British stage and film actress Maggie Smith, who has won two Oscars, three Emmys and numerous stage awards, has died. She was 89 years old.

“It is with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith,” her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin said in a statement to the BBC. “She passed away peacefully in hospital this morning, Friday 27 September. She was an intensely private person and was with friends and family at the end. She is survived by two sons and five loving grandchildren, who are devastated by the loss of their special mother and grandmother.”

In the late 1970s, Smith attracted a whole new legion of fans thanks to her starring role in the hugely successful series ‘Downton Abbey’, a hit for ITV, PBS’ ‘Masterpiece’ and around the world. She won two Emmys and was nominated for two more for her role as the Dowager Countess.

And like virtually every other British actor or actress, Smith appeared in a number of entries in the “Harry Potter” film franchise, playing Professor Minerva McGonagall.

A master of classical and contemporary roles, the red-haired Smith was known as much for her subtlety as for her broad mannerisms. She delighted generations of theatergoers on both sides of the Atlantic with signature performances in “Mary, Mary,” “Hedda Gabler,” “Othello,” “Private Lives,” “Night and Day” and “Lettice and Lovage,” and audiences around the world for her work in films such as ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’, ‘California Suite’, ‘A Room With a View’, ‘Travels with My Aunt’, ‘Hot Millions’, ‘A Private Matter’, ‘ Gosford Park’, ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ and the sequel.

In 2015, she starred in ‘The Lady in the Van’, Alan Bennett’s adaptation of his play, based on his real-life experiences, and directed by Nicholas Hytner, who had directed the play.

In 1990, she was appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire, one of only a few of her generation, including Judi Dench and Diana Rigg, to be so honored.

A British reviewer once attributed to her the power to make you watch and listen all the time, laconic and nervous, superb in comedy, moving in pathos, a gem of an actress. Even her detractors, who complained that her mannerisms—constantly jutting elbows, flying hands, triple takes, diving inflections—marred some of her performances (especially in long-running plays) could not dispute the impact of her theatrical energy. Annoyed by such complaints, she replied that it was better to do too much on stage than too little.

Like other incredibly talented actors – Brando is one who comes to mind – the depth and breadth of her talent sometimes put her over the edge. But when she was playing, she was unforgettable; she deftly captured the audience’s attention and stole scenes from everyone around her. Unlike other actors of her generation, Smith did not belong to the declamatory acting school of Laurence Olivier; she was seen as fresh and light-hearted. It turned out to be a mixed blessing: When she was young, she had to convince others that she was a serious actress who could hold her own with the classics.

Margaret Smith was born in Ilford, Essex, and attended Oxford School for Girls before studying theater at the Oxford Playhouse School. In 1952 she appeared in Oxford U. stage productions, especially in revues such as ‘On the Fringe’, with which she sometimes traveled. When “On the Fringe” reached the West End, American producer Leonard Sillman spotted her and asked her to participate in the Broadway variety show “New Faces of 1956”; she was the only Brit.

‘New Faces’ led to another comedy role in the revue ‘Share My Lettuce’ in 1957 and a small film, ‘Nowhere to Go’. She returned to the stage in ‘The Stepmother’ and then joined the Old Vic where she began to establish her serious acting skills in productions of ‘The Double Dealer’, ‘As You Like It’, ‘Richard II’, “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “What Every Wife Knows.” In 1960 she starred for the first time with Olivier in Eugene Ionesco’s ‘Rhinoceros’. She then appeared in ‘Strip the Willow’, Anouilh’s ‘The Rehearsal’ and readings of Sean O’Casey’s ‘Pictures in the Hallway’, which would later lead to a role in the film ‘Young Cassidy’, starring Rod Taylor as O’ Casey.

Smith’s first Evening Standard award went to Peter Shaffer’s ‘The Private Ear/The Public Eye’. Her next triumph was Jean Kerr’s ‘Mary, Mary’.

Around this time, Hollywood began to pay attention to the actress: She held her own in a supporting role in the Richard Burton-Elizabeth Taylor vehicle “The VIPs” in 1963 and was equally effective the following year in the drama “The Pumpkin Eaters” . starring Anne Bancroft. Olivier then asked her to join his National Theater Company as his Desdemona in “Othello,” which earned her theatrical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for the film version. For the National Theater she achieved such productions as ‘The Recruiting Officer’, ‘The Master Builder’, the triumphant ‘Hay Fever’, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, ‘Miss Julie’, ‘Black Comedy’, ‘A Bond Honoured’ and a ‘Hedda Gabler’ directed by Ingmar Bergman, which won her another Evening Standard Award in 1970.

