Helen McCrory Biography

Helen Elizabeth McCrory (born 17 August 1968) is a British actress. She portrayed Cherie Blair in both the 2006 film The Queen and the 2010 film The Special Relationship. She also portrayed Narcissa Malfoy in the final three Harry Potter films. In 2011, she starred in Martin Scorsese's family mystery film Hugo as Mama Jeanne and most recently in the new James Bond film, Skyfall.

Early life

McCrory was born in Paddington, London. Her mother, Anne (née Morgans), is Welsh, and her father, Iain McCrory, is a Glasgow-born diplomat. She is the eldest of three children. She was educated at Queenswood, a Hertfordshire boarding school, after which she spent a year living in Italy. Upon her return to Britain, she began studying acting at the Drama Centre in London.

Career

In 2002, McCrory 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.

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.

She appeared in a modernised TV adaptation of Frankenstein's Monster, simply called 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.) However, McCrory later played Bellatrix's sister Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, released in July 2009. McCrory reprised her role in the final films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows " Part 1 and Part 2. She also played Rosanna Calvierri in the episode "The Vampires of Venice" of the BBC television show, Doctor Who.

McCrory was to appear 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.

In 2013 McCrory narrated poetry for The Love Book App, an interactive anthology of love literature developed by Allie Byrne Esiri.

Personal life

On 4 July 2007, McCrory married actor Damian Lewis. They have a daughter, Manon (b. 2006), and a son, Gulliver (b. 2007). They live in Tufnell Park, London, and Los Angeles. She is an Honorary Patron of the London children's charity Scene & Heard.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1993	Full Stretch	Vicki Goodall	One Episode - Risky Business
1993	Performance	Jean Rice	One Episode - The Entertainer
1994	Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles	2nd Whore
1994	Uncovered	Lola
1995	Streetlife	Jo	BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actress
1996	'	Nicola Pascoe
1996	Witness Against Hitler	Freya von Moltke
1997	'	Bernadette James
1997	Trial & Retribution	Anita Harris
1998	Spoonface Steinberg	Mother
1998	Stand and Deliver	Christina
1998	Dad Savage	Chris
1999	Split Second	Angie Anderson
2000	Anna Karenina	Anna Karenina	Miniseries
2000	Hotel Splendide	Lorna Bull
2000	North Square	Rose Fitzgerald	8 episodes Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress
2001	In a Land of Plenty	Mary Freeman	Miniseries
2001	Charlotte Gray	Francoise
2002	'	Valentina Villefort
2002	'	Rose Davies	Miniseries
2002	Dickens	Kate Dickens
2002	Deep Down	Dana
2002	Dead Gorgeous	Antonia Ashton
2002	Uncle Vanya	Yelena	Stage production
2003	Does God Play Football	Sarah Ward
2003	Lucky Jim	Margaret Peel	Television film
2003	Carla	Carla
2003	Charles II: The Power and The Passion	Barbara Villiers	Nominated: Satellite Award
2004	Enduring Love	Mrs. Logan
2004	Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking	Mrs. Vandeleur
2004	Old Times	Anna	Stage production
2005	Messiah	Dr. Rachel Price
2005	Casanova	Casanova's Mother
2006	Normal for Norfolk	Clare
2006	'	Cherie Blair	Nominated: ALFS Award
2006	As You Like It	Rosalind	Stage production
2007	Becoming Jane	Mrs. Radcliffe
2007	Frankenstein	Dr. Victoria Frankenstein
2008	Flashbacks of a Fool	Peggy Tickell
2009	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	Narcissa Malfoy
2009	Fantastic Mr. Fox	Mrs. Bean	Voice role
2009	Life	Mickey Rayborn's security specialist Amanda Puryer	Television series
2010	Doctor Who	Rosanna Calvierri	One episode ("The Vampires of Venice")
2010	4.3.2.1	Mrs. Jones
2010	'	Cherie Blair
2010	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows " Part 1	Narcissa Malfoy
2011	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows " Part 2	Narcissa Malfoy
2011	Hugo	Mama Jeanne
2012	We'll Take Manhattan	Lady Clare Rendlesham	Television film
2012	Leaving	Julie Ranmore	Lead role
2012	Skyfall	Clair Dowar
2012	The Cable Club (Soho)	Stella	Short film
2013	Peaky Blinders	Aunt Polly Gray	Television Series
2013	To Appomattox	Julia Grant	Mini Series
2014	A Little Chaos	Madame Le Notre
2014	Penny Dreadful	Madame Kali	Television series