Dame Maggie Smith has died. The acting legend, who had a career spanning eight decades, was 89 years old.

“She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September,” read a statement from her publicist.

“An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves behind two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.”

King Charles III and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer have led the many tributes to the actor whose career was filled with many memorable and iconic roles.

King Charles described Dame Maggie as a “national treasure”.

“My wife and I were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Dame Maggie Smith.” the King said. “As the curtain comes down on a national treasure, we join those around the world remembering with the fondest admiration and affection her many great performances and her warmth and wit that shone through both on and off stage.”

The British Prime Minister said Dame Maggie had been “beloved by so many for her great talent.”

Later in her career Smith had many memorable roles including playing the Dowager Countess of Trentham in Robert Altman’s 2001 film Gosford Park. The writer of that film, Jullian Fellowes went on to create the long running series Downton Abbey where Maggie Smith played Dowager Countess Violent Crawley. The role as the mischievous and cantankerous widow saw Smith being praised across six series and two feature films of the franchise.

For a generation of young people though she’s remembered as Professor Minerva McGonagall from the Harry Potter film. While others will immediately remember her for her comedic turn as the Reverence Mother is the Sister Act films.

Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1969 for her starring role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and she picked up the Best Supporting Actress trophy in 1978 for California Suite, where she starred alongside Jane Fonda, Alan Alda, Michael Caine, Elaine May, Richard Pryor and Walter Matheau in the Neil Simon penned comedy.

Co-star Michael Caine memorable commented on her Oscar win saying, “Maggie didn’t just steal the film, she committed grand larceny.”

She found success on screen in many memorable films including Othello (1965), Travels with My Aunt (1973), Death on the Nile (1978), A Room with a View (1985), Hook (1991), The Secret Garden (1993), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), Quartet (2012) and The Lady in the Van (2015).

She also found huge success on stage winning the Tony award for Best Actress for her role in Lettice and Lovage (1990), as well being nominated in 1975 for Noel Coward’s Private Lives and again in 1979 for Tom Stoppard’s Night and Day.

She weas made a dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.

Dame Maggie is survived by her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin and five grandchildren. Her sons, both actors, are from her marriage to Robert Stephens.

The union between Smith and acclaimed actor Stephens was his third union. The couple were married from 1967 until they divorced in 1975. Stephens would go on to marry actor Patricia Quinn, while Smith would find love with playwright Beverley Cross, who she wed in 1975. Cross died in 1998.

Tributes for the Dame Maggie Smith have come from many of her colleagues

Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe first worked with Smith when he was just nine years old when they both appeared in the mini-series David Copperfield. They would go on to appear together in the Harry Potter films.

 “The first time I met Maggie Smith I was nine years old, and we were reading through scenes for David Copperfield, which was my first job.” Radcliffe said in a social media post. 

“I knew virtually nothing about her other than that my parents were awestruck at the fact that I would be working with her.

“The other thing I knew about her was that she was a Dame, so the first thing I asked her when we met was ‘would you like me to call you Dame?’ at which she laughed and said something to the effect of ‘don’t be ridiculous!’

“I remember feeling nervous to meet her and then her putting me immediately at ease. She was incredibly kind to me on that shoot, and then I was lucky enough to go on working with her for another 10 years on the Harry Potter films.”

“I will always consider myself amazingly lucky to have been able to work with her, and to spend time around her on set.

“The word legend is overused but if it applies to anyone in our industry then it applies to her. Thank you Maggie.” Radcliffe said.

Miriam Margolyes told the BBC that Smith was Smith was “the best of the best” saying she combined “ferocity, a glint of mischief, delight and tenderness”.

Emma Watson, who played Hermoine Grainger in the Harry Potter films, said she didn’t completely appreciate how huge an acting legend Dame Maggie Smith was when she a youngster.

Hugh Bonneville, who played the Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey, said: “Anyone who ever shared a scene with Maggie will attest to her sharp eye, sharp wit and formidable talent.

“She was a true legend of her generation and thankfully will live on in so many magnificent screen performances.”

While Dame Harriet Walter told BBC Radio Dame Maggie Smith should be remembered for the amazing range of roles she plated.

“She was a true comedian, but also I’ve seen her playing some incredibly heartfelt, deep, sad roles, which is the huge range of an actress like her,” she said.

“If she was merely funny or merely tragic, she wouldn’t quite have made that sort of impression.”

Her Sister Act costar Whoopi Goldberg described as a “a great woman and a brilliant actress”, while Rob Lowe who appeared alongside Dame Maggie in 1993’s Suddenly Last Summer said working with the actor was an “unforgettable experience”.

“Sharing a two-shot was like being paired with a lion,” he said.

“She could eat anyone alive, and often did. But funny, and great company. And suffered no fools.

“We will never see another. God speed, Ms Smith!” Lowe said.