Tragic Details About The Cast Of Peaky Blinders

Steven Knight's "Peaky Blinders" is without doubt one of the best period gangster dramas of all time, and easily one of the best crime shows on Netflix. The entire "Peaky Blinders" timeline spans the terrors of World War I to the horrific early years of World War II and the shocking major death in "Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man," detailing the Shelby family's troubles and victories during the interwar era and beyond. During this period, Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) and his family weave and undo numerous criminal and political plots, while fighting powerful adversaries left and right.      

The untold truth of "Peaky Blinders" reveals many interesting things about the gang's real and fictional history. As it turns out, many actors who play these intriguing characters have also faced their share of monumental events — but not all of them have been very nice. Here's a look at some of the setbacks and tragic events that have happened to the cast of "Peaky Blinders." 

When it comes to the main cast of "Peaky Blinders," the most tragic event during the show's run was no doubt the devastating death of Helen McCrory on April 16, 2021. McCrory, who played Polly Gray on the show, was just 52 years old when she died of breast cancer.  A prolific performer, McCrory appeared in over 70 projects, notably playing Cherie Blair in the Academy Award-winning Stephen Frears docudrama "The Queen" and Narcissa Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" film series. She was also a notable philanthropist who was involved in numerous charities.

McCrory's Aunt Polly was one of the strongest and most pivotal characters on the show, and she was also extremely beloved among her peers. She chose to deal with her illness privately, only informing a few trusted friends and loved ones about the situation. As such, her far too early death shocked and saddened many, and caused an outpouring of tributes and fond memories from her mourning coworkers. "Helen was one of the great actors of her generation," Steven Knight told the BBC. "She was so powerful and controlled and this is so sad."

Cillian Murphy is the undisputed star of "Peaky Blinders." From Tommy Shelby's dramatic horseback entrance in the Season 1 premiere to the events of "Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man," the intelligent but emotionally volatile character is never far from the spotlight, and much of the show is filtered through his actions and experiences. 

There are many things most people probably don't know about Cillian Murphy because the actor is very private, including his personal tragedies and turmoils. However, there is one tragedy the "Peaky Blinders" actor has been very vocal about: the effect that the loss of his co-star, Helen McCrory, had on him. The two had been quite close; Murphy considered McCrory to be his closest coworker on the show, and praised her professional abilities and personal qualities.

McCrory's 2021 death impacted Murphy so much that he found it hard to rewatch old "Peaky Blinders" episodes in preparation for "Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man" — simply because seeing McCrory as Polly Gray brought back so many memories. "[Watching the show] was also quite heartbreaking, you know, because I was watching Helen McCrory, and we lost her," Murphy told GQ in a 2024 interview.  

On "Peaky Blinders," Paul Anderson plays Arthur, the volatile and haunted eldest Shelby brother, whose fists are always hard but whose wits can't quite match Tommy's. Though he's surprisingly sensitive in secret, Arthur tends to come across as the most traditionally thuggish of the show's main protagonists, and it often falls on him to represent the traditional gang activity side of the Peaky Blinders. 

While he's not exactly on par with his character when it comes to illegal activities, Anderson himself has also found himself in trouble with the law. On December 26, 2023, the actor was arrested for possession of drugs. During the court hearing in January 2024, Anderson's lawyer argued that the drugs had been given to the actor after he slipped into the Arthur role when some fans recognized him. Anderson ultimately received a fine of £1,345 (roughly $1,790). 

Despite his crucial role in the main series, Anderson doesn't make an appearance in "Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man." This seems to be largely unconnected to his legal troubles, however. As Steven Knight told The Hollywood Reporter, the decision was dictated by plot reasons. "What I'll say is that the story determines the cast, and the story was set," the series mastermind said. "But in terms of Paul, all I'll say is that he's a fantastic actor."

A dog can be a man's best friend. When it comes to Academy Award nominee Tom Hardy – who played the cunning and complex gangster Alfie Solomons on "Peaky Blinders" — and his rescue pup Woody (short for Woodstock Yamaduki), it very much sounds like this was the case. Hardy rescued the stray when he spotted him running onto a highway while filming a project in Atlanta, and the two became inseparable after that — so inseparable, in fact, that Woody made an appearance on "Peaky Blinders" himself. 

Unfortunately, this particular story of a man and a dog lasted for far less time than Hardy would have wished. Woody passed away in 2017 at the relatively young age of six, due to an aggressive polymyositis — an incurable condition where the immune system starts to attack the body's appendicular muscles. 

The devastated actor celebrated the memory of his dog with a lengthy post on his Tumblr site, where he recounted his first meeting with Woody, as well as the many ways the dog touched people during their time together.  

Looper's readers have deemed that Season 1 is the absolute best season of "Peaky Blinders," and Sam Neill's magnificently wicked Chester Campbell is a major part of the season's allure. The ruthless inspector is the first truly major adversary who poses a threat to the Peaky Blinders, and continues to terrorize them well into Season 2. 

The actor who plays Campbell, Sam Neill, is considerably less threatening than his "Peaky Blinders" villain. Arguably best known for his role as Dr. Alan Grant in the "Jurassic Park" franchise, the affable Neill splits his time between acting, running the Two Paddocks vineyard in New Zealand, and antics like naming his farm animals after fellow actors. However, the actor's life also has a darker side: He's living with a stage three blood cancer called angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, which was diagnosed in 2022. 

