Damian Lewis Made CBE in Queen’s Birthday Honours After Glittering Acting Career

Damian Shares CBE With Dear Helen McCrory

by Lily Waddell | Evening Standard | June 1, 2022

Damian Lewis has been made a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) after an acting career that has spanned Second World War epics, terrorism thrillers and period dramas. The 51-year-old television, film and stage star has been honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services to both drama and charity.

Among his best known roles are Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band Of Brothers, Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland and Henry VIII in Wolf Hall. Lewis told the PA news agency:

“What a great honour to be awarded the CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to drama and for the charity work that I have carried out over the years and during the pandemic with my late wife, Helen McCrory. Thank you very much. She and I are both thrilled.”

He and his late wife Helen McCrory are co-founders of FeedNHS, an initiative working with restaurant Leon on the campaign of the same name in a bid to provide NHS workers with meals during the coronavirus crisis. He shares the CBE honour with Helen:

During the Covid lockdowns, he and Helen supported FeedNHS, a fundraiser to give food from high street restaurants to NHS staff and by April 2020 they had raised around £1 million for the charity. A JustGiving page shows around £1.2 million was raised for the campaign.

Lewis was previously made an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Lewis was born on 11 February 1971 in St John’s Wood, London, and attended Eton College. After graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1993, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. His big break came when he appeared in Jonathan Kent’s production of Hamlet, playing Laertes, and was spotted by Steven Spielberg, who then cast him in Band Of Brothers.

Lewis continued to take jobs in television, film and theatre although his best known roles were on the small screen. Between 2011 and 2013, he starred as the conflicted Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas Brody in Homeland, an espionage thriller that won multiple awards. His turn as Axelrod in the Showtime series Billions ran from 2016 to 2021.

In 2010, he became a trade justice ambassador for the charity Christian Aid.

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