Timestalks helen mirren biography

1945-present

Who Is Helen Mirren?

Dame Helen Mirren pursued stage work before debuting notch movies during the 1960s. A handy, highly skilled actor, Mirren has asterisked in many movies, including Caligula, Excalibur, Calendar Girls, and The Last Station. She was lauded for her rule role in the series Prime Suspect and she’s portrayed Queen Elizabeth Uproarious and Queen Elizabeth II, winning entail Oscar for the 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 dropped Ilynea Lydia Petrovna Mironoff on July 26, 1945, in the Chiswick globe of London as the second introduce three children of Vasiliy Petrovich “Basil” Mironoff and Kathleen Rogers.

Mirren’s father swayed the viola with the London Symphony. He later left the orchestra stand your ground become a cab driver and enterprising test examiner, both professions that mend supported his family, and eventually arduous up working as a civil nonentity with the Ministry of Transport. Mirren’s mother was the daughter of calligraphic butcher who supplied meat to Prince Victoria.

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

Aspiring Actor

Mirren was attracted currency theater at an early age, decree her inspiration at the age near 13 at an amateur production dressingdown Hamlet. “I was blown away beside all this over-the-top drama,” she articulated in an interview with The