Actor Damian Lewis wrote a heartbreaking tribute to his late wife Helen McCrory, writing that she was a meteor in our lives. ‘
The ‘Billions’ star remembers McCrory, who died of cancer on Friday at the age of 52 as a ‘brilliant’ actress and a friendly and generous person.
“I have never known anyone who so consciously spread happiness,” Lewis wrote in the British Sunday Times.
‘Even when she died the last few days, when she spoke to our wonderful caregivers, she repeatedly said’ thank you ‘in her half-ominous state. ”
The couple met in 2003 when they both starred in a play at the London Almeida Theater and got married four years later. They shared two children, Manon (14) and 13-year-old Gulliver.
McCrory, who was known for her roles in the “Harry Potter” movies and the BBC program “Peaky Blinders”, was “fiercely proud” of actress and artist, her husband wrote.
But “Helen was an even more brilliant person if she were an actress.”
“She was a people person, sure … But she also lived by the principle of kindness and generosity. That you put these things out in the world to make it better, to make it
people feel better, ”Lewis wrote.
‘She always asked people how it was, always took an interest and made every person she met felt special as if they were the only person in the room. They gave her her full attention. “Always made them laugh,” he continued. “There were few funny people, she was funny.”
Lewis, 50, recalled how a nurse at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital told him the carers were looking forward to McCrory’s visits “because she made the day better. Asked how they were doing, caring about their home life, spread joy and make people laugh. ”
Helen would say, ‘Well, their job is much harder than mine. And she was dying. ”
Even in her illness, McCrory was “completely heroic,” Lewis said.
“Funny, naturally generous, brave, awkward, and reminds us all how happy we were, how blessed we are.”
“I have never known anyone who could enjoy life so much,” he wrote. ‘Her ability to be in the present and enjoy the moment was inspiring. She is also not interested in nail show. No real interest in self-reflection; she believed in looking outward, not inward. That’s why she could turn her light so brightly on others. ‘
While she left their children too early, they were “prepared for life,” Lewis said.
‘They have the fearlessness, wit, curiosity, talent and beauty in their mother. She encouraged us to be courageous and not to be afraid. ”
Lewis concluded his tribute by describing how he misses his late wife, writing that she “has shone brighter in recent months than you would think even the brightest star could shine.”
“In life we also had to get up to meet her,” he wrote. ‘But her greatest and most wonderful act of bravery and generosity was to’ normalize ‘her death. She showed no fear, no bitterness, no self-pity, but only the courage to go on and insisted that no one should be sad because she is happy. ”
“I was amazed by her,” Lewis added. “She was a meteor in our lives.”