Farewell to the ‘beautiful, and mighty’ Helen
SHOCK DEATH OF TV STAR McCRORY
ACTRESS Helen McCrory has died aged only 52 after a ‘heroic battle’ with cancer, her husband Damian Lewis announced yesterday.
In a heartbreaking tribute, the actor said his wife of nearly 14 years and mother of his two teenage children died at home ‘surrounded by a wave of love’.
Ms McCrory was best known for her roles in Peaky Blinders and the Harry Potter films and had a stellar stage career.
Lewis, 50, said in a statement: ‘I’m heartbroken to announce that after a heroic battle with cancer, the beautiful and mighty woman that is Helen McCrory has died peacefully at home, surrounded by a wave of love from
‘Go now, Little One, into the air’
friends and family. 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.’
He finished: ‘Go now, Little One, into the air, and thank you.’
The couple married in 2007 and have a daughter, Manon, 14, and a son, Gulliver, 13.
Ms McCrory made her final TV appearance in March, joining her husband on ITV’s Good Morning Britain to promote their work with The Prince’s Trust charity.
It prompted comments on her shaky voice and frail appearance, with host Kate Garraway asking: ‘Are you all right, Helen? You sound a bit croaky. Have you got a sore throat?’
The actress replied jokingly: ‘I’ve got children.’
Tributes poured in for the ‘fearless and funny’ actress who played Polly Shelby Peaky Blinders and the villainous Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter. Cillian Murphy said: ‘I am brokenhearted to lose such a dear friend. Helen was a beautiful, caring, funny, compassionate human being. She was also a gifted actor – fearless and magnificent. She elevated and made humane every scene, every character she played.’
Actor Michael Sheen, who twice played Tony Blair to her Cherie in films and worked with her recently in ITV drama Quiz, said: ‘So funny, so passionate, so smart and one of the greatest actors of our time... It was an honour to work with her and know her.’
JK Rowling called her ‘an extraordinary actress and a wonderful woman who’s left us far too soon’.
Ms McCrory was also an awardwinning stage actress, working with the UK’s National Theatre, the Almeida and the Donmar Warehouse and playing Lady Macbeth at Shakespeare’s Globe. She was awarded the OBE in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to drama.
Rufus Norris, artistic director of the National Theatre, said she was ‘unquestionably one of the great actors of her generation’.
Piers Wenger, BBC director of drama, said: ‘Her body of work speaks of her extraordinary talent, what it doesn’t speak of is her kindness, intelligence and sense of fun.’