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Damian Lewis attended a special performance dedicated to his late wife Helen McCrory on Monday four months after her tragic death.
McCrory passed away on April 16 at age 52 following a brief battle with cancer. The Sir Hubert von Herkomer Arts Foundation, of which the “Peaky Blinders” actress was patron, performed “A Brave New World” as a tribute to her in London, U.K., on Monday.
Actress Sadie Frost, the organization’s founder and CEO Debbi Clark, and some of the young cast members, including Kalise Gatamba and Breana and Rihanna Caldeira, and directors Selina Giles and Lily Alice Clark, attended the event.
Clark paid tribute to “hero” McCrory on the HVH Arts website.
She wrote, “The shining light of my friend and hero Helen McCrory will live on forever in the work we do. We will be strong and try with all our might to smile today, but we will smile as that is what Helen McCrory did, she smiled, she gave, she enjoyed life to the full.
“Helen McCrory [was] a force of nature, passionate, dedicated to the arts and culture. Not only was she one of the world’s most brilliant actors, mesmerizing on-screen – off-screen she was fearless, she was funny, she was selfless, she was a philanthropist and gave so much to so many.”
The tribute continued, “Helen dedicated so much time off-screen to her work with me at HVH ARTS – she was our patron since we started our charity in 2013, which provides a gateway to the arts supporting disadvantaged children and young people by providing them with the inspiration and tools to develop life-long artistic passions, giving them access to free workshops in the arts.”
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“Today we have set up the McCrory Award in which all donations in the honour of Helen McCrory OBE will be put into this fund. The award will be given each year to support under privileged young people with their journey in the arts. To enable them to reach their full potential whether it be support in college fees, support for the resources needed to develop their skills in the discipline of their chosen medium, or support with one-on-one tuition in their art.
“The ‘McCrory Award’ will be dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people who are gifted in their art, yet many do not have access to the resources, the training, the income to support them fulfil their dream. The McCrory Award will make their dreams become a reality.
“Helen always believed that every child should have equal opportunities in the arts, she was a huge believer in that the arts should be accessible to every child.
“Helen was the most inspiring woman I have had the honour to call my friend, my patron, my beautiful one,” she concluded.
McCrory and Lewis married in 2007 and share two children together: daughter Manon, 14, and son Gulliver, 13.