet鈥 (2011).
She remained in demand even in her later years, despite her lament that 鈥渨hen you get into the granny era, you鈥檙e lucky to get anything.鈥
Smith drily summarized her later roles as 鈥渁 gallery of grotesques,鈥 including Professor McGonagall. Asked why she took the role, she quipped: 鈥淗arry Potter is my pension.鈥
Richard Eyre, who directed Smith in a television production of 鈥淪uddenly, Last Summer,鈥 said she was 鈥渋ntellectually the smartest actress I鈥檝e ever worked with. You have to get up very, very early in the morning to outwit Maggie Smith.鈥
"Jean Brodie," in which she played a dangerously charismatic Edinburgh schoolteacher, brought her the Academy Award for best actress, and the British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) as well.
Smith added a supporting actress Oscar for 鈥淐alifornia Suite鈥 in 1978, Golden Globes for 鈥淐alifornia Suite鈥 and 鈥淎 Room with a View,鈥 and BAFTAs for lead actress in 鈥淎 Private Function鈥 in 1984, 鈥淎 Room with a View鈥 in 1986 and 鈥淭he Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne鈥 in 1988.
She also received Academy Award nominations as a supporting actress in 鈥淥thello,鈥 鈥淭ravels with My Aunt,鈥 鈥淎 Room with a View鈥 and 鈥淕osford Park,鈥 and a BAFTA award for supporting actress in 鈥淭ea with Mussolini.鈥 On stage, she won a Tony in 1990 for 鈥淟ettice and Lovage.鈥
From 2010, she was the acid-tongued Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in hit TV period drama 鈥 a role that won her legions of fans, three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe and a host of other awards nominations.
But she chafed at television fame. When the show's run ended in 2016, Smith said she was relieved. 鈥淚t鈥檚 freedom," she told The Associated Press.
鈥淣ot until 鈥楧ownton Abbey鈥 was I well-known or stopped in the street and asked for one of those terrible photographs," she said.
She continued acting well into her 80s, in films including the big-screen spinoff to 鈥淒ownton Abbey鈥 in 2019, its 2022 sequel 鈥淒ownton Abbey: A New Era鈥 and 2023 release "The Miracle Club."
Smith had a reputation for being difficult, and sometimes upstaging others.
Richard Burton remarked that Smith didn鈥檛 just take over a scene in 鈥淭he VIPs鈥 with him: 鈥淪he commits grand larceny.鈥 However, the director Peter Hall found that Smith wasn鈥檛 鈥渞emotely difficult unless she鈥檚 among idiots. She鈥檚 very hard on herself, and I don鈥檛 think she sees any reason why she shouldn鈥檛 be hard on other people, too.鈥
Smith conceded that she could be impatient at times.
鈥淚t鈥檚 true I don鈥檛 tolerate fools, but then they don鈥檛 tolerate me, so I am spiky,鈥 Smith said. 鈥淢aybe that鈥檚 why I鈥檓 quite good at playing spiky elderly ladies.鈥
Critic Frank Rich, in a New York Times review of 鈥淟ettice and Lovage,鈥 praised Smith as 鈥渢he stylized classicist who can italicize a line as prosaic as 鈥楬ave you no marmalade?鈥 until it sounds like a freshly minted epigram by Coward or Wilde.鈥
Smith famously drew laughs from a prosaic line 鈥 鈥淭his haddock is disgusting鈥 鈥 in a 1964 revival of Noel Coward鈥檚 鈥淗ay Fever.鈥
She repeated the gift for one-liners in 鈥淒ownton Abbey,鈥 when the tradition-bound Violet witheringly asked, 鈥淲hat is a weekend?鈥
King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla paid tribute to Smith, who was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire, the equivalent of a knight, by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.
鈥淎s 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 off and on the stage," they said in a statement.
Fellow actors on Friday. Hugh Bonneville, who played the son of Smith's character in 鈥淒ownton Abbey,鈥 said 鈥渁nyone who ever shared a scene with Maggie will attest to her sharp eye, sharp wit and formidable talent.鈥
鈥淪he was a true legend of her generation and thankfully will live on in so many magnificent screen performances," he said in a statement.
Rob Lowe, who co-starred with her in 鈥淪uddenly, Last Summer,鈥 said the experience was "unforgettable ... sharing a two-shot was like being paired with a lion.鈥
鈥淪he could eat anyone alive, and often did. But funny, and great company. And suffered no fools. We will never see another. God speed, Ms. Smith!鈥 Lowe wrote on X.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Smith 鈥渁 true national treasure whose work will be cherished for generations to come.鈥
Margaret Natalie Smith was born in Ilford, on the eastern edge of London, on Dec. 28, 1934. She summed up her life briefly: 鈥淥ne went to school, one wanted to act, one started to act, one鈥檚 still acting.鈥
Her father was assigned in 1939 to wartime duty in Oxford, where her theater studies at the Oxford Playhouse School led to a busy apprenticeship.
鈥淚 did so many things, you know, round the universities there. ... If you were kind of clever enough and I suppose quick enough, you could almost do weekly rep because all the colleges were doing different productions at different times,鈥 she said in a BBC interview.
She took Maggie as her stage name because another Margaret Smith was active in the theater.
Laurence Olivier spotted her talent, invited her to be part of his original National Theatre company and cast her as his co-star in a 1965 film adaptation of 鈥淥thello.鈥
Smith said two directors, Ingmar Bergman and William Gaskill, both in National Theatre productions, were important influences.
Alan Bennett, preparing to film the monologue 鈥淎 Bed Among the Lentils,鈥 said he was wary of Smith鈥檚 reputation for becoming bored. As the actor Jeremy Brett put it, 鈥渟he starts divinely and then goes off, rather like a cheese.鈥
鈥淪o the fact that we only just had enough time to do it was an absolute blessing really because she was so fresh and just so into it,鈥 said Bennett. He also wrote a starring role for Smith in 鈥淭he Lady in the Van,鈥 as Miss Shepherd, a redoubtable woman who lived for years in her vehicle on Bennett鈥檚 London driveway.
However extravagant she may have been on stage or before the cameras, Smith was known to be intensely private.
鈥淪he never wanted to talk about acting. Acting was something she was terrified to talk about because if she did, it would disappear," said Simon Callow, who performed with her in 鈥淎 Room with a View.鈥
Smith married fellow actor Robert Stephens in 1967. They had two sons, Christopher and Toby 鈥 who both grew up to be actors 鈥 and divorced in 1975. The same year she married the writer Beverley Cross, who died in 1998.
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Hilary Fox and Pan Pylas in London contributed to this story. Associated Press writer Robert Barr contributed biographical material to this obituary before his death in 2018.
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
