Damian Lewis Speaks For First Time On Death Of 'Perfect' Wife Helen McCrory

Actor Damian Lewis has spoken publicly about his wife Helen McCrory for the first time in nine months, after she passed away at the age of 52.

McCrory, who is perhaps best known for her roles as Aunt Polly in Peaky Blinders and Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter, passed away on April 16, 2021, after battling breast cancer.

Yesterday, January 25, McCrory's husband of 14 years, fellow actor Damian Lewis, publicly opened up about his loss at a poetry event held in the actress' memory at the National Theatre.

The audience comprised around 900 people, including the pair's two children, Manon and Gulliver, MailOnline reports.

During the event, Lewis said how 'perfect' it was that it was being held at such a location, as 'Helen loved the National Theatre'.

The 50-year-old was joined on stage by friends of McCrory and fellow actors Lesley Sharp and Simon Russell Beale, among others, who recited poems such as You Must Never Bath In An Irish Strew by Spike Milligan, and a verse from Carol Ann Duffy's poem Mrs Icarus.

The event marked the launch of Allie Esiri's anthology A Poet for Every Day of the Year, which is dedicated to McCrory.

Esiri joked that Lewis had been allowed to say 'a few words, but we just wanted to get on and do the show'.

She said: 'It's what [McCrory] would have told us to do – 'OK, enough already, get on with the show!' She loved poetry and I think she would have been pleased to be kind of here with us. it felt right.'

Towards the end of the evening, Lewis read a poem by Irish poet Derek Mahon, called Everything Is Going To Be All Right.

Esiri reflected on how much Lewis and McCrory had 'helped to get poetry out to people'.

'When you are stuck at home with Covid but can't quite take on a novel, a lot of people have been turning to poetry. Tonight we chose poems that will hopefully have chimed with people who have been going through a lot over the last two years' she explained.

Esiri concluded: 'Learning from adversity is something many people have experienced over the past two years during the pandemic. My mantra during this difficult time has always been to tell myself 'everything is going to be all right'.'

The evening finished with a video recording of McCrory from a previous event, reciting Mary Oliver's Wild Geese.

Lewis said, 'One person whose thunder would absolutely not be stolen was Helen McCrory.'

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677