Tributes paid to Dame Maggie Smith | BBC News

Tributes are being paid to Dame Maggie Smith who has died at the age of 89.

A legend of British stage and screen, Dame Maggie won two Oscars during her career - for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1970 and California Suite in 1979.

She was known to many as Professor Minvera McGonagall in the Harry Potter films.

In hit ITV drama Downton Abbey, she played Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, the grand matriarch who excelled at withering one-liners through the show's six series.

Leading the tributes, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Dame Maggie "was beloved by so many for her great talent, becoming a true national treasure whose work will be cherished for generations to come".

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