CNN —Dame Maggie Smith, one of Britain’s best-known actresses whose long career ranged from starring opposite Laurence Olivier in “Othello” on stage and screen, to roles in “Harry Potter” and “Downton Abbey,” has died, her sons announced in a statement shared by their publicist Clair Dobbs. “It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith. Everett CollectionSmith was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1990, and from then on was widely known as Dame Maggie Smith. She came to the notice of younger viewers as the strict but fair witchcraft teacher Minerva McGonagall in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001), also appearing in several “Harry Potter” sequels. In her later years, Smith became a role model for ageing gracefully, a process she handled with her customary charm and wit.

---

Persons: Maggie Smith, Laurence Olivier, “, ”, “ Harry Potter ”, Downton, Clair Dobbs, Dame Maggie Smith, ” Smith, Smith, William Shakespeare’s “, Olivier’s, Miss Jean Brodie, Neil Simon’s, Judith Hearne, Dowager Countess, Everett, Mussolini, Franco Zeffirelli, Minerva McGonagall, “ Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Violet Crawley, Dowager, Robert Stephens –, –, Beverley Cross Organizations: CNN, Chelsea, Westminster Hospital, Oxford University, Oxford Playhouse School, Oxford University Dramatic Society, The Old, British, Acclaim, Atlantic Locations: Ilford, London, Oxford, “, ”, California, British, Florence, Italy, Grantham, “ Downton, Los Angeles