HELEN McCRORY

(17 August 1968 - 16 April 2021)

The British actress Helen McCrory has died at the age of 52, following a battle with cancer. She was celebrated in all areas of acting, latterly making a real impression as women of substance in several high-profile TV series. She played the human rights lawyer Emma Banville in Fearless (2017), out to prove a young man’s innocence. With Richard Gere she was in MotherFatherSon (2019), Tom Rob Smith’s psycho-thriller, and in Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight’s gangster drama, she played Aunt Polly. Stephen Frears directed her as a QC in Quiz, about the Millionaire TV quiz scam. She was also in Roadkill with Hugh Laurie and voiced the part of Stelmaria in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, and in 2000 she had made a very fine Anna Karenina. Helen McCrory, the daughter of a diplomat and a physiotherapist, grew up in Africa, Norway and France. Her acting career began on stage and in London she worked at the Almeida, the Donmar, the Tricycle, Riverside and the National Theatre. She was in the NT staging of Stephen Beresford’s The Last of the Haussmans with Julie Walters, and she played Hester in Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea. Both productions were streamed to cinemas. However, her feature film debut had been in Jim McBride’s Uncovered in 1994. Then came Interview with the Vampire with Tom Cruise, The James Gang with John Hannah, Charlotte Gray with Cate Blanchett, and The Count of Monte Cristo with Jim Caviezel. She worked with Daniel Craig on three films, Hotel Splendide, Enduring Love and Skyfall, and was mother to Heath Ledger’s Casanova. She played Cherie Blair twice, on film in The Queen, and on TV in The Special Relationship and was popular as Narcissa Malfoy in three Harry Potter films. She seemed totally at home playing any sort of part that required an element of depth. Helen McCrory was married to the actor Damian Lewis. They have a daughter, Manon, and a son, Gulliver.

MICHAEL DARVELL