Helen McCrory-A lifetime of glory

Before her unfortunate death at the age of 52, Helen McCrory had quite a studded career in film, TV and onstage, with unforgettable roles including the Channel 4/Masterpiece Theatre miniseries Anna Karenina,Narcissa Malfoy in three Harry Potter movies,Aunt Polly in Peaky Blinders.

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.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 16, 2021

Harry Potter author JK Rowling tweeted, “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.”

Daniel Radcliffe, who played the protagonist in the Harry Potter series’ shared a statement that read: “I truly couldn’t believe this news when I heard it. Helen was one of the most incredible actors I got to work with on the Harry Potter films. She was effortlessly commanding and captivating as an actor, as well as being kind, generous and incredibly good fun as a person. Also, as it happens, she’s one of the absolute coolest people I’ve ever met, in that I can’t ever imagine her being flustered or nervous, she always seemed totally assured of who she was and what she was doing. She was a supreme talent and a wonderful person and will be very greatly missed,” reported Metro.co.uk.

The actress, with her first screen credit in 1993 in the TV Comedy Full Stretch, most recently was seen in the series His Dark Materials, where she  voiced Lord Asriel’s dæmon Stelmaria and in the political drama Roadkill. Other iconic roles include QC Sonia Woodley in ITV/AMC’s limited series Quiz, 1995’s Streetlife that got her a BAFTA Cymru Award, MP Clair Dowar in Hugo, in Skyfall and the Queen.

Helen McCrory as Polly Gray

All our love and thoughts are with Helen’s family.

Rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/HBEg4Hz2Up

— Peaky Blinders (@ThePeakyBlinder) April 16, 2021

The official Twitter account of Peaky Blinders, in which the late actress played the role of Aunt Polly, also paid tribute to Helen McCrory. The team tweeted: “Helen McCrory as Polly Gray All our love and thoughts are with Helen’s family. Rest in peace.”