Maggie Smith tributes: JK Rowling, Harry Potter and Downton Abbey co-stars pay respect to acting legend

King Charles III praised the late Dame Maggie Smith for her “warmth and wit”, sharing a statement alongside a photograph of the pair speaking at the Pride Of Britain awards at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel in October 2016.

“My wife and I were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Dame Maggie Smith,” said Charles.

“As the curtain comes down on a national treasure, we join all those around the world in remembering with the fondest admiration and affection her many great performances, and her warmth and wit that shone through both on and off the stage.”

On X/Twitter, the official Downtown Abbey shared an image of Smith as grand matriarch Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham.

They captioned the picture: “A true British icon. Thank you for everything, Dame Maggie Smith.“

Maggie Smith appeared in dozens of films over more than 60 years. Roles ranged from her iconic turn in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie to her Professor Minerva McGonagall in seven Harry Potter films, and films from Shakespeare’s Othello to the animated Gnomeo & Juliet.

Read more for the full list of her film credits:

A full list of Maggie Smith’s film appearances

Maggie Smith, who died Friday aged 89, appeared in dozens of films over more than 60 years

Daniel Radcliffe has written a heartfelt tribute to his late Harry Potter co-star Dame Maggie Smith, who has died at the age of 89.

Radcliffe played the boy wizard in eight movies from 2001 to 2011, with Smith appearing in all but one of the films as Professor Minerva McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor House and the deputy headmistress at Hogwarts under Albus Dumbledore.

Read more:

Daniel Radcliffe recalls Harry Potter co-star Maggie Smith’s ‘gloriously sharp tongue’

The Harry Potter star remembered first meeting the late actor when he was 9

Actor Whoopi Goldberg has talked about how her late Sister Act co-star Dame Maggie Smith helped her through a difficult moment in her life.

The View co-host was in London in 2010 for the West End musical adaptation of the 1992 film Sister Act when she took a call from her late brother, Clyde K Johnson, who said their mother had an aneurysm and was on life support.

Read more:

Whoopi Goldberg reveals how Maggie Smith helped her after mother’s death

‘She is one of those people for whom I would do anything. Anything Maggie Smith needs, I got her covered,’ The View co-host says

Sister Act star Whoopi Goldberg previously stated that she wouldn’t do a third film without Maggie Smith.

Smith starred as Mother Superior in the film series’s first two movies.

Back in a 2023 interview on Loose Women, Goldberg, who led the movie as undercover nun Deloris Van Cartier, shared that she couldn’t do another sequel without her co-star Smith.

“You know, one of the things that I want to make sure I do while I’m here is… I want to let Maggie Smith know that I’m holding the part of Mother Superior for you. Because I just can’t do it with anybody but you,” she said.

Read more:

Whoopi Goldberg says she won’t do a third Sister Act film without Maggie Smith

‘We will do whatever you want us to do, but we don’t want to do it without you,’ Goldberg appealed to Smith

Smith’s fans came from far and wide, and included the former world heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno.

On X/Twitter, Bruno shared: “We met a few times I said to her once as a joke ‘you are not going to have a go at me or tell me off are you?’

“She said ‘what do you mean?’

“I said ‘Every film I have seen you in you are really strict’

“She said ‘Acting Frankie, just Acting. Now sit down shut up and be a good boy’

“Then a big laugh from her followed by one from me. Wonderful lady and great fun to be with.”

Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, says she has grown to appreciate Smith’s achievements more as she’s gotten older.

On her Instagram Stories, Watson wrote: “When I was younger I had no idea of Maggie’s legend - the woman I was fortunate enough to share space with.

“It is only as I’ve become an adult that l’ve come to appreciate that I shared the screen with a true definition of greatness.

“She was real, honest, funny and self-honouring. Maggie, there were a lot of male professors and by God you held your own. Thank you for all of your kindness. I’ll miss you.”

Harry Potter fans are putting their “wands up” for Maggie Smith.

Fans of the movie franchise will remember that in the sixth movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Hogwarts student body illuminated their wands and rose them to the sky out of respect for Professor Dumbledore after his death.