Peaky Blinders star dies after ‘heroic battle with cancer’

Actress Helen McCrory, best known for starring in Peaky Blinders and the Harry Potter films, has died after a “heroic battle with cancer”, her husband Damian Lewis has said.

The actress, who also appeared in the James Bond film Skyfall and was recently seen on screen in the TV series Quiz and Roadkill last year, was 52.

“I’m heartbroken to announce that after an 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 friends and family,” Lewis posted in a statement on Twitter.

“She died as she lived. Fearlessly. God we love her and know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives. She blazed so brightly. Go now, Little One, into the air, and thank you.”
McCrory was born in Paddington, London, to a Welsh mother and Scottish-born father, and was the eldest of three children.

She attended school in Hertfordshire, then spent a year living in Italy, before returning to London to study acting at the Drama Centre.

McCrory and Lewis married in 2007 and the couple had two children – daughter Manon, born in 2006, and son Gulliver, born in 2007.