Maggie Smith, the eccentric British lady of humour who was successful well into her adult years

Maggie Smith , who died this Friday in a London hospital at the age of 89, was a British actress with a relentless gaze and sharp tongue, who found renewed fame in her later years and will be remembered for her roles as Professor Minerva McGonagall in “Harry Potter” and Countess Violet Crowley in ” Downton Abbey.”

Margaret Natalie Smith was born on 28 December 1934 in Ilford (east London) and, despite having no artistic background in her family, she began to build a career as an actress after training at the Dramatic Art Society of the English University of Oxford.

During her sixty-year career, she perfectly developed the art of staging English elegance , coldness and arrogance , and stood out for her humorous interpretations of eccentric and controlling women.