Downton Abbey creator Lord Julian Fellowes has said Dame Maggie Smith was a “blessing in my life” as he recalled her wit and kindness to younger performers on set. The star of screen and stage, who died in hospital on Friday morning aged 89, portrayed Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in the hit ITV drama, the matriarch known for her sharp one-liners through the show’s six series and two films. With a career spanning 70 years, the Oscar-winning actress has been remembered for her versatile repertoire ranging from Shakespeare to the Harry Potter franchise, with her co-stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint among those to pay tribute.
He told BBC Breakfast: “She took Violet and made her a rather immortal character. And my great joy, I suppose, is that we were part of making sure that Maggie didn’t fade into the background as most actors do towards the end of their career, she probably was as famous as she’d ever been on the last day of her life.” The writer and Conservative peer also remembered her as being “very witty” and “very sharp in her humour” but with an “underlying warmth” which she would share with younger members of the cast.
“Maggie was very kind to them, very encouraging, very nice, a real sort of mother of the company, which isn’t always what you would think of her as,” he said. “But actually, I think it made it for them a very rewarding experience.” After working with her on multiple films and on Downto.