, the masterful, scene-stealing actor who won an Oscar for 1969 film 91裸聊视频淭he Prime of Miss Jean Brodie91裸聊视频� and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in 91裸聊视频� and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, died Friday. She was 89.

Smith91裸聊视频檚 sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, said in a statement that Smith died early Friday in a London hospital.

91裸聊视频淪he leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother,91裸聊视频� they said in a statement issued through publicist Clair Dobbs.

Smith was frequently rated the preeminent British female performer of a generation that included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench, with a clutch of Academy Award nominations and a shelf full of acting trophies.

She remained in demand even in her later years, despite her lament that 91裸聊视频渨hen you get into the granny era, you91裸聊视频檙e lucky to get anything.91裸聊视频�

Smith drily summarized her later roles as 91裸聊视频渁 gallery of grotesques,91裸聊视频� including Professor McGonagall. Asked why she took the role, she quipped: 91裸聊视频淗arry Potter is my pension.91裸聊视频�

Richard Eyre, who directed Smith in a television production of 91裸聊视频淪uddenly Last Summer,91裸聊视频� said she was 91裸聊视频渋ntellectually the smartest actress I91裸聊视频檝e ever worked with. You have to get up very, very early in the morning to outwit Maggie Smith.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淛ean Brodie,91裸聊视频� in which she played a dangerously charismatic Edinburgh schoolteacher, brought her the Academy Award for best actress, and the British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) as well.

Smith added a supporting actress Oscar for 91裸聊视频淐alifornia Suite91裸聊视频� in 1978, Golden Globes for 91裸聊视频淐alifornia Suite91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淩oom with a View,91裸聊视频� and BAFTAs for lead actress in 91裸聊视频淎 Private Function91裸聊视频� in 1984, 91裸聊视频淎 Room with a View91裸聊视频� in 1986, and 91裸聊视频淭he Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne91裸聊视频� in 1988.

She also received Academy Award nominations as a supporting actress in 91裸聊视频淥thello,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淭ravels with My Aunt,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淩oom with a View91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淕osford Park,91裸聊视频� and a BAFTA award for supporting actress in 91裸聊视频淭ea with Mussolini.91裸聊视频� On stage, she won a Tony in 1990 for 91裸聊视频淟ettice and Lovage.91裸聊视频�

From 2010, she was the acid-tongued Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in hit TV period drama 91裸聊视频� a role that won her legions of fans, three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe and a host of other awards nominations.

She continued acting well into her 80s, in films such a 2022 big-screen spinoff 91裸聊视频淒ownton Abbey: A New Era91裸聊视频� and 2023 release 91裸聊视频淭he Miracle Club.91裸聊视频�

Smith had a reputation for being difficult, and sometimes upstaging others.

Richard Burton remarked that Smith didn91裸聊视频檛 just take over a scene in 91裸聊视频淭he VIPs91裸聊视频� with him: 91裸聊视频淪he commits grand larceny.91裸聊视频� However, the director Peter Hall found that Smith wasn91裸聊视频檛 91裸聊视频渞emotely difficult unless she91裸聊视频檚 among idiots. She91裸聊视频檚 very hard on herself, and I don91裸聊视频檛 think she sees any reason why she shouldn91裸聊视频檛 be hard on other people, too.91裸聊视频�

Smith conceded that she could be impatient at times.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 true I don91裸聊视频檛 tolerate fools, but then they don91裸聊视频檛 tolerate me, so I am spiky,91裸聊视频� Smith said. 91裸聊视频淢aybe that91裸聊视频檚 why I91裸聊视频檓 quite good at playing spiky elderly ladies.91裸聊视频�

Critic Frank Rich, in a New York Times review of 91裸聊视频淟ettice and Lovage,91裸聊视频� praised Smith as 91裸聊视频渢he stylized classicist who can italicize a line as prosaic as 91裸聊视频楬ave you no marmalade?91裸聊视频� until it sounds like a freshly minted epigram by Coward or Wilde.91裸聊视频�

Smith famously drew laughs from a prosaic line 91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淭his haddock is disgusting91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� in a 1964 revival of Noel Coward91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淗ay Fever.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淏ut unfortunately the critics mentioned it, and after that it never got a laugh,91裸聊视频� she recalled. 91裸聊视频淭he moment you say something is funny it91裸聊视频檚 gossamer. It91裸聊视频檚 gone, really.91裸聊视频�

She repeated the gift for one-liners in 91裸聊视频淒ownton Abbey,91裸聊视频� when the tradition-bound Violet acidly asked, 91裸聊视频淲hat is a weekend?91裸聊视频�

Margaret Natalie Smith was born in Ilford, on the eastern edge of London, on Dec. 28, 1934. She summed up her life briefly: 91裸聊视频淥ne went to school, one wanted to act, one started to act, one91裸聊视频檚 still acting.91裸聊视频�

Her father was assigned in 1939 to wartime duty in Oxford, where her theater studies at the Oxford Playhouse School led to a busy apprenticeship.

91裸聊视频淚 did so many things, you know, round the universities there. 91裸聊视频� If you were kind of clever enough and I suppose quick enough, you could almost do weekly rep because all the colleges were doing different productions at different times,91裸聊视频� she said in a BBC interview.

She took Maggie as her stage name because another Margaret Smith was active in the theater.

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 91裸聊视频淥thello.91裸聊视频�

Smith said two directors, Ingmar Bergman and William Gaskill, both in National Theatre productions, were important influences.

Alan Bennett, preparing to film the monologue 91裸聊视频淎 Bed Among the Lentils,91裸聊视频� said he was wary of Smith91裸聊视频檚 reputation for becoming bored. As the actor Jeremy Brett put it, 91裸聊视频渟he starts divinely and then goes off, rather like a cheese.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淪o the fact that we only just had enough time to do it was an absolute blessing really because she was so fresh and just so into it,91裸聊视频� said Bennett. He also wrote a starring role for Smith in 91裸聊视频淭he Lady in the Van,91裸聊视频� as Miss Shepherd, a redoubtable woman who lived for years in her vehicle on Bennett91裸聊视频檚 London driveway.

However extravagant she may have been on stage or before the cameras, Smith was known to be intensely private.

Simon Callow, who acted with her in 91裸聊视频淎 Room with a View,91裸聊视频� said he ruined their first meeting by spouting compliments.

91裸聊视频淚 blurted out various kinds of rubbish about her and she kind of withdrew. She doesn91裸聊视频檛 like that sort of thing very much at all,91裸聊视频� Callow said in a film portrait of the actress. 91裸聊视频淪he never wanted to talk about acting. Acting was something she was terrified to talk about because if she did, it would disappear.91裸聊视频�

Smith was made a the equivalent of a knight, in 1990.

She married fellow actor Robert Stephens in 1967. They had two sons, Christopher and Toby 91裸聊视频� who both grew up to be actors 91裸聊视频� and divorced in 1975. The same year she married the writer Beverley Cross, who died in 1998.