Dame Maggie Smith dies – latest: King pays sincere tribute to ‘national treasure’; Co-Star Says Actress ‘Very Upset About Being Old’ | Ents & Arts News

During her long and successful career, Dame Maggie Smith played a number of roles.

From a witch in the Harry Potter film series to the Dowager Countess of Grantham from Downton Abbey, the 89-year-old has won several awards for her performances.

Here is a summary of their most famous characters.

Professor Minerva McGonagall

From 2001 to 2011, she played Hogwarts professor Minerva McGonagall, who was the head of the Gryffindor house, in the Harry Potter film series.

She was also the deputy headmistress under Professor Albus Dumbledore, played by Richard Harris and, after his death, by Michael Gambon. Gambon died a year to the day before Dame Maggie.

In this role she reunited with Daniel Radcliffe, having already starred alongside him in 1999’s “David Copperfield”.

Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham

From 2010 to 2015 she played the quick-witted matriarch Violet Crowley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, playing a central role in the success of the ITV series.

The role won her three Emmy Awards and she continued to play the character in the spin-off films Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022).

Jean Brodie

Dame Maggie won her first Oscar for Best Actress in 1969’s The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie.

In the film she played the uninhibited teacher at an all-girls school in Edinburgh in the 1930s.

In the film, the teacher devotes her energy and attention to the girls she deems special or malleable and ends up leading them into disastrous situations.

Diana Barrie

The actress won her second Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1978 for “California Suite,” in which she played actress Diana Barrie.

In the film, her character is nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress in an Independent British Film for the first time, but she knows she has no chance of winning.

Throughout the film, Diana denies the nature of her marriage of convenience to Sidney Cochran, a gay antiques dealer who is increasingly open about his sexuality.

Mary Shepherd

In 2015, Dame Maggie played the role of Mary Shepherd in The Lady In The Van.

The film told a mostly true story about Shepherd, an elderly woman who lived in a run-down van on a north London driveway for 15 years.

The film is based on a memoir by playwright Alan Bennett, in whose driveway Shepherd lived from the 1970s to 1980s.