Maggie Smith, Gryffindor professor in Harry Potter, illustrious career

If anyone has ever watched the famous TV series Harry Potter, they will certainly be familiar with the image of actress Maggie Smith - in the role of the Gryffindor professor. Unfortunately, she has just passed away due to cancer.

Maggie Smith is one of the most prolific actresses of the 20th and 21st centuries, with a career spanning decades on stage, film and television. Margaret Smith was born on 28 December 1934 in Ilford, Essex, England. She is the daughter of Margaret Smith (née Hutton), a secretary from Glasgow, and Nathaniel Smith, a pathologist working at Oxford University from Newcastle upon Tyne.

She began her acting career at a very young age and quickly made her mark with her versatile talent and sharp acting style.

She is best known to audiences around the world for her portrayal of the authoritative yet compassionate Professor Minerva McGonagall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter film series. However, before her global fame, Maggie Smith was an icon of stage and screen.

She won the prestigious Oscar twice, first for her role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and the second time for California Suite (1978), 3 Golden Globes, 7 BAFTAs and dozens of nominations for the above prestigious awards.

When she first started her career, Maggie Smith's beautiful appearance was always a hot topic in showbiz.

On stage, Maggie Smith was a captivating actress with many distinguished roles in Shakespeare and other classic plays.

In 1990, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), something that only a few people of her generation, including Judi Dench and Diana Rigg, have been honored with. Outside of the Harry Potter series, her other notable role was as Violet Crawley, Countess of Grantham in the popular television series Downton Abbey (2010).

The role won her numerous awards, including an Emmy, and helped cement her image as a powerful actress with a distinctive aristocratic style. A British critic once praised: "Maggie Smith possesses a magnetic presence that keeps the audience watching, quiet but full of emotion, full of humor and deep sympathy.

Although some have commented that her performance style, with its forceful hand gestures and hurried speech, sometimes overwhelms the content, no one can deny her captivating stage energy. It can be said that Maggie Smith has left a huge legacy not only in the British entertainment industry but also in the history of global cinema and television.

Maggie Smith was described as a professional, hard-working and kind actress. The late actress had a sharp, quick eye and was gifted with natural talent. The veteran star revealed that she had been diagnosed with cancer in 2009 in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. While she did not speak much about her diagnosis, she admitted that after undergoing chemotherapy, she was worried about returning to the stage.

The actress admitted that finding out she had cancer at the age of 70 left her feeling devastated and scared. "It just kind of takes all your motivation away, and I didn't know what the future was going to be, if there was one. I didn't know what the future was going to be," she said.

However, her love of cinema and her desire to live, along with the great encouragement of her family and friends, helped the famous star overcome everything. She continued to act in films while undergoing treatment. On set, she always appeared full of energy, professionalism and concentration.

Maggie revealed that she was sick while filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. She even lost all her hair and felt exhausted from the chemotherapy. At that time, she vowed to do her best to continue working through the upcoming two Harry Potter sequels.

In 2009, it was reported that Maggie had fully recovered. During this time, she continued to act in films, but the number of films was not much.

After the final installment in the Harry Potter series, she also starred in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Most recently, Maggie Smith starred in the film The Miracle Club, which is due out in 2023.

She was married twice, had two children and two grandchildren. She married actor Robert Stephens on 29 June 1967 in Greenwich, 10 days after the birth of their first child. They had two sons, Chris Larkin (born 1967) and Toby Stephens (born 1969), and divorced on 6 May 1974. She then married playwright Beverley Cross on 23 August 1975 in Guildford; he died on 20 August 1998.

Smith has also been involved in numerous charitable causes. In September 2011, she helped raise US$4.6 million to rebuild the Court Theatre in New Zealand following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

Female TikToker passed away at the age of 19 due to cancer, revealing her final work Phi Yến13:52:19 26/03/2025So there was no miracle for the 19-year-old TikToker after a period of fighting the disease. Many people sent condolences to her family and expressed their regret at her passing.