Helen McCrory is a British actress who has appeared on stage

Image credit  By Roslyn Sulcas

She is most known for her roles in the TV show "Peaky Blinders" and three Harry Potter films, but she began her career in the London theatre.

Helen McCrory, the accomplished and prolific British stage and screen actress who played Narcissa Malfoy in three Harry Potter films and Polly Gray on the BBC series "Peaky Blinders," in addition to receiving critical acclaim for her stage work, died at her home in north London. She was 52 years old at the time.



Her husband, actor Damian Lewis, declared her death from cancer on social media on Friday.

Ms. McCrory was a well-known face in London theatres and on British television and film long before she became well-known thanks to the Harry Potter films. She started her theatre career in 1990, fresh out of drama school, in Harrogate, Yorkshire, playing Gwendolen in a production of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest." Richard Eyre, the director of the National Theater at the time, cast her in the lead role in his production of Arthur Wing Pinero's comedic play "Trelawny of the "Wells," for which she received rave reviews.

Sheridan Morley of The International Herald Tribune wrote, "Helen McCrory, in the title role, wonderfully captures Rose's crossover from a lovelorn ingénue to wounded heroine."


The following year, she starred alongside Judi Dench and Bill Nighy in Chekhov's "The Seagull" at the National Theater, and in 1995, she was voted "most promising newcomer" in the Shakespeare Globe Awards for her performance as Lady Macbeth in the West End production of Macbeth.

For the next two decades, Ms. McCrory performed regularly in the theatre, with notable roles as Yelena in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" in 2002; Rosalind in "As You Want It" in 2005 (for which she earned an Olivier Award nomination for best actress); Rebecca West in Ibsen's "Rosmersholm" in 2008; and Medea in 2016.

“The Medea of ancient myth has become the sad yet creepy mad lady next door, the kind that inspires you to lock up your children,” Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times, “portrayed with disturbing accessibility and piano wire nerves by Helen McCrory.”

Ms. McCrory, on the other hand, began working in film and television as early as 1994. In Joe Wright's four-part series "Charles II: The Power and the Passion," she played Barbara Villiers, Charles II's mistress, and in Stephen Frears's "The Queen," she had a small role as Cherie Blair, Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife. She reprised her part in the 2010 film "The Special Relationship," which was directed by Peter Morgan, as was "The Queen."

Image credit By Roslyn Sulcas


Ms. McCrory rose to prominence after appearing in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” in 2009 as Narcissa Malfoy, the mother of Harry's nemesis, Draco Malfoy. She reprised her appearance in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1 and 2,” the series' final instalments. (She had been cast in a greater part in the earlier “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” as Bellatrix Lestrange, but had to leave due to her pregnancy; Helena Bonham Carter took her place.)

Helen Elizabeth McCrory, the eldest of three daughters, was born on August 17, 1968, in London's Paddington neighbourhood. Iain McCrory, her father, was a diplomat, and Ann (Morgans) McCrory, her mother, worked for the National Health Service.

Her father's work for the Foreign Service brought the family to Tanzania, Norway, Madagascar, and Paris during her youth.

In a 2014 interview with The Times of London, Ms. McCrory said, "Dad says my first performance onstage was dancing at an official visit by the French president." “I believe it was at the time that I first considered becoming an actor. At the residence, every evening was like a mini-concert.”

She was sent back to England when she was in her youth, to the Queenswood School for Girls in Hertfordshire. She started acting while there and spent a year wandering around Italy after graduation before being admitted into the Drama Center London.


She told The Times of London in 2017 that becoming an actor was "the only thing I needed to do," and that she had been "incredibly fortunate" to be cast in big roles so soon.



Mr. Lewis and Ms. McCrory met in 2003 at the Almeida Theater in London, where they were both performing in Joanna Laurens' "Five Gold Rings." She said on the BBC 4 radio programme "Desert Island Discs" last year, "Damian's naughty, and I've always liked my naughty boys." They married in 2007 and had two twins, Manon in 2006 and Gulliver in 2007. Mr. Lewis gained attention on the tv shows "Homeland" and "Billions," but they kept a low-key life in London.

In 2016, Ms. McCrory wrote, "I'm much happier when I've gotten older." “Age has brought me nothing but comfort, trust, and joy.” “To me, ‘Helen McCrory, 47' means nothing,” she said. ‘Helen McCrory, poor housewife and argumentative after a glass of gin,' for example, will be much more relevant.”


She has recently starred in David Hare's political thriller "Roadkill" and James Graham's "Quiz," as well as providing the voice of a daemon in "His Dark Materials."

image credit By Roslyn Sulcas


During the coronavirus pandemic last year, Ms. McCrory and Mr. Lewis spearheaded a fund-raising campaign to provide food for employees of the National Health workforce. Their efforts resulted in a contribution to the Feed NHS Scheme of almost £1 million (roughly $1.4 million). She appeared on ITV's "Good Morning Britain" with Mr. Lewis just a month ago, on March 12, to discuss the idea.


Her disease was not well recognised, and several people were surprised when she died. In addition to her husband and children, complete details on survivors was not readily available.