Helen McCrory's husband Damian Lewis shares an emotional tribute to his late wife

The actor called her 'brilliant' and a people person

Helen McCrory
(Image credit: Target Presse Agentur Gmbh/Getty Images)

Damian Lewis has shared a heartwarming tribute to his late wife, the actress Helen McCrory, who passed away this week from cancer.

In the Sunday Times article, he calls her 'brilliant' and a people person, while he also writers that she 'normalised' her death.

Helen was best known for her role as Polly Gray in the BBC drama Peaky Blinders, as well as Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter movie franchise. She married fellow actor Damian in 2007 and they have two children together. 

Helen McCrory poses in the Press Room at the Virgin TV BAFTA Television Award at The Royal Festival Hall on May 12, 2019 in London, England

(Image credit: Jeff Spicer / Stringer via Getty Images)

Damian shared the news of Helen's death on Twitter on Friday, saying: "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 friends and family."

"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."

In today's tribute, he goes on to say that Helen's 'greatest and most exquisite act of bravery and generosity has been to 'normalise' her death.'

He then explained writing: "She's shown no fear, no bitterness, no self-pity, only armed us with the courage to go on and insisted that no one be sad, because she is happy. I'm staggered by her. She's been a meteor in our life.' 

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The actor, best known for his role in Homeland, went on to write that Helen was, "an even more brilliant person than she was an actress. She was a people person, sure. I’ve never known anyone so consciously spread happiness.”

While he also admitted to already missing her and called her a star which 'shone brightly'.

Following news of her death, fans and famous faces took to social media to pay tribute to the star - with author JK Rowling tweeting: “I'm devastated to learn of the death of Helen McCrory, an extraordinary actress and a wonderful woman who's left us far too soon. My deepest condolences to her family, especially her husband and children. Simply heartbreaking news.”

Sarah Finley

Sarah is a freelance journalist - writing about the royals and celebrities for Woman & Home, fitness and beauty for the Evening Standard and how the world of work has changed due to the pandemic for the BBC. 

 

She also covers a variety of other subjects and loves interviewing leaders and innovators in the beauty, travel and wellness worlds for numerous UK and overseas publications. 

 

As a journalist, she has written thousands of profile pieces - interviewing CEOs, real-life case studies and celebrities - interviewing everyone from Emma Bunton to the founder of Headspace.