Maggie Smith dies aged 89

Oscar-winning British actor Maggie Smith, a star of stage and screen for more than seven decades, died at the age of 89 in hospital in London yesterday, her sons, actors Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, announced, prompting a flood of tributes.Smith ‒ who won a Tony, two Oscars, three Golden Globes and five Baftas ‒ achieved late-career international fame for her depiction of the acerbic Dowager Countess of Grantham Violet Crawley in the hit television series “Downton Abbey”.The Bafta TV and film academy said in a statement that it was “saddened” to hear of her death, calling…