Damian Lewis paid tribute to his late wife Helen McCrory as he declared they are both "thrilled" after the actor was made a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
The 51-year-old television, film and stage star has been honoured for his services to drama and charity.
During the coronavirus lockdowns, Lewis and McCrory supported Feed NHS - which he co-founded - 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.
He was previously made an OBE in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to drama and his new honour comes after his wife, acclaimed actress McCrory, died in April 2021 at the age of 52 following a battle with cancer.
Lewis said: "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."
Lewis and McCrory worked with restaurant Leon and other companies such as hospitality provider BaxterStorey to help provide meals for NHS workers during their Feed NHS initiative.
The JustGiving page shows they have so far reached £1,262,162 of their £2million target, which was originally set at £1m but surpassed this total in April 2020.
Lewis is best known for his roles in HBO miniseries Band of Brothers as Amry Major Richard Winters, Nicholas Brody in Showtime series Homeland and Henry VIII in Wolf Hall.
He stepped down from his most recent high-profile role in Billions last year, where he played ambitious hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod for five series.
Lewis graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1993 before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company.
It was during a Jonathan Kent production of Hamlet where Lewis earned his big break, playing Laertes and was spotted by award-winning director Steven Spielberg, who cast him in Band of Brothers.
In 2010, he became a trade justice ambassador for the charity Christian Aid.
McCrory, who was best known for her roles as Elizabeth "Polly" Gray in Peaky Blinders and Narcissa Malfoy in the final three Harry Potter films, died at home in London. They share two children.
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