Dame Maggie Smith tributes as Downton Abbey and Harry Potter stars have moving words

The final curtain may have come down for Dame Maggie Smith, but her long and illustrious career will live long in the ­memory of a nation blessed to have had her as a star.

And there were no shortage of ­heartfelt ­tributes for the stage and screen legend who has passed away at the age of 89, after delighting ­audiences for seven decades.

Dame Maggie’s death was announced by her actor sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, who said she had died “peacefully” at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in West London.

Her last film role was in 2022 for movie The Miracle Club, 70 years after her career began at the Oxford ­Playhouse in 1952. With major parts in hits such as Downton Abbey and Harry Potter, Dame Maggie was hailed as a true national treasure.

Her long-term pal Gyles Brandreth said her death marked “the end of a golden era and a quite extraordinary life.” He added: “She was a truly great actress, one of the greats and simply the best company. Wise, witty, waspish, wonderful. One of a kind in every way and ­consequently irreplaceable.”

Hugh Bonneville, who played Dame Maggie’s son in Downton Abbey for more than a decade, added: “Anyone who ever shared a scene with Maggie will attest to her sharp eye, sharp wit and formidable talent.”

Downton creator Julian Fellowes said: “She had a marvellous instinctive grasp and her great gift as an actress was that she could make you cry your eyes out one minute and then laugh like a drain the next minute without turning into someone different.”

PM Keir Starmer added: “Dame Maggie Smith ­introduced us to new worlds with the countless stories she acted over her long career. She was beloved for her great talent, becoming a true national treasure whose work will be ­cherished for ­generations to come.”

The King and Queen said the star will be remembered “with the fondest ­admiration and affection for her many great performances, and her warmth and wit both off and on the stage”.

Dame Maggie won two Oscars, four Emmys and a Tony, as well as seven Baftas and an honorary Olivier Award. But she was resolutely modest about her stage, film and TV achievements.

She once said: “One went to school, one wanted to act, one started to act, and one’s still acting.” Dame Maggie is ­probably best remembered as Gryffindor house head Professor McGonagall in the seven Harry Potter movies, from 2001 to 2011. She is said to have been the only actor asked for personally by author JK Rowling, who wanted to inject a flavour of Miss Jean Brodie into her character.

Dame Maggie is thought to have played Downton’s Dowager Countess Violet Crawley so well because she was quite similar in character. She once said: “It’s true I don’t tolerate fools, but then they don’t tolerate me, so I am spiky. Maybe that’s why I’m quite good at playing spiky elderly ladies.” Dame Maggie once admitted that she had never watched an episode of the hit ITV period drama, because she was too critical of her own work.

Born Margaret Natalie Smith on December 28, 1934, in Ilford, East London, she was the youngest child of pathologist Nathaniel Smith and Scottish ­secretary Margaret Hutton, who had met on a train to London.

The family moved to Oxford which is where her career began with a stage role at the Oxford Playhouse. Four years later she was on Broadway and by 1959 she had a Bafta nod for most promising newcomer for Nowhere To Go.

That was followed by ­nominations for films including Young Cassidy in 1966, Death On The Nile in 1979, ­The Secret Garden in 1994 and The Lady In The Van in 2016.

Her other hits include the Sister Act film franchise, in which she played Reverend Mother Superior, and Steven ­Spielberg’s Hook. Sister Act co-star Whoopi Goldberg said: “Maggie Smith was a great woman and a ­brilliant actress.”

During the 60s and 70s Dame Maggie worked with theatrical greats including Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud, Alan Bennett and Dame Judi Dench. She won her first Oscar in 1969 as Edinburgh girls’ school teacher Miss Jean Brodie, which earned her the Best Actress award.

Co-star Robert Stephens, Jean’s love interest Teddy, became her first husband. Their turbulent marriage produced two sons but ended after six years. She wed ­playwright Alan Beverly Cross two months after her divorce, in 1975. That lasted until he died in 1998. She then remained single.

Dame Maggie could also sing and dance, as shown by her performance in Oh, What a Lovely War. But she excelled in understated characters as in Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads.

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Chris and Toby said their mum was “with friends and family at the end” and added: “She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and gran.”