Tag: Helen McCrory

Categories Charity Helen Narrator Personal and Family Life Philanthropy Tributes

Damian Lewis Narrates Helen McCrory’s Speech for Graduates

Posted On Written By Gingersnap Comments Off on Damian Lewis Narrates Helen McCrory’s Speech for Graduates

UCS Hampstead as Sir HvH Arts Foundation Patron

Source: UCS Hampstead | Twitter | June 30, 2021
Source: Sir HvH Arts | Instagram | June 30, 2021

On Wednesday, June 30, 2021, the University College School Hampstead’s graduation began proceedings by remembering Helen McCrory and her powerful message to pupils in 2018 with a narration of her speech by Damian today, speaking to the graduates remotely. UCS Hampstead supports Sir HvH Arts Foundation with their outreach, a foundation near and dear to Helen and now Damian is the Patron for Sir HvH Arts.  For more information about Helen’s UCS speech back in 2018, click here. In 2016, Damian and Helen attended an art exhibition showcasing UCS student’s artwork, chatting with them as well. Read more about that here.

Continue reading Damian Lewis Narrates Helen McCrory’s Speech for Graduates

Categories Charity Personal and Family Life Philanthropy Print Media

Damian Lewis: Patron of Ride4Hugo

Posted On Written By Gingersnap Comments Off on Damian Lewis: Patron of Ride4Hugo

Family Support

by Staff | Ride4Hugo | June 15, 2021

Ride4Hugo is in memory of Hugo Yaxley, who tragically died in a car accident in November, 2020. Hugo was a big advocate of facing up to mental health issues and changing the stigma attached to it. Ride4Hugo aims to raise £24,000 and awareness for four great charities.

Uncle Damian, as he was to Hugo, is Ride4Hugo’s patron. Best known for his performances on screen and stage, Damian has also contributed a huge amount of charity work. Most recently he and his late wife Helen McCrory helped raise over £1m for the FeedNHS campaign. Very tragically, Aunty Helen passed away five months after Hugo’s accident. So to honor her we chose to support The Hubert Von Herkomer Arts Foundation, a charity she had been the Patron of. Damian recently reflected on Hugo, stating:

“The recurring theme talking to people about Hugo, is that, for one so young, he leaves an incredible legacy. He truly inspired people of his generation, through his own bravery, to be more confident and open about their mental health. This is an extraordinary thing to have achieved by the age of 20. He’s touched more people in his short life than most do in their longer ones. One great memory is of our family holiday in Mallorca when Hugo perfected and demonstrated (endlessly) the art of “bombing” in the swimming pool. Face down mostly. For ages afterwards, we called him Bomber Yaxley. He became many other fabulous things as he got older but that fearlessness never left him. And he used it to help others. Love you Hugo.”

Below is information about the upcoming bike ride campaigns, the bike routes, and the charities Ride4Hugo supports:

Continue reading Damian Lewis: Patron of Ride4Hugo

Categories Charity Helen Philanthropy

Damian Backs Fundraiser Participant in Honor of Helen

Posted On Written By Gingersnap Comments Off on Damian Backs Fundraiser Participant in Honor of Helen

Marie Curie Hospice: Running for Helen

by Sam Beamish | Cornwall Live | May 13, 2021

A close friend of the late Helen McCrory has told how the star supported her family through her daughter’s illness and death. Fiona Nash said the actor would do “anything for anyone” and was a “very kind and generous person”.

Fiona’s daughter Torie Benson died 10 years ago at age 30 due to cervical cancer. To mark the anniversary of her death and raise money for the charity that supported her, Fiona’s 18-year-old son Toby Benson ran from Land’s End to The Lizard and back on Tuesday (May 11).

So far he has raised £15,500 for Marie Curie and is being backed by McCory’s husband, actor Damian Lewis.

Fiona, who lives near Land’s End, said: “I knew Helen for a very long time. I spoke to her husband last week at the funeral and I said Toby wanted to run for Helen as well as Torie.”

She said he was very supportive of the fundraiser and made a donation.

She recalled that when Torie was at the Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead, McCory, who died of cancer last month, aged 52, was very supportive of Fiona and the family. She explained: “She knew I spent six months there with Torie. After Torie died Helen did a lot of fundraising for Marie Curie. She was amazingly kind. She was a very kind and generous person. She would do anything for anyone and was a massive philanthropist.”

Read the rest of the original article at Cornwall Online

Categories Helen Personal and Family Life Print Media Tributes

How Helen McCrory Shone, Even in a Haze of Mystery – April 17, 2021

Posted On Written By Gingersnap Comments Off on How Helen McCrory Shone, Even in a Haze of Mystery – April 17, 2021

She was unforgettable onstage playing seemingly serene women who rippled with restlessness

by Ben Brantley | New York Times | April 17, 2021

Selfishly, my first feelings on hearing that the uncanny British actress Helen McCrory had died at 52 were of personal betrayal. We were supposed to have shared a long and fruitful future together, she and I. There’d be me on one side of the footlights and her on the other, as she unpacked the secrets of the human heart with a grace and ruthlessness shared by only a few theater performers in each generation.

I never met her, but I knew her — or rather I knew the women she embodied with an intimacy that sometimes seemed like a cruel violation of privacy. When London’s theaters reawakened from their pandemic lockdown, she was supposed to be waiting for me with yet another complete embodiment of a self-surprising life.

Ms. McCrory had become world famous for dark and exotic roles onscreen, as the fiercely patrician witch Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies and the terrifying criminal matriarch Polly Gray in the BBC series “Peaky Blinders.” But for me, she was, above all, a bright creature of the stage and in herself a reason to make a theater trip to London.

Continue reading How Helen McCrory Shone, Even in a Haze of Mystery – April 17, 2021

Categories Announcement Helen Personal and Family Life Tributes

Helen McCrory Has Passed Away at the Age of 52 – April 16, 2021

Posted On Written By Gingersnap Comments Off on Helen McCrory Has Passed Away at the Age of 52 – April 16, 2021

Go Now, Little One

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | April 16, 2021

We are so shocked and saddened by the terrible news that Helen has passed away. We have Damian, Manon and Gulliver in our thoughts and hope they will find peace in the beautiful memories they created together. Helen was a beautiful soul, a brilliant actress, and a kick-ass woman. Please visit the Helen-McCrory.com Tribute Page to see all the memories people are sharing about her. If you would like leave your own heartfelt comments and condolences, please visit the Tribute Post here.

If you wish to make a donation, the McCrory-Lewis family has asked that donations be made to the Sir Hubert von Herkomer Arts Foundation here.