Maggie Smith who won an Oscar for ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ in 1969 and earned new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in ‘Downton Abbey’ and Prof McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, has died, her publicist said on Friday. She was 89.
Her sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, said in a statement that Smith died early Friday in a London hospital. “She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother,” they said in a statement issued through publicist Clair Dobbs
Treble winner
Having started her career on the stage in the 1950s, Maggie was one of the few actors to win the treble of an Oscar (two), Emmy (four), and Tony, according to a Reuters report. Her first Academy Award nomination was for her turn playing Desdemona opposite Laurence Olivier’s Othello in 1965, before winning the Oscar for her role as an Edinburgh schoolmistress in 1969’s ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’.
She won her second Oscar for her supporting role in the 1978 comedy California Suite, a performance that prompted co-star Michael Caine to say: “Maggie didn’t just steal the film, she committed grand larceny.”
Other critically acclaimed roles included Lady Bracknel
Preeminent actress
l in Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest on the West End stage, a 92-year-old bitterly fighting senility in Edward Albee’s play Three Tall Women, and her part in 2001 black comedy movie Gosford Park.
In 1990, Maggie was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and became a Dame. She was frequently rated the preeminent British woman actor of a generation that included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench.
Bergman’s influence
She took Maggie as her stage name because another Margaret Smith was active in the theatre.
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 “Othello.”
Smith said two directors, Ingmar Bergman and William Gaskill, both in National Theatre productions, were important influences.
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