Dame Maggie Smith’s Children: Where Are They Now and What Did They Inherit?

Dame Maggie Smith stood among Britain’s most celebrated actors, building an enduring legacy through landmark roles in productions including “Downton Abbey” and the “Harry Potter” franchise. Her decades-long career also produced substantial wealth: reports placed her net worth at $21 million when she died. Much of that estate reportedly passed to her sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, though both men had long established careers and identities separate from their famous mother.

Chris, born in 1967 to Smith and her first husband, the acclaimed actor Sir Robert Stephens, chose the same profession as his parents. Yet he deliberately avoided using the Stephens surname, adopting Larkin as a stage name in tribute to poet Philip Larkin. In an interview with The Times, Chris said his father had encouraged him to capitalize on the family name. “Robert, my father, was always trying to get me to trade on the family connection. … He would go, ‘Why don’t you change [your last name] back?’ But that was the choice I made. … I’ve always been a fiercely independent soul,” he said (via Express). He also stressed that a recognizable surname can only take an actor so far: “If you’re not good, you’ll be found out. The job is fairly brutal like that.”

The decision to use a different name has not entirely obscured Chris’ famous roots. The “Outlander” actor bears a striking resemblance to his late mother, especially in photographs of Smith from her younger years. Still, after Smith’s death in 2024, Larkin remained committed to the independent approach that has defined his career, continuing to work regularly across television, film and theater under his chosen professional name.

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Smith and Sir Robert Stephens’ younger son, Toby Stephens, also became an actor but kept the surname he was born with. Like his brother, however, he has wrestled with the assumptions that can accompany a celebrated family name. Stephens, widely known for portraying Bond villain Gustav Graves in “Die Another Day,” told The Times that early accusations of nepotism were difficult to navigate. “It was crippling for a while,” he said. With time, he came to see his mother’s success differently: “You get to a point where you go, I’m just so proud of her. I’d done enough to know that’s not why I’m working.” Despite their shared profession, he said they never appeared together because the public attention around such a collaboration would have been overwhelming. “I’d have loved to — but it would have been such a thing,” he said.

Toby Stephens has continued adding notable screen and stage roles to his résumé since his mother’s death. His recent work includes playing Poseidon in “Percy Jackson and The Olympians” and starring in “The Season.” An accomplished theater performer as well, he has also been cast in several stage productions in the years following Smith’s passing.

Ultimately, any inheritance appears secondary to the paths Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens have spent decades creating for themselves—and to the personal loss of their mother. Smith’s influence as an actor may be the more meaningful legacy. Speaking to The Telegraph, Toby said that amid the family’s grief, one source of comfort was “to see how universally loved and admired she was.” Dame Maggie Smith’s immense popularity, it seems, remains as lasting as her body of work.