Dame Maggie Smith, who charmed the audience with her acting for over seven decades, will be given a special tribute in the third Downton Abbey movie, says executive producer Gareth Neame.
Smith died at the age of 89 this September. She is well known for her roles in Harry Potter franchise, Hook, Sister Act and Downton Abbey in which she portrayed the role of Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, and countless other movies and stage productions.
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Neame said it was already planned for the film to have special mention for Smith's character Violet Crawley, who died in the previous season. But now the death of the actor has given a "real poignancy" to the story.
"The fact that Dame Maggie herself has now passed away since that time, I do think, has given a real added poignancy to a story that we would have planned anyway. The loss of the Dowager, it now feels far more significant that you see actors playing characters mourning the family matriarch," he told TVLine.
"But I also see actors mourning the matriarch of the show, and it feels more genuine and more meaningful," he added.
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The Downton Abbey TV series began airing in 2010. The series was later adapted into movies. The first film was released in 2019. Followed by another instalment in 2022, titled, "Downton Abbey: A New Era." The plot of "The Downton Abbey" followed the lives of athe ristocratic Crawley family and their servants. It is set in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey between 1912 and 1926.
Smith's most recent work was "The Miracle Club". Released in 2023, the film was directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan and also featured Laura Linney, Kathy Bates and Hazel Doupe. This story has been published from a news agency feed with minimal edits to adhere to WION's style guide. The headline may have been changed to better reflect the content of the story or to make it more suitable for WION audience.

Dame Maggie Smith died at the age of 89 this September. She is well known for her roles in the Harry Potter franchise, Hook, Sister Act and Downton Abbey.

Dame Maggie Smith, who charmed the audience with her acting for over seven decades, will be given a special tribute in the third Downton Abbey movie, says executive producer Gareth Neame. Smith died at the age of 89 this September. She is well known for her roles in Harry Potter franchise, Hook, Sister Act and Downton Abbey in which she portrayed the role of Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, and countless other movies and stage productions. Also read: Squid Game 2 : Disappointed netizens call new season 'underwhelming' Neame said it was already planned for the film to have special mention for Smith's character Violet Crawley, who died in the previous season. But now the death of the actor has given a "real poignancy" to the story. "The fact that Dame Maggie herself has now passed away since that time, I do think, has given a real added poignancy to a story that we would have planned anyway. The loss of the Dowager, it now feels far more significant that you see actors playing characters mourning the family matriarch," he told TVLine. "But I also see actors mourning the matriarch of the show, and it feels more genuine and more meaningful," he added. Also read: Romeo and Juliet star Olivia Hussey dies aged 73 The Downton Abbey TV series began airing in 2010. The series was later adapted into movies. The first film was released in 2019. Followed by another instalment in 2022, titled, "Downton Abbey: A New Era." The plot of "The Downton Abbey" followed the lives of athe ristocratic Crawley family and their servants. It is set in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey between 1912 and 1926. Smith's most recent work was "The Miracle Club". Released in 2023, the film was directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan and also featured Laura Linney, Kathy Bates and Hazel Doupe. This story has been published from a news agency feed with minimal edits to adhere to WION's style guide. The headline may have been changed to better reflect the content of the story or to make it more suitable for WION audience.

Dame Maggie Smith will get special tribute in Downton Abbey 3 movie

British actor Maggie Smith is no more. In her career spanning over seven decades, the actress has given several memorable performances that have and will transcend generations.