She won the coveted title role in ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ over actresses who had played it on stage, such as Zoe Caldwell and Vanessa Redgrave, and took home the Oscar for it. She was not at the ceremony, but appeared at “The Beaux Strategem” in London at the time. During the period, she also starred in films such as ‘The Honey Pot’, ‘Hot Millions’ and ‘Oh! What a beautiful war.”

Smith took part in the Stratford Festival in Ontario and performed in ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, ‘The Way of the World’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘As You Like It’. She also appeared in 1976 with Brian Bedford in “The Guardsman” in Los Angeles and returned to Broadway in Tom Stoppard’s “Night and Day,” which earned her a second Tony nomination (the first was for “Private Lives”).

A second Oscar nomination came for George Cukor’s ‘Travels With My Aunt’. She was crazy in “Murder by Death,” but revelatory in Neil Simon’s “California Suite,” so much so that she won a second Oscar, this time for supporting actress. Other film roles from that period included ‘Clash of the Titans’, ‘Quartet’, ‘Evil Under the Sun’ and ‘Better Late Than Never’.

But it wasn’t until the mid-’80s that she appeared in films that matched her abilities: “A Private Function,” written by Alan Bennett, and “A Room With a View,” which earned her a fifth Oscar nomination. Both ‘A Private Function’ and ‘The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne’, which had admirers, won her BAFTA Awards for Best Actress.

On stage, even her most difficult assignments, such as Jean Cocteau’s ‘The Infernal Machine’, were worth seeing. Her “Virginia” (as in Woolf) won her another Evening Standard award in 1981 and “The Way of the World” another in 1984. Alan Bennett wrote the brilliant monologue “Bed Among the Lentils” for her, and she received praise when she played it on television in 1988.

Shaffer wrote “Lettice and Lovage” for her. This beautiful comedy completely suited her talents. She triumphed in London and then took it to New York, where she ultimately won her Tony. It was around this time that she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, which subsequently compromised her health, limiting her ability to work as often or for long periods of time.

Nevertheless, she put in some impressive performances, most notably her award-winning ‘Three Tall Women’, written by Edward Albee, on the London stage in 1994. She appeared in several films, including Steven Spielberg’s ‘Hook’, the mainstream hit ‘Sister Act’ . ‘ and its sequel ‘The Secret Garden’, ‘The First Wives’ Club’, ‘Washington Square’ and, impressively, the fascist Ian McKellen version of ‘Richard III’. She also appeared in the light-hearted ‘It All Came True’ with Michael Caine and alongside Cher in ‘Tea With Mussolini’. On television, she was unforgettable in “Memento Mori” and “Suddenly Last Summer” (which earned an Emmy nomination), along with appearances in telepics “All the King’s Men” (about a World War I tragedy) and “David Copperfield” (another Emmy nomination). ).

She earned an Emmy in 2003 for the HBO telepic “My House in Umbria,” was nominated again in 2010 for “Capturing Mary,” and then earned two more for her series regular role as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in the celebrated British TV series. “Downton Abbey.”

In the 2000s, Smith made a strong impression in mainstream features with supporting roles in ‘Gosford Park’, ‘Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood’, ‘Becoming Jane’, ‘Keeping Mum’ and ‘Nanny McPhee Returns’. She was introduced to the masses of JK Rowling fans when she played Minerva McGonagall in the ‘Harry Potter’ film series. However, during the production of the ‘Potter’ pictures, Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 74. She made a full recovery and returned to the big and small screen.

Her work continued with a role in 2009’s ‘From Time to Time’, voice work in the 2011 animated film ‘Gnomeo and Juliet’ and appearances in the hit film ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ and its sequel. In 2012, Smith starred in the Dustin Hoffman-directed “Quartet,” Ronald Harwood’s adaptation of his own play about people in a retirement home for opera singers, and starred in “My Old Lady,” Israel Horovitz’s feature debut, based on his own play . play.

Smith married actor Robert Stephens in 1967. After divorcing from Stephens, she married writer Beverly Cross in 1976; he died in 1998. She is survived by two sons, actors Christopher Larkin and Toby Stephens, and grandchildren.