Helen McCrory

McCrory was born in Paddington in England, UK. Her mother, Ann (née Morgans), is Welsh and her father, Iain McCrory (born 29 March 1940), is a diplomat from Glasgow; they married in 1974.[3] She is the eldest of three children.

She was educated at Queenswood School near Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and then spent a year living in Italy. Upon her return to Britain, she began studying acting at the Drama Centre in London.

McCrory won Third Prize at the Ian Charleson Awards for her 1993 performance as Rose Trelawny in Trelawny of the 'Wells' at the National Theatre.[4] In 2002 she was nominated for a London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress (for playing Elena in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya at the Donmar Warehouse). She was later nominated for a 2006 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for her role as Rosalind in As You Like It in London's West End. In April 2008, she made a "compelling" Rebecca West in a production of Ibsen's Rosmersholm at the Almeida Theatre, London.[5]

She appeared in Charles II: The Power and The Passion (2003), as Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine, and in supporting roles in such films as Interview with the Vampire (1994), Charlotte Gray (2001), The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), and Casanova (2005). In The Queen (2006) she played Cherie Blair, a role she reprised in Peter Morgan's follow-up The Special Relationship (2010).

She appeared in a modernised TV adaptation of Frankenstein. Her first pregnancy forced her to pull out of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), in which she had been cast as Bellatrix Lestrange (she was replaced by Helena Bonham Carter). McCrory was later cast as Bellatrix's sister Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, released in July 2009.[6][7] McCrory reprised her role in the final films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2; McCrory's performance was well received by fans of the books. She also played the principal villain role of Rosanna Calvierri in the episode "The Vampires of Venice" of the BBC television series Doctor Who.

McCrory starred in The Last of the Haussmans at the Royal National Theatre, which began 12 June 2012. The production was broadcast to cinemas around the world on 11 October 2012 through the National Theatre Live programme.[8]

In 2013, McCrory narrated poetry for The Love Book App, an interactive anthology of love literature developed by Allie Byrne Esiri.[9] Again, in 2013 McCrory played 'Lady Macbeth' at the Little Angel Theatre. The same year, she started playing Polly Gray in Peaky Blinders.

In 2014, McCrory played the title role in the National Theatre's production of Medea, directed by Carrie Cracknell. Also in 2014, McCrory made a guest appearance on the TV series Penny Dreadful. She returned as a regular for the show's second season, playing the main antagonist.

In August 2016, McCrory was confirmed to play Emma Banville in ITV drama series Fearless, which began airing in June 2017.[10]

On 4 July 2007, McCrory married actor Damian Lewis. They have a daughter, Manon (b. 8 September 2006), and a son, Gulliver (b. 2 November 2007).[11] They have homes in Tufnell Park, North London, and near Sudbury in Suffolk.[12]

She is an honorary patron of the London children's charity Scene & Heard.[13]

McCrory was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to drama.[14]

During the COVID-19 pandemic McCrory and Lewis supported Feed NHS, a program to give food from high street restaurants to NHS staff, and had raised £1m for the charity by early April of that year. The initiative started in London but following its success plans were announced to roll it out to other cities in the UK.[15]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helen McCrory.

• Helen McCrory at the British Film Institute
• Helen McCrory at IMDb 
• Helen McCrory at AllMovie