British actress Helen McCrory, who starred in the Peaky Blinders TV show and the Harry Potter films, has died, her husband said on Friday. She was 52 years old and suffered from cancer.
Her husband, actor Damian Lewis, said McCrory died “peacefully at home” after a “heroic battle with cancer”.
“She died as she lived. Without fear, ”Lewis wrote on Twitter. “God, we love her and know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives. She blazed so brightly. Go now, little one, in the air, and thank you.
– Damian Lewis (@lewis_damian) April 16, 2021
Helen McCrory was one of Britain’s most respected actresses, making her mark playing a succession of formidable and sometimes formidable women.
She played the matriarch of a criminal family on Peaky Blinders and Voldemort’s scheming ally Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.
– Peaky Blinders (@ThePeakyBlinder) April 16, 2021
McCrory also played the role of a human rights lawyer trained in international intrigue in the television thriller Fearless, played lawyer Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in the 2006 film The queen, and played roles in the Martin Scorsese film Hugo and the James Bond. Skyfall thriller.
Actor Michael Sheen, who played Tony Blair in The Queen, said McCrory was “so funny, so passionate, so intelligent and one of the greatest actors of our time.”
Harry Potter author JK Rowling tweeted that she was “devastated to learn of the death of Helen McCrory, an amazing actress and wonderful woman who passed away far too soon.”
On stage, Helen McCrory’s roles included the vengeful Greek heroine Medea at the National Theater in 2014. At the same theater, she excelled as a wife caught between a lackluster husband and flawless lover in Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea. in 2016.
While many artists struggle to find meaty female roles in film and television, McCrory has played a series of them.
“That said, there are a lot of things that I refuse,” she told The Associated Press in 2016, describing the kind of roles where “all your lines are ‘But what did you do at work? ? “It’s so smart, honey.” “How did you do that?” “And what did you do next?”
“Of course there is so much sexism within the profession,” said McCrory. “But I think you approach it in different ways, and my approach is just to move forward.”
Others remembered McCrory for his charitable work, including on FeedNHS, a campaign to provide meals to frontline healthcare workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Helen McCrory will be remembered not only for her outstanding performances on stage and on screen, but also for her selflessness and generosity,” tweeted comedian Matt Lucas. “She and Damian were the lifeblood of FeedNHS, working tirelessly during the pandemic to raise millions for others. What a huge loss.
McCrory and Lewis, star of the Homeland and Billions television series, married in 2007 and had two children.