Maggie Smith earned three Primetime Emmy awards for her role as Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham in all six seasons of the British period drama Downton Abbey. She also reprised her role in the two Downton Abbey films. The legendary actor died Friday at the age 89.

"We were more than fortunate to be part of the last act in her stellar career," Julian Fellowes said in a statement.

Dame Maggie Smith, whose luminous stage and screen career included two Oscars and a Tony Award, died on Friday, September 27, 2024, at age 89. Correspondent Martha Teichner has a remembrance of the actress whose most famous role came late in life – as the prickly,