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Dame Maggie Smith has died at the age of 89, leaving behind a remarkable body of work emcompassing television, film and theatre.
She played her first part on the stage in 1952 at the age of 17, as Viola in Twelfth Night at the Oxford Playhouse, with her televison debut coming two years later in Oxford Accents produced by Ned Sherrin.
Smith’s first major film role was in 1959’s Nowhere to Go, for which she received the first of her 18 BAFTA Award acting nominations.
It was the start of a career that saw her become one of the most recognisable faces in cinema, and one of the most prolific.
Her accolades include two Academy Awards (for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and California Suite, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, a Tony Award, and six Laurence Olivier Award nominations. Smith was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.
Other Oscar-nominated performances included in Othello, Travels with My Aunt, A Room with a View, and Gosford Park.
Away from the awards ceremonies, she was best known for appearing as Violet Crawley in the period drama Downton Abbey and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series.
5. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2
Maggie Smith was introduced to a whole new generation of filmgoers thanks to her role as Scottish Hogwarts teacher Professor Minerva McGonagall in the moneyspinning Harry Potter series films. The best reviewed of the boy wizard films - with a rating of 96 per cent - is the final part, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2. | Courtesy of Warner Bros. Picture
6. Richard III
Sir Ian McKellen both co-wrote and starred in this 1995 adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III, portraying the monarch as a fascist looking to usurp the throne in 1930s Britain. Maggie Smith plays Richard's mother, the Duchess of York. It has an approval rating with critics of 96 per cent. | Contributed
7. Evil Under The Sun
Next up in the Maggie Smith cinematic hall of fame is 1982 whodunnit Evil Under the Sun, based on the Agatha Christe book and starring Peter Ustinov as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Smith plays former actress Daphne Castle, the owner of the exclusive Adriatic Sea island hotel Poirot is invited to - only to inevitably become involved in a murder investigation. It has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 92 per cent. | Contributed
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8. A Private Function
The second film on this list to feature Maggie Smith alongside former Monty Python star Michael Palin is 1984 comedy A Private Function. They play a couple in a post-war Britain where food is still rationed. They decided to steal a pig illegally reared by a group of businessmen intended to be slaughtered for a party to celebrate the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Hilarity ensues. It has a winning rating of 90 per cent. | Contributed