‘Harry Potter’ Star Passes Away At 89

Maggie Smith, the veteran actress who projected an air of British elegance to J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” movie franchise, has passed away at 89, the AP reported.

Fans of the books were dazzled by Smith’s portrayal of Professor Minerva McGonagall throughout the films, staying true to character as the stuffy, overly formal mentor to Potter and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley in the house of Gryffindor. She appeared in each of the franchise’s eight films from 2001 to 2011 but was already an accomplished actress by the time she became world-renowned.

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Born in December of 1934, Smith was raised by a secretary and public health pathologist, choosing the arts on her own when she left home at 16 to study at the Oxford Playhouse. From 1952 to 1968 she charmed fans of the National Threatre, performing Shakespeare, musicals, and dabbling in television before earning an Academy Award for 1969’s “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.” Her leading role as an unrequited teacher at a girls’ school earned plaudits from reviewers such as Greg Ferrara, who called Smith’s performance “stirring and mesmerizing.” She was honored as a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.

Smith’s sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens announced her death on Friday in a statement through her longtime publicist. “She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother,” Claire Dobbs wrote to the AP.

Following her success in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” Smith earned a supporting actress Oscar for “California Suite” in 1978. More recently, she garnered accolades for taking the role of dowager Countess of Grantham from the fictional Yorkshire aristocratic family in “Downton Abbey.”

The pressures of high-wire acting as well as old age were well-trod ground for Smith in her later years, all of which she wasn’t shy about sharing. Speaking with NPR in 2016, she reflected on loneliness since the death of her second husband, playwright Alan Beverly Cross, in 1998. “It seems a bit pointless, going on on one’s own, and not having someone to share it with,” she said.

Smith particularly celebrated film actors for keeping their composure throughout multiple takes. “You want so much to get it right. And – you know, there’s a thing in your head that kind of says to you, I think that was nearer it, you know? But when people are all around you and the pressure is that you’re going to get this shot in, you know, the light’s going to go – I have such admiration for film actors,” she added.

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