Helen McCrory, Star Of Peaky Blinders And Harry Potter, Dies At 52

English actor Helen McCrory, who played the character Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Polly Gray in Peaky Blinders has died at 52. Damian Lewis, her husband, announced on Friday that the actor passed away after a “heroic battle with cancer”.

Lewis took to Twitter to share the news of the award-winning actor's demise. The Billions actor said she died peacefully at home and wrote, “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 friends and family”.

“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,” Lewis added.

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— Damian Lewis (@lewis_damian) April 16, 2021

McCrory and Lewis, who met in 2003, tied the knot in 2007 and they have two children together- Manon and Gulliver.

Know the actor Helen McCrory

Born in London to a Welsh mother and Scottish-born father, Helen McCrory studied acting at the Drama Centre in London. She started her acting career in 1990 on stage and went on to earn plaudits for roles in plays such as The Deep Blue Sea and Medea.

The BAFTA winner was well-known for portraying Cherie Blair in Peter Morgan’s The Queen and The Special Relationship in 2006 and 2010 respectively.

In the 2009 release Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, she essayed the role of Narcissa Malfoy. McCroy returned to the Harry Potter franchise for the final three films. Also, she featured on the BBC’s period crime drama Peaky Blinders in a leading role as the Shelbys’ matriarch Polly Gray. Beside these ventures the actor appeared in series including Doctor Who, Inside No 9 and His Dark Materials.

Actor Helen McCroy last appeared in the Hugh Laurie political drama Roadkill that aired on the BBC in 2020.

The same year, McCrory led fundraising efforts, along with her husband, to provide hot meals for NHS staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.