British actor Maggie Smith is no more. In her career spanning over seven decades, the actress has given several memorable performances that have and will transcend generations. Among her several roles, Smith, specifically, will always be remembered lovingly for playing sweet and tough Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies. Maggie Smith's death British acting legend Maggie Smith peacefully breathed her last on September 27 at the age of 89. In a statement issued to the press, Smith's two sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens said, "It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith. She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September. 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. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days. We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time." Tributes Pour in for Maggie Soon after the news about Smith's death broke, her fans, friends, actors and several a-listers who she has worked with were quick to condole the death of the iconic actress as they remembered the acting legacy that she has left behind. United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Maggie a 'true national treasure.' Dame Maggie Smith introduced us to new worlds with the countless stories she acted over her long career. She was beloved by so many for her great talent, becoming a true national treasure whose work will be cherished for generations to come. Our thoughts are with her family and… — Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) September 27, 2024 × In a post shared on X, he wrote, "Dame Maggie Smith introduced us to new worlds with the countless stories she acted over her long career." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kristin Scott Thomas (@kristinscottthomas) × Maggie Smith won five BAFTAs during her career. Remembering Smith, the organisation wrote she "was a legend of British stage and screen." One of the most iconic scenes of Harry Potter series feat Maggie Smith aka Ms McGonagall! Farewell Professor McGonagall, RIP queen!#MaggieSmith pic.twitter.com/hmNtBtX8Cx — Vishal Verma (@VishalVerma_9) September 27, 2024 × Actress Whoopi Goldberg in her tribute wrote, ''Maggie Smith was a great woman and a brilliant actress. I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to work with the 'one-of-a-kind'. My heartfelt condolences go out to the family…RIP.'' View this post on Instagram A post shared by WhoopiGoldberg (@whoopigoldberg) × The best of the best. All three reunited 🤍🕊️#maggiesmith pic.twitter.com/HCTie32Ijl — Bea (@BrittanySherwin) September 27, 2024 × The great Dame Maggie Smith has passed away, aged 89. She was such a significant part of my childhood and adult life too. A brilliant actress, a wonderful human being. May she rest in peace. Thank you, Maggie, for the wonderful talent you shared with us all. pic.twitter.com/m3abKgQiUH — Arnesa Buljušmić-Kustura (@Rrrrnessa) September 27, 2024 × RIP, Dowager 🥹#MaggieSmith #DowntonAbbey pic.twitter.com/PUg7pm5zXU — 〽️©️ (@TheMCG) September 27, 2024 ×

A true British icon: Tributes pour in for Harry Potter star Maggie Smith

Dame Maggie Smith, who <a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/maggie-smith-iconic-star-of-british-theatre-and-films-dies-at-89-762569">died </a>on Friday aged 89, was a perfectionist who turned anxiety into an art form and was hailed as one of the great actors of stage and screen.

One of the few actors to win the treble of an Oscar (twice), Emmy (four times), and Tony, Smith moved effortlessly between performing Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde on stage to the Harry&nbsp;Potter&nbsp;movie franchise and the hit television series Downton Abbey.

But soul-searching about her art was anathema to the British actor, who jealously guarded her privacy and spurned the trappings of stardom.

"I wish I could just go into Harrods and order a personality," she once said. “It would make life so much easier."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-hagrid-dumbledore-minerva-mcgonagall-harry-potter-stars-who-are-sadly-no-longer-with-us-762581">In pics: From Hagrid, Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall: Harry Potter stars who are sadly no longer with us</a>

Perhaps her concern about her perceived lack of personality was what spurred her to take on so many others.

Her first Academy Award nomination was for her turn playing Desdemona opposite Laurence Olivier's Othello&nbsp;in 1965, before she won her first Oscar for her role as an Edinburgh schoolmistress in 1969's&nbsp;The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Her second was for her supporting role in the 1978 comedy California Suite&nbsp;where she layed alongside Michael Caine.

Other critically acclaimed roles included Lady Bracknell in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest&nbsp;on the West End stage, a 92-year-old bitterly fighting senility in Edward Albee's play Three Tall Women, and her part in the 2001 black comedy movie Gosford Park.

<h2>STAR OF 'HARRY&nbsp;POTTER' AND 'DOWNTON ABBEY'</h2>

In the 21st century, she was best-known as Professor McGonagall in all seven Harry&nbsp;Potter&nbsp;movies, and the Dowager Countess in the hit TV series and movie spin-offs of Downton Abbey, a role that seemed tailor-made for an actress known for purse-lipped asides and malicious cracks.

Margaret Natalie Smith was born on December&nbsp;28, 1934, in Essex, northeast of London. She moved to Oxford as a small child when her father, a pathologist, took a role at the university, and she began acting in the local theatre at 17.

Her big break came in 1956 with New Faces&nbsp;on Broadway. Her 1958 part in the British crime movie Nowhere to Go&nbsp;earned her a BAFTA nomination.

The following years were to see a welter of acclaimed roles in movies (including Travels with my Aunt, A Room with a View&nbsp;and The Secret Garden), on stage (Lettice and Lovage, Virginia) and on television (David Copperfield, My House in Umbria).

Critic Irving Wardle hailed a mouth that contracted from a wide, inviting smile to the "sucked-in venom of a stoat at bay" - something she put to good use in Downton Abbey.

For many viewers, her waspish turn in the smash-hit historical series that ran on television from 2010 to 2015 was the best reason to watch it, and it earned her multiple awards - although it did little for her desire for a private life.

