Dame Maggie Smith passes on at 89

British actress Dame Maggie Smith, who is known for her profound roles like Professor McGonagall in the “Harry Potter” series and Violet Crawley in “Downton Abbey,” has recently passed on at the age of 89.

Maggie Smith passed away peacefully in the hospital in the early hours of Friday morning. This was confirmed by her family in a statement released to the public.

“An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother,” the statement said.

Maggie was born in Ilford, Essex on Dec. 28, 1934. She was frequently rated the preeminent British actress of a generation alongside Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench. She summed up her life briefly as “One went to school, one wanted to act, one started to act, one’s still acting.”

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

She made her first film appearance in 1956 but didn’t receive her first screen credit until 1959’s “Nowhere to Go,” which earned her first of 18 British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) nominations.

Throughout her distinguished career, she was nominated for four more Academy Awards, won four more BAFTAs, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globes and a Tony Award for her work. She was just a Grammy away from EGOT status.

This is such a big and sad loss to the Britain movie space. She would be dearly missed on our TV screens.

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