Dame Maggie Smith, the legendary British actor best known for her roles in “Harry Potter” and “Downton Abbey,” has died, her family confirmed in a statement to the BBC. She was 89.
“She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September,” the statement from her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin read, according to BBC. “An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end.”
Smith — a two-time Academy Award®-winner — is survived by her two sons and five grandchildren “who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother,” the statement said, according to the BBC.
A cause of death was not shared, but her family thanked the staff at the Chelsea and Westminister Hospital for caring for her “during her final days.”
Smith won an Oscar® for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1969, the adaptation of the Muriel Spark novel in which she played a charismatic but dangerous Edinburgh schoolteacher, and a supporting actress Oscar® for California Suite in 1978. Other awards the actress won include three Golden Globes, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmys®, and was one of the few performers to earn the Triple Crown of Acting – a term used in the entertainment industry to describe performers who have won a competitive Oscar, Emmy®, and Tony® Award in the acting categories.
Her work in 2012 netted three Golden Globe nominations for the globally successful Downton Abbey TV series and the films The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Quartet.
In 2014, Smith was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honor in recognition of her six decades in theater, cinema, and television, an honor bestowed by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. The award is limited to 65 living people “of distinction.” Other members include physicist Stephen Hawking, actor Ian McKellen, and artist David Hockney.
Todd Phillips was born on December 20, 1970, and turned 54 years 1 day old today. Phillips is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He began his career in 1993 and directed films in the 2000s such as Road Trip, Old School, Starsky & Hutch, and School for Scoundrels. He came to wider prominence in the early 2010s for directing The Hangover film series. In 2019, he co-wrote and directed the psychological thriller film Joker, based on the DC Comics character of the same name, which premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival where it received the top prize, the Golden Lion. Joker went on to earn Phillips three Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, with his co-writer Scott Silver, his second, third, and fourth Academy Award nominations after also being nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for Borat at the 79th Academy Awards. -
