Actress Helen McCrory has died aged 52. She was a highly talented actress and would most likely be recognised as Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter movie franchise, or as Aunt Polly Gray in the hit BBC TV drama Peaky Blinders. But as well as being a celebrated actress, she was a mother, wife and person and in this article we’ll look at not only the actress but the woman behind her.  

Helen McCrory was born on 17 August 1968 in London, England and was educated in Hertfordshire. After school, she spent a year in Italy before coming back to study Drama at the Drama Centre in London.  

Her career started in 1990 on stage, before she swiftly moved to television and then progressed further to film by 1994, aged only 26.  

McCrory has both been nominated for and won awards for all 3 disciplines but her most notable work to any young person now is likely as Narcissa Malfoy (Draco’s Mother) in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Deathly Hallows Part One and The Deathly Hallows Part Two or as Aunt Polly Gray in the BBC’s Peaky Blinders. She was nominated for an award for her role in Harry Potter but won the award for her outstanding work in Peaky Blinders.  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she and her husband actor Damien Lewis supported Feed NHS, a programme to give food from high street restaurants to NHS staff, and had raised £1 million for the charity by early April 2020. 

McCrory served as an honorary patron of the London children's charity Scene & Heard which helps young people interested in playwriting find their voices.  

Helen McCrory was an incredibly talented and kind woman and she will be missed greatly. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this incredibly difficult time. RIP Helen McCrory.