Helen McCrory Dies: ‘Peaky Blinders’ & ‘Harry Potter’ Actress Was 52

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Helen McCrory, the award-winning Peaky Blinders actress, has died at the age of 52.

McCrory’s husband, the Billions actor Damian Lewis, announced her death on Twitter. He said she died peacefully at home after a “heroic battle” with cancer.

“She died as she lived. Fearlessly. 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, into the air, and thank you,” added Lewis. Below is his statement in full:

McCrory was a hugely accomplished and in-demand performer, with stellar credits across stage and screen. She is perhaps best known for playing Aunt Polly in BBC drama Peaky Blinders, keeping an unruly brood of Brummy gangsters in check with her sharp intellect and worldly experience.

The British actress most recently appeared in BBC/HBO series His Dark Materials, in which she voiced Lord Asriel’s (James McAvoy) dæmon Stelmaria, and political drama Roadkill alongside Hugh Laurie. She played Prime Minister Dawn Ellison in the latter, which was made for the BBC and PBS.

She featured as formidable QC Sonia Woodley in ITV/AMC limited series Quiz last year, while her talents also took her to other notable TV series, including MotherFatherSon, Fearless, Penny Dreadful. Over in film, she appeared as Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as well as featuring in Skyfall, Hugo, and The Queen, in which she played Tony Blair’s wife Cherie Blair.

McCrory won a BAFTA Cymru Award for 1995’s Streetlife, as well as a Broadcasting Press Guild prize in 2001 for North Square. Her work in Penny Dreadful earned her a Critics Choice Television Awards nomination.

McCrory was born in 1968 in London, where she studied acting at the Drama Centre. She started her acting career in 1990 on stage, where she had a distinguished award-winning career, earning plaudits for roles in plays including The Deep Blue Sea and Medea.

McCrory married Lewis in 2007 and they had a daughter together. The pair spoke to Deadline last year about their high-profile mission to feed frontline health care workers in the UK during the height of the coronavirus crisis.