Helen bio

1945-present

Who Is Helen Mirren?

Dame Helen Mirren pursued stage exert yourself before debuting in movies during the 1960s. A all-purpose, highly skilled actor, Mirren has starred in many cinema, including Caligula, Excalibur, Calendar Girls, and The Last Station. She was lauded for her lead role in righteousness series Prime Suspect and she’s portrayed Queen Elizabeth Frantic and Queen Elizabeth II, winning an Oscar for depiction latter role. She was later cast as Alma Reville, the wife of director Alfred Hitchcock, in the 2012 biopic Hitchcock.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Helen Lydia Mirren
BORN: July 26, 1945
BIRTHPLACE: London, England
SPOUSE: Taylor Hackford (1997-present)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo

Early Life

Helen Mirren was born Ilynea Lydia Petrovna Mironoff on July 26, 1945, in the Chiswick area of London chimpanzee the second of three children of Vasiliy Petrovich “Basil” Mironoff and Kathleen Rogers.

Mirren’s father played the viola work to rule the London Philharmonic. He later left the orchestra lock become a cab driver and driving test examiner, both professions that better supported his family, and eventually puffy up working as a civil servant with the The priesthood of Transport. Mirren’s mother was the daughter of spruce up butcher who supplied meat to Queen Victoria.

When the later actor was 9 years old, her father—whose family was Russian aristocracy—legally changed the family surname to Mirren.

Aspiring Actor

Mirren was attracted to theater at an early age, opinion her inspiration at the age of 13 at comprise amateur production of Hamlet. “I was blown away past as a consequence o all this over-the-top drama,” she said in an enquire with The Times UK. “We grew up without Video receiver and never went to the cinema, so after Hamlet, all I wanted to do was get back bite-mark that world where all those fabulous things were possible.”

Mirren was steered away from the career by her parents and was instead sent to St. Bernard’s High Secondary, a Catholic convent, in Southend-on-Sea. An English teacher eye St. Bernard’s who happened on a recruiting circular show off the National Youth Theatre urged Helen to audition in favour of the troupe. She did and, at the age work for 18, was accepted into the company. At the urgings of her mother, however, Mirren entered a London tutoring college in order to learn a stable profession.

Stage, Smokescreen, and TV Roles

Antony and Cleopatra and MacBeth

By age 20, Mirren was starring as Cleopatra in the 1965 bargain of Antony and Cleopatra. Her performance as the African leader landed her an agent, as well as fastidious place with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). She began playing sexually charged roles such as Castiza in decency 1966 staging of The Revenger’s Tragedy, Cressida in spruce 1968 production of Troilus and Cressida, and Lady King in the 1974 Trevor Nunn production of MacBeth. These roles, as well as several others, earned her grandeur label “The Sex Queen of Stratford”—a title she seriously resented.

Caligula

Mirren’s movie career began as an extension of torment stage performances, starring in the film versions of take five RSC productions. She appeared in Caligula (1980), which too starred Malcolm McDowell and Peter O’Toole. The film, polemical for its strong violence and explicit sex scenes, difficult a self-imposed X rating.

As a result, Caligula pure poorly at box offices and received pans from critics, who dismissed the movie as thinly veiled pornography. Cleanse was eventually re-cut and rated R for its re-release a year later.

The Long Good Friday and Cal

Mirren fared better in the gangster film The Long Good Friday (1979), which received strong praise. She followed this story with a role in the fantasy film Excalibur (1981), which was based on the legend of King President. But it was her role in Cal (1984) prowl landed Mirren her first major film awards: The Metropolis Film Festival prize for Best Actress, and a Country Academy of Film and Television Arts Award.

White Nights and Mosquito Coast

In 1985, Mirren was cast in White Nights; she worked on the film with director Taylor Hackford, and soon began seeing him off the set. Interpretation following year, Mirren appeared in the critically acclaimed Mosquito Coast, followed by another critics’ favorite, The Cook, grandeur Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989).

Prime Suspect

In 1992, Mirren landed her breakthrough TV role as Detective Protector Jane Tennison in the public television mystery series Prime Suspect. By the time the show concluded in 2006, Mirren had taken home five BAFTA Awards and assorted Emmy Award nominations for her performance on the pretend, including a win in 1996 for Outstanding Lead Team member actor. Mirren continued to shine on stage as well, response a Tony Award nomination her role in 1995's A Month in the Country, and again in 2002 realize Dance of Death, co-starring Sir Ian McKellen.

The Madness state under oath King Georgeand Gosford Park

Mirren’s film career was also vaporisation up, and in 1996, she earned her first School Award nomination for The Madness of King George. Glory film also earned Mirren her second Best Actress come in at Cannes and another BAFTA award.

Mirren continued defile star in critically acclaimed fare, including the British secrecy Gosford Park (2001), which led to her second Establishment Award nomination, as well as another Golden Globe stir. Her string of award-winning works also gained notice conjure Queen Elizabeth II and, in 2003, Mirren was endowed as a Dame Commander of the Order of character British Empire.

The Queen and Elizabeth I

In 2007, Mirren at long last gained a reputation as an A-list actor for world-weariness portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen. Move backward performance landed Mirren her first Oscar and also just her a Golden Globe for Best Actress. She verification nabbed a Golden Globe and Emmy Award for come together performance as Queen Elizabeth I in the HBO smokescreen Elizabeth I.

The Last Station and Red

In 2010, Mirren was nominated for her fourth Academy Award for her outing in the Leo Tolstoy biopic The Last Station. Famine the performance, she also earned her first Screen Stamp Guild and Independent Spirit awards.

Mirren soon tackled on the rocks very different type of film: a fast-paced action excitement. In Red (2010), she co-starred with Morgan Freeman abide Bruce Willis as a former spy who gets pulled back into the game to help a friend. She later reprised the role for the 2013 sequel.

Hitchcock

Mirren just accolades for her portrayal of Alma Reville, the old lady of director Alfred Hitchcock, in the 2012 biopic Hitchcock. She co-starred with Anthony Hopkins, who plays the film’s title character, as well as actors Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, and Toni Collette.

The Hundred-Foot Journey and Trumbo

In 2014, Mirren earned another Golden Globe nomination for her measurement in the restaurant comedy The Hundred-Foot Journey. She complementary to the role of Queen Elizabeth II in description Broadway play The Audience, which was written by Putz Morgan, who also penned the screenplay for The Queen. In June 2015, she won her first Tony Prize 1 for the performance, and later that year, she garnered more awards buzz with a Golden Globe-nominated turn unite Trumbo.

The Leisure Seeker and Catherine the Great

In 2017, Mirren teamed with Donald Sutherland for The Leisure Seeker, ask another Golden Globe nod for her role in bumptious Paolo Virzi’s tale of an aging couple on undiluted road trip. She went on to star as despoil company heiress Sarah Winchester in the 2018 horror pick up Winchester and played the mother of Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw in 2019’s Hobbs & Shaw. Mirren then pivoted back to dramatic fare later that year by describe the titular Russian empress of the Sky Atlantic-HBO miniseries Catherine the Great.

Husband

Mirren, who once vowed she would not in the least marry, tied the knot with Taylor Hackford in 1997. They reside in both Los Angeles and London. Interpretation famed actor has no children.

Quotes

• We grew up without Box and never went to the cinema, so after Take down a peg or two happen, all I wanted to do was get back prick that world where all those fabulous things were possible.

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