"I led a perfectly normal life until Downton Abbey. I'm not kidding. I'd go to theatres, I'd go to galleries, things like that, on my own. And now I can't and that's awful," she said at the BFI Radio Times festival in 2017.

Smith was known for being demanding of herself and others. Theatre director Peter Hall, who worked closely with her for many years, said: “She nags herself into perfection."

She had a tempestuous eight-year marriage to actor Robert Stephens, which ended while they were playing newly entangled divorcees in Noel Coward's Private Lives". They had two sons - actors Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin.

Smith then married her teenage sweetheart, writer Beverley Cross, a rock of imperturbability for her until his death in 1998.

In 1990, Smith was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and became a Dame.

Disclaimer: This story has been published from a news agency feed with minimal edits to adhere to WION's style guide. The headline may have been changed to better reflect the content of the story or to make it more suitable for WION audience.

Dame Maggie Smith, who died on Friday aged 89, was a perfectionist who turned anxiety into an art form and was hailed as one of the great actors of stage and screen.

Dame Maggie Smith, who died on Friday aged 89, was a perfectionist who turned anxiety into an art form and was hailed as one of the great actors of stage and screen. One of the few actors to win the treble of an Oscar (twice), Emmy (four times), and Tony, Smith moved effortlessly between performing Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde on stage to the Harry Potter movie franchise and the hit television series Downton Abbey. But soul-searching about her art was anathema to the British actor, who jealously guarded her privacy and spurned the trappings of stardom. "I wish I could just go into Harrods and order a personality," she once said. “It would make life so much easier." In pics: From Hagrid, Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall: Harry Potter stars who are sadly no longer with us Perhaps her concern about her perceived lack of personality was what spurred her to take on so many others. Her first Academy Award nomination was for her turn playing Desdemona opposite Laurence Olivier's Othello in 1965, before she won her first Oscar for her role as an Edinburgh schoolmistress in 1969's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Her second was for her supporting role in the 1978 comedy California Suite where she layed alongside Michael Caine. Other critically acclaimed roles included Lady Bracknell in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest on the West End stage, a 92-year-old bitterly fighting senility in Edward Albee's play Three Tall Women, and her part in the 2001 black comedy movie Gosford Park. STAR OF 'HARRY POTTER' AND 'DOWNTON ABBEY' In the 21st century, she was best-known as Professor McGonagall in all seven Harry Potter movies, and the Dowager Countess in the hit TV series and movie spin-offs of Downton Abbey, a role that seemed tailor-made for an actress known for purse-lipped asides and malicious cracks. Margaret Natalie Smith was born on December 28, 1934, in Essex, northeast of London. She moved to Oxford as a small child when her father, a pathologist, took a role at the university, and she began acting in the local theatre at 17. Her big break came in 1956 with New Faces on Broadway. Her 1958 part in the British crime movie Nowhere to Go earned her a BAFTA nomination. The following years were to see a welter of acclaimed roles in movies (including Travels with my Aunt, A Room with a View and The Secret Garden), on stage (Lettice and Lovage, Virginia) and on television (David Copperfield, My House in Umbria). Critic Irving Wardle hailed a mouth that contracted from a wide, inviting smile to the "sucked-in venom of a stoat at bay" - something she put to good use in Downton Abbey. For many viewers, her waspish turn in the smash-hit historical series that ran on television from 2010 to 2015 was the best reason to watch it, and it earned her multiple awards - although it did little for her desire for a private life. "I led a perfectly normal life until Downton Abbey. I'm not kidding. I'd go to theatres, I'd go to galleries, things like that, on my own. And now I can't and that's awful," she said at the BFI Radio Times festival in 2017. Smith was known for being demanding of herself and others. Theatre director Peter Hall, who worked closely with her for many years, said: “She nags herself into perfection." She had a tempestuous eight-year marriage to actor Robert Stephens, which ended while they were playing newly entangled divorcees in Noel Coward's Private Lives". They had two sons - actors Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin. Smith then married her teenage sweetheart, writer Beverley Cross, a rock of imperturbability for her until his death in 1998. In 1990, Smith was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and became a Dame. Disclaimer: This story has been published from a news agency feed with minimal edits to adhere to WION's style guide. The headline may have been changed to better reflect the content of the story or to make it more suitable for WION audience.

Maggie Smith, mistress of waspishness on stage and screen