Actor Helen McCrory dies of cancer at 52

Played Narcissa Malfoy in ‘Harry Potter’ movies

British actor Helen McCrory, who starred in the television show “Peaky Blinders” and the “Harry Potter” movies, has died, her husband said Friday. She was 52 and had been suffering from cancer.

Her husband, fellow actor Damian Lewis, said McCrory died “peacefully at home” after a “heroic battle with cancer.”

“She died as she lived. Fearlessly,” 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, into the air, and thank you.”

McCrory was one of Britain’s most respected actors, making her mark by playing a succession of formidable and sometimes fearsome women.

She played the matriarch of a crime family on ”Peaky Blinders” and the scheming Voldemort ally Narcissa Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” movies.

Cillian Murphy, who plays the central role of gangland boss Tommy Shelby in “Peaky Blinders,” set in the early 20thcentury English underworld, said he was “broken-hearted to lose such a dear friend.”

“Helen was a beautiful, caring, funny, compassionate human being,” he said in a statement. “She was also a gifted actor — fearless and magnificent.

“She elevated and made humane every scene, every character she played,” Murphy said. “It was a privilege to have worked with this brilliant woman, to have shared so many laughs over the years. I will dearly miss my pal. My love and thoughts are with Damian and her family.”

McCrory also starred as a human rights lawyer dragged into international intrigue in the TV thriller “Fearless,” played lawyer Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in the 2006 movie “The Queen,” and had roles in Martin Scorsese’s film “Hugo” and the James

Bond thriller “Skyfall.”

Actor Michael Sheen, who played Tony Blair in “The Queen,” said McCrory was “so funny, so passionate, so smart and one of the greatest actors of our time.”

“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling tweeted that she was “devastated to learn of the death of Helen McCrory, an extraordinary actress and a wonderful woman who’s left us far too soon.”

Onstage, McCrory’s roles

Jeff Spicer / Getty Images Actress Actor Helen McCrory at at The Royal Festival Hall in 2019 in London. McCrory has died after battling with cancer. She was 52.