Tributes are multiplying after the death of the famous British actress who played Minerva McGonagall in the “Harry Potter” saga or Violet Crawley in the “Downton Abbey” series.
The death of British actress Maggie Smith, famous for her roles in the saga Harry Potter and in the series Downton Abbeythis Friday, September 27, caused a great wave of emotion in the world of cinema.
Julian Fellowes, screenwriter and creator of Downton Abbeypaid tribute to the “genius” of the 89-year-old actress and her “instinctive understanding” of the characters she played throughout her career.
“She could make you cry one minute, then make you laugh out loud the next,” he told Sky News.
“British legend of stage and screen”
Another star of Downton Abbey, Hugh Bonneville, who played the son of Maggie Smith’s character on screen, also paid tribute to him by hailing him as a “true legend of his generation”.
“Anyone who has shared a stage with Maggie can attest to her sharp gaze, quick wit and tremendous talent,” he told Sky News.
“She was a true legend of her generation and, fortunately, she will live on through many magnificent on-screen performances. I extend my condolences to her sons and extended family,” the actor continues.
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“Dame Maggie Smith has introduced us to new worlds through the countless stories she has performed over the course of her long career,” he said on X.
108 nominations in his career
One of the best-known and most celebrated British artists, Maggie Smith made herself known to the general public thanks to the eclecticism of her roles and her acting registers: from the mother superior alongside Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act (1992) to the professor of “metamorphosis” in the films of the saga Harry Potterpassing by the neurotic chaperone in Room with a view (1986) or old homeless lady in The Lady in the Van (2015).
During her long career, she has won two Oscars, six Baftas (including an honorary one), four Emmy Awards, for a total of 108 nominations across all awards.
In 1990, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II and a Companion of Honor in 2014, rewarded for services rendered to the country in the field of the arts.
