The entertainment industry lost a plethora of big stars in 2024.
These included music producer extraordinaire Quincy Jones, One Direction star Liam Payne, actor Donald Sutherland and TV star Shannen Doherty.
But perhaps the biggest loss to the entertainment world this year came with the death of Oscar-winning actress Dame Maggie Smith, who died in September at the age of 89.
Celebrities from around the globe shared tributes to the star of stage and screen but none more so than her Downton Abbey family, who had just wrapped the third spin-off film in the TV drama franchise.
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Actor Hugh Bonneville, who plays Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham in the series – son to Smith’s character Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham – led the way on social media at the time.
Bonneville tells 9honey Celebrity the news of his TV mother’s death “landed with a great thud” when he heard it.
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“We finished the film back in the summer but of course, her character had passed away in the second film, so in a funny way, we said our goodbyes anyway,” he tells 9honey Celebrity in London.
“But of course, it landed with a great thud when I heard that she had passed. I felt very fortunate to have called her Mum for 10 years, on and off.”
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The 61-year-old actor says he’s always been in awe of her talent and believes it should be used “as a benchmark”.
“I thought back over the productions of hers that I’d seen on stage over the years, and obviously the film legacy that she leaves is there for everyone to cherish,” he continued.
“She was a proper leading light of our industry, and covered all bases, from stage to screen. And her performances – I was thinking of one, an Alan Bennett monologue, she did on TV that was just sublime – and her theatre roles, she really was a proper mistress of her craft.
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“[Smith] leaves a great big hole, but one that we can all look back on and use her as a benchmark.
“Her professionalism was extraordinary, and her wit lacerating and a formidable talent to be around.”
The actress who was also well-known for her roles in the Harry Potter franchise and Sister Act movies had seven BAFTAs, two Oscars and two Golden Globes to her name.
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Smith studied theatre at the Oxford Playhouse School before Laurence Olivier spotted her talent and invited her to be a part of his original National Theatre company.
He then cast her as his co-star in a 1965 film adaptation of Othello and Hollywood came calling.
There were a number of award-winning roles along the way but the actress won a whole new legion of fans in 2010, as the sharp witted Dowager on Downton Abbey.
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The character’s acid tongue and Smith’s perfect delivery of some famous one-liners (which live on in memes and gifs) made her the biggest star of the series.
Smith died in a London hospital on September 27, leaving behind two sons and five loving grandchildren “who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother”.
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