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    In Memoriam Maggie Smith

    Maggie Smith, award-winning actress of stage and screen, and forever unforgettable star of the Harry Potter films and DOWNTON ABBEY, has passed away at the age of 89.

    Dame Margaret Nathalie Smith (picture by oneredsf1)

    There are not many actors who have inspired us with performances of Shakespeare and Ibsen, won two Oscars and countless other awards, and remained a box-office star for more than 60 years. But there was Maggie Smith. As a performer in theatre, film and television, she moved and impressed us in countless roles. Whatever she played, she brought with her a unique underlying sense of humour and an instinct for the right timing.

    She won her first Oscar for THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE (1969), soon to be followed by a second for CALIFORNIA SUITE (1978), in which she starred next to Michael Caine. Throughout her impressive career, Maggie Smith received a total of seven BAFTAs, among them the Best Actress Award 1987 for A ROOM WITH A VIEW in which she performed alongside her longtime friend and partner Judi Dench. In 1993, Maggie Smith was honoured with the BAFTA Special Lifetime Achievement Award.

    She was also twice nominated for the European Film Awards, in 2005 for LADIES IN LAVENDER and in 2002 for GOSFORD PARK.

    And she became a true international star with two roles towards the end of her career – as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the eight films of the Harry Potter series (2001 – 2011) and as Lady Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in DOWNTON ABBEY (2010 – 2015).

    Maggie Smith passed away on 27 September in London. We will miss her.