Oscar-winning actress Dame Maggie Smith dies

Dame Maggie Smith, a double Oscar winner who appeared in the Harry Potter films, the Downton Abbey series and on stage, has died at aged 89.
Her sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens said in a statement that the actress died in hospital in London early on Friday.
“It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith,” it said. “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.”
Smith, who won an Oscar for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1969 and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, was frequently rated the preeminent British woman actor of a generation that included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench.
She added a supporting actress Oscar for California Suite in 1978.
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