"We were more than fortunate to be part of the last act in her stellar career," Julian Fellowes said in a statement.

Maggie Smith earned three Primetime Emmy awards for her role as Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham in all six seasons of the British period drama Downton Abbey. She also reprised her role in the two Downton Abbey films. The legendary actor died Friday at the age 89.

Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes has said that working with Maggie Smith was the 'greatest privilege of my career, and I will never forget her'