Oscar-winning actress Maggie Smith has died aged 89

Oscar-winning actress Maggie Smith has died in hospital aged 89.

The British star, known for prominent roles in Harry Potter and Downton Abbey, as well as her Academy Award-winning performance in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, died in hospital on Friday morning, her family said.

Her sons, Widow Clicquot actor Chris Larkin, and Die Another Day star Toby Stephens, said in a statement: "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."

Born in Ilford, Essex, on December 28, 1934, Smith began her career in the early 1950s with notable performances in theatre. She gained recognition in The Royal Family and won her first Oliver Award in 1971 for her performance in The Private Ear/The Public Eye.

Smith's film debut was in the crime film Nowhere to Go (1958), but she truly made a mark in the 1960s with films like The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) for which she won her first Academy Award for Best Actress.

Smith received a second Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for California Suite (1978).

She was Oscar-nominated for Othello (1965), Travels with My Aunt (1972), A Room with a View (1985), and Gosford Park (2001).

Smith gained immense popularity for her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series (2001 - 2011). Portraying the wise and formidable head of Gryffindor House, she was a pivotal character throughout the series, known for her strength, loyalty and sharp wit.

She was also celebrated for her role as Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, in the hit series Downton Abbey.

Her career of more than half a century brought her recognition almost from the beginning, and she received an early BAFTA nod for Promising Newcomer in 1959 for Nowhere To Go.

This was followed by BAFTA nominations for Young Cassidy in 1966, Death On The Nile in 1979, California Suite in 1980, Quartet in 1982, The Secret Garden in 1994, Tea With Mussolini in 2000, Gosford Park in 2002 and The Lady In The Van in 2016.

She also won Best Actress Gongs for The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, A Private Function and The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne.

Her final roles included The Miracle Club, which follows a group of women from Dublin who go on a pilgrimage to the French town of Lourdes, and 2022's Downton Abbey: A New Era, in which Violet dies.

She is survived by Stephens and Larkin.