Damian Lewis has been made a CBE after an acting career spanning 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 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.Last year he bowed out of his most recent high-profile role, that of ambitious hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod in Billions, after five series.During the coronavirus lockdowns, he and his late wife Helen McCrory co-founded Feed NHS, a fundraiser to give food from high street restaurants to NHS staff and by April 2020 they had raised around £1million for the charity.News of his honour was previously rumoured, with a friend telling The Sun: ‘This is richly deserved for all the work Damian has done for so many people with so much done with little or no public fanfare.’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.
