Maggie Smith tributes: Harry Potter and Downton Abbey pay respect to acting legend

Although Maggie Smith’s cause of death has not been disclosed, her sons shared that she died peacefully in the hospital surrounded by her friends and family.

Over the years, the legendary actor had been open about the health challenges she faced, including her battle with breast cancer, her Graves’ disease diagnosis, hip replacement surgery and glaucoma.

Smith revealed that while she was filming the sixth Harry Potter movie – The Half-Blood Prince – she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I had been feeling a little rum. I didn’t think it was anything serious because years ago I felt a lump and it was benign. I assumed this would be too,” she told The Times in 2009.

For two years, she underwent chemotherapy and radiation to treat her cancer. She was later declared cancer-free.

In 1988, just as she had begun her performance in the Tony-nominated play Lettice and Lovage, Smith was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, a common autoimmune disorder that affects the thyroid gland.

According to a 1990 report by The New York Times: “Medication, and determination enabled her to play out her yearlong contract (missing only one performance), but the facial disfigurement that resulted – protrusion of the eyeballs and puffiness around the eyes, in particular – was not getting better.”

Her diagnosis came shortly after she suffered a broken arm and fractured shoulder from falling off a bicycle.

“It’s been kind of like a fog of despair, really,” she told the publication at the time. “It was ghastly having a broken arm; ghastly with the play, letting everybody down; and on top of that, I looked absolutely frightening, and didn’t know which way to turn.”

Smith was reportedly forced to miss the 2016 Golden Globe Awards as she recovered from hip replacement surgery. She had been nominated for her lead performance in the comedy-drama The Lady in the Van.

In a 2016 interview with The Telegraph, Smith confirmed she was partially blind due to glaucoma.

“Forgive me for looking at you like this. It’s because I’m blind in one eye, not being furtive,” she said to the interviewer.

The monarch shared his statement alongside a photograph of the pair speaking at the Pride Of Britain awards at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel in October 2016.

The monarch remembered Smith as a ‘national treasure’

Daniel Radcliffe has paid a heartfelt tribute to his Harry Potter co-star Maggie Smith in a lengthy statement shared with Variety.

“The first time I met Maggie Smith I was 9 years old and we were reading through scenes for David Copperfield, which was my first job. I knew virtually nothing about her other than that my parents were awestruck at the fact that I would be working with her,” Radcliffe said.

“The other thing I knew about her was that she was a Dame, so the first thing I asked her when we met was ‘would you like me to call you Dame?’ at which she laughed and said something to the effect of ‘don’t be ridiculous!’ I remember feeling nervous to meet her and then her putting me immediately at ease. She was incredibly kind to me on that shoot, and then I was lucky enough to go on working with her for another 10 years on the Harry Potter films.”

He added: “She was a fierce intellect, a gloriously sharp tongue, could intimidate and charm in the same instant and was, as everyone will tell you, extremely funny.

“I will always consider myself amazingly lucky to have been able to work with her, and to spend time around her on set. The word legend is overused but if it applies to anyone in our industry then it applies to her. Thank you Maggie.”

Star Trek actor George Takei has paid tribute to Dame Maggie Smith as a “grand star of screen and stage” after she died aged 89.

He said on X: “A grand star of screen and stage has departed. Maggie Smith, known most recently for her unforgettable roles as the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey and as Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, passed away at age 89. Fans both old and young shall miss her dearly.”

Born in Ilford, Essex, on December 28, 1934, Dame Maggie Smith was an internationally recognised actress for much of her life after playing the fanatical teacher Jean Brodie in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie.

One of Dame Maggie’s most iconic roles was playing Professor McGonagall in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise.

And in 2010 she was central to the success of ITV series Downton Abbey, in her Emmy-award winning role as the acerbic Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, which she continued to play in the films.

Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak paid tribute to Dame Maggie Smith as an “icon of the stage and screen”.

Writing on X, Mr Sunak said: Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dame Maggie Smith – an icon of the stage and screen.

“She touched many lives across many generations with her incredible performances. Rest in peace.”

Maggie Smith’s heartbreaking death coincidentally comes exactly one year after the passing of her Harry Potter co-star Michael Gambon.

Other Harry Potter stars who have died include Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid) and Leslie Phillips (voice of the sorting hat), both of whom died in 2022.

Find the list of other Harry Potter stars who’ve died over the years:

Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy) in 2021

Verne Troyer (goblin Griphook) in 2018

John Hurt (Garrick Ollivander) in 2017

Alan Rickman (Professor Snape) in 2016

Dave Legeno (Fenrir Greyback) in 2014

Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley) in 2013

Timothy Bateson (voice of house elf Kreacher) in 2009

Robert Knox (Marcus Belby) in 2008

Richard Harris (the original Dumbledore) in 2002

Over the course of her iconic, years-long film career, Maggie Smith earned an astounding six Oscar nominations, of which she won two.

Smith won her first Academy Award in 1969 for her lead role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She won her second nearly 10 years later in 1978 for her supporting role in California Suite.

She earned three other Best Supporting Actress nominations for her roles in Othello (1965), A Room with a View (1985) and Gosford Park (2001), as well as a second Best Lead Actress nod in 1972 for her performance in Travels with My Aunt.

Maggie Smith once said of her role in Downton Abbey: “I am deeply grateful for the work… but it wasn’t what you’d call satisfying. I didn’t really feel I was acting.”

Her character Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, became a fan-favourite thanks to her zingy lines in the period drama – and perhaps it was Smith’s affinity with the wise woman, and her own acerbic wit, that enabled her to deliver them so well.

In celebration of Downton Abbey’s 10th anniversary in 2020, The Independent’s Ellie Harrison compiled Smith’s best quotes from the show…

The Dowager Countess of Grantham’s zingiest quotes, on everything from romance to class