Helen McCrory

Helen Elizabeth McCrory (17 August 1968 – 16 April 2021) was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her stage debut in The Importance of Being Earnest in 1990. Other stage roles include playing Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Rosalind in As You Like It in the West End, and Medea in the eponymous play in the Royal National Theatre. McCrory portrayed Cherie Blair in both The Queen (2006) and The Special Relationship (2010), alongside Michael Sheen who portrayed husband and Prime Minister Tony Blair in both. She portrayed Françoise in the film Charlotte Gray (2001), the dark anti-heroine and socialite Narcissa Malfoy in the final three Harry Potter films (2009, 2010, 2011), Mama Jeanne in Martin Scorsese's family film Hugo (2011), Clair Dowar in the James Bond film Skyfall (2012), Polly Gray in Peaky Blinders (2013–2019), Emma Banville in Fearless (2017) and Kathryn Villiers in MotherFatherSon (2019). Early life McCrory was born on 17 August 1968 in Paddington, London. Her mother, Ann (née Morgans), is a Welsh physiotherapist, and her father, Iain McCrory (born 29 March 1940), is a diplomat from Glasgow; they were married in 1968. She was the eldest of three children. She was educated at Queenswood School near Hatfield, Hertfordshire, then spent a year living in Italy. Upon her return to Britain, she began studying acting at the Drama Centre in London.