An unexpected sadness has hit the world of entertainment this morning, as Harry Potter and Peaky Blinders star Helen McCrory has passed on at the age of 52. She had a career that spanned various franchises and iconic roles through TV, movies, and the stage. While her role as Narcissa Malfoy in the last three adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s wildly popular wizard saga is a huge claim to fame, that was just the beginning of McCrory’s versatility.
The news of Helen McCrory’s passing came from an official statement made to The Mirror this morning, by her husband Billions star Damian Lewis. The cause of McCrory’s passing was attributed to “a heroic battle with cancer,” which up until now had been a secret held by the McCrory/Lewis family. She is survived by her husband, as well as their children, daughter Manon and son Gulliver.
Helen McCrory ran the gamut when it came to her career, jumping into many a legendary property with reckless abandon. In addition to her Harry Potter adventures, McCrory also found herself as a part of two other fixtures of British entertainment: Doctor Who and James Bond. With the former, McCrory played the villainous Rosanna Calvierri in the 2010 Matt Smith led episode “The Vampires of Venice,” while the 007 franchise saw her going head to head with Dame Judi Dench’s M during the dramatic inquiry scene in Skyfall.
More recently though, fans of the HBO adaptation of His Dark Materials were treated to the voice of Helen McCrory being lent to the character of Lord Azriel’s daemon, Stelmaria. And all of this was on top of a fruitful career that also included roles in everything from the royal drama of The Queen to the child friendly whimsy of Phineas and Ferb, in addition to another recent success of hers as Elizabeth “Polly” Gray in Netflix’s crime drama Peaky Blinders.
In the reporting of her passing, the philanthropic side of Helen McCrory’s legacy was also recalled. In 2020 alone, McCrory and her husband raised “more than £1million for Feed NHS,” and she was also an honorary patron to Scene & Heard, a charity that mentored inner city children. Generous with her acting talents and her heart, Helen McCrory’s legacy is one of great giving, which is what we remember her for today. We here at CinemaBlend send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Helen McCrory in this difficult time of mourning.
