Dame Maggie Smith, the versatile, decorated English actress who made an indelible impression on generations of fans for iconic performances in everything from the Harry Potter franchise to Downton Abbey, has passed away.

Her sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, said in a statement that Smith died early Friday in a London hospital. Besides two sons, she also left behind five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary grandmother, according to the statement issued through publicist Clair Dobbs.

Smith was frequently rated the preeminent British female performer of a generation that included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench, with a clutch of Academy Award nominations and a shelf full of acting trophies. She remained in demand even in her later years, despite her lament that “when you get into the granny era, you’re lucky to get anything.”

Smith drily summarised her later roles as “a gallery of grotesques,” including Professor McGonagall. Asked why she took the role, she had replied, “Harry Potter is my pension.”

Her portrayal of a dangerously charismatic Edinburgh schoolteacher in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)won her the Academy Award for best actress, and the British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) as well.

Smith added a supporting actress Oscar for California Suite (1978), Golden Globes for California Suite and A Room with a View (1986), and BAFTAs for lead actress in A Private Function (1984), A Room with a View, and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1988). On stage, she won the Tony Award for best actress for Lettice and Lovage (1990).

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