Celebrated British actress Maggie Smith, star of Harry Potter and Downton Abbey, dies aged 89

Legendary British actress Dame Maggie Smith, who won new fans in the 21st century as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films and the dowager Countess of Grantham in the hit ITV series Downton Abbey, has died aged 89.

The news was confirmed by her publicist and Smith’s family.

A statement from her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin read: "It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith. She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September.”

“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."

"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. We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time." 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer posted a tribute to Dame Maggie Smith, saying she was a "true national treasure".

Smith was a celebrated stage and screen presence, establishing herself alongside friend and fellow performer Judi Dench as one of the UK's most significant and prolific stage and screen talents.

Smith won an Oscar for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1969, the adaptation of the Muriel Spark novel in which she played a charismatic but dangerous Edinburgh schoolteacher, and a supporting actress Oscar for California Suite in 1978. Other awards the actress won include three Golden Globes, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmys, and was one of the few performers to earn the Triple Crown of Acting - a term used in the entertainment industry to