Though his condition was in check as of 2023, he will need chemotherapy for the rest of his life. Regardless, Neill has made his peace with the situation. "I'm not afraid to die, but it would annoy me," he told The Guardian. "Because I'd really like another decade or two, you know? We've built all these lovely terraces, we've got these olive trees and cypresses, and I want to be around to see it all mature. And I've got my lovely little grandchildren. I want to see them get big. But as for the dying? I couldn't care less."

Tommy Flanagan plays Arthur Shelby Sr. in "Peaky Blinders," and as viewers can see, he boasts a very noticeable set of facial scars. Flanagan's "Glasgow smile" isn't the work of the makeup department. Instead, his scarring is very real, and he acquired it in a frankly terrifying-sounding alley fight.  

The actor recounted the experience during an appearance on the "Inside of You" podcast, revealing that he was 25 years old and playing a DJ set at a Glasgow club when a group approached him and told him they'd killed his brother. His immediate reflex was to challenge all these people in a fight outside, which turned out to be a bad move because they drew knives. Apart from the "Glasgow smile" scars, he was stabbed multiple times, and his life was in genuine danger. "I went to a knife fight without a knife," Flanagan explained, "and I wound up looking like this, and they put holes in me."

There was a silver lining, however. After the incident, an acquaintance asked Flanagan to stop pulling stunts like this and join their theater company. This got him into acting — and judging by his roles in projects like "Sons of Anarchy," "Peaky Blinders," and "Braveheart," he hasn't done too badly for himself. 

"Peaky Blinders" Season 4 found a memorable actor to play its main villain, the American mobster Luca Changretta. Adrien Brody was already an Academy Award winner when he joined the show's cast, and his portrayal makes abundantly clear that Luca is a man who can intimidate even Tommy Shelby himself. 

Brody also had experiences other than acting under his belt by the time he joined the show. In 1992, he was driving his motorcycle in Los Angeles when the car in front of him made an unexpected turn, leading to a very nasty-sounding collision. "I had a bad accident," he told the Los Angeles Times in 2007. "That was about people making a left in L.A. when the light turns yellow and they don't look. I broadsided the car and ended up in the next crosswalk, and it was pretty severe."  

Aidan Gillen has played many indelible characters in a number of memorable movies and TV shows, and is arguably best known for his roles as Tommy Carcetti on the classic crime drama "The Wire" and the manipulative Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish on "Game of Thrones." However, he's also made his mark on "Peaky Blinders," playing the feared Aberama Gold. 

As it happens, his big breakthrough on "The Wire" coincided with one of the saddest events of his life. While he was filming the show in the U.S., his father grew ill and ultimately died in his native Ireland, so he had to juggle his major role with a family tragedy. In an interview with the Irish Independent, Gillen discussed his memories of this particularly challenging era in his life. 

"My time in Baltimore, a city I grew to love quickly, and spent a couple of years in, will forever be spliced with my father's [death]," Gillen said. "Mostly because I was there for a lot of it, walking along the waterfront, learning lines and worrying about him, as much as you can." 

Cosmo Jarvis is known for his roles as John Blackthorne on the historical prestige drama "Shogun" and Elliott in the Alex Garland-Ray Mendoza war film "Warfare." Before that, however, he played Tommy Shelby's shell-shocked friend Barney Thompson on "Peaky Blinders." 

While Jarvis has established himself as a successful actor, he's also dealing with type one diabetes, which prevents the body from naturally making insulin and can adversely affect organs and nerves over time. Based on how he explained his approach to celebrating his 30th birthday in a 2020 interview with The Guardian, Jarvis manages his situation with a very dark sense of humor. "I think I was just [filming], and probably telling somebody about how I didn't want to celebrate my birthday because I'll be dead in 10 years," he said. "Type one diabetes catches up with you."

Johnny Dogs is an important and trusted member of Tommy Shelby's inner circle. He plays a pivotal supporting role in all six seasons of "Peaky Blinders" and also makes an appearance in "Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man." The character is played by Packy Lee, who hails from Belfast, Northern Ireland and has appeared in over 30 movies and shows. While "Peaky Blinders" is his most famous project, he has also played roles on shows like "Clean Break" and "The Frankenstein Chronicles." 

This is remarkable considering how little support Lee had for his acting aspirations when he was growing up. In fact, when he was still in school, Lee was widely bullied because he wanted to focus on acting. Even the teachers were of no help: he said some of them outright laughed at him when he wanted to switch to a school with more opportunities to study drama, and others outright tried to convince his parents that acting was a dead end. 

In the end, Lee persevered and then some. Johnny Dogs was originally intended to appear in just one episode, but the actor handled the role so well that he was promoted to a recurring character.

Birmingham preacher Jeremiah Jesus (Benjamin Zephaniah) served with Tommy Shelby in World War I, and despite his personal decision to avoid weapons after the war was over, he remains a staunch ally of the Peaky Blinders. 

Notably, the character is Zephaniah's only major role outside the 1990 Tim Roth drama "Farendj," in which he played the supporting character Moses. Apart from these projects, Zephaniah only appeared sporatically in guest star roles, and the bulk of his acting work was in the 1990s. This is because Zephaniah — a Birmingham native himself — wasn't primarily an actor. He was known as a prominent and respected British writer and poet, as well as an outspoken activist on various social issues. 

Zephaniah died on December 7, 2023, after being diagnosed with a brain tumor roughly two months prior. He was 65. "Benjamin was a truly gifted and beautiful human being," Cillian Murphy said about his colleague's tragic death in a statement (via the BBC). "A generational poet, writer, musician and activist. A proud Brummie and a Peaky Blinder. I'm so saddened by this news."