Confirming her death, Smith's sons-Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens-in a joint statement 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."

“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," their heartfelt tribute said.

In a nearly seven-decades-long career, Smith established herself as one of the most towering British actors of her generation, acclaimed for her witty dialogue deliveries and self-possession, whether performing in front of the camera or on stage.

Smith began her theatre career as a student, performing at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952, and made her professional debut on Broadway in New Faces of '56. Over the following decades, Smith established herself alongside Judi Dench as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

She won the coveted Academy Awards for Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite (1978).

Smith received Oscar nominations for Othello (1965), Travels with My Aunt (1972), A Room with a View (1985), and Gosford Park (2001).

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Her portrayal of Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series (2001–2011) is highly revered. She also acted in Death on the Nile (1978), Hook (1991), Sister Act (1992), The Secret Garden (1993), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), Quartet (2012) and The Lady in the Van (2015).

“My career is chequered. I think I got pigeonholed in humour … If you do comedy, you kind of don’t count. Comedy is never considered the real thing,” Smith told the Guardian in 2004.

She earned four Emmy Awards, including three for her role as Violet Crawley on "Downton Abbey" playing the Crawley Family's matriarch with biting wit. She almost became a pop culture icon with the portrayal. 

Margaret Natalie Smith was born December 28, 1934, in Essex, England.

While appearing in Broadway shows, including Bamber Gascoigne’s 1957 musical comedy Share My Lettuce opposite Kenneth Williams, Smith also made inroads on film, with her first significant role in the 1958 Seth Holt thriller "Nowhere to Go", for which she was nominated for a best supporting actress Bafta.

Smith received newfound attention and international fame for her role as Violet Crawley in the British period drama "Downton Abbey" (2010–2015). The role earned her three Primetime Emmy Awards; she had previously won one for the HBO film "My House in Umbria" (2003).

Throughout her career, she has received numerous honorary awards including the British Film Institute Fellowship in 1993, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1996, and the Society of London Theatre Special Award in 2010. Smith was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.

Smith was married twice, first to fellow actor Robert Stephens in 1967, with whom she was married till 1975. Her second marriage was to Beverley Cross  in 1975.