Maggie Smith, a masterful actress who worked on Downtown Abbey and Harry Potter; then won an Oscar for 1969’s film “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”, tragically died on Sept. 27, 2024. 

     Although her cause of death is not shared, Smith’s sons, both Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin, mentioned in a statement that she had passed away on Friday in a London hospital. 

     “She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother,” says Larkin and Stephens. 

     Smith, being diagnosed with graves’ disease, a disorder in which the immune system attacks the thyroid gland for unknown reasons, always struggled in life. It’s the most common cause of hyperthyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid gland overproduces the thyroid hormone. The staggering death rate for the disease ranges from 8-25%, a massive chance for predominantly death. 

     When Smith rode her bike at a younger age in Nov. 1988, she tripped off the bike and broke her arm and shoulder on a trip to the British Virgin Islands. When taken into the hospital, Smith got diagnosed with the horrifying disease. Immediately resorting to radiation, surgery, and rehab, she managed to fight back the disorder for a prolonged amount of time.

     “It’s been kind of like a fog of despair, really,” Smith said in a statement. “It was ghastly having a broken arm; ghastly with the play, letting everyone down; and on top of that, I looked absolutely frightening, and didn’t know which way to turn.”

     While the cause of death for the amazing actress not released, many suspect the death to be due to the disorder that can commonly claim the lives of people. 

     “Medication, and determination enabled her to play out her yearlong contract (missing only one performance), but the facial disfigurement that resulted – protrusion of the eyeballs and puffiness of the eyes, in particular – was not getting better,” The New York Times reported in 1990.

     With the astonishing actor passing, the world received a scar that would run deep into the people who saw the amazing spectacle of her acting. Those who saw the skilled actress mourn for her death, seeing that she shook the entire foundation of acting with her plays. Although this is a tragedy, many more great actors will rise through and potentially surpass the legend that Smith left.