Actress Helen McCrory, known for her roles in Peaky Blinders and three Harry Potter films, has died of cancer at the age of 52, according to her husband, the actor Damian Lewis.
He wrote on Twitter: “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 family and friends.
“She died as she lived. Fearlessly. God we love her and we know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives.”
He added: “She blazed so brightly. Go now, Little One, into the air, and thank you.”
“One from a male point of view, which is much more physical and violent and threatening, and one from a female point of view, which is just as physically violent and threatening, but is also psychological.”
She also played Narcissa Malfoy, the wife of Lucius Malfoy and Draco’s mother, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Part 2.
Her other roles included playing former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife Cherie in the films The Queen and The Special Relationship, and she provided the voice of Stelmaria, Lord Asriel’s snow leopard daemon, in the recent BBC One TV series His Dark Materials.
As well as her film and TV credits, she also had a long and acclaimed career on stage.
She married Homeland star Lewis in 2007 and they have two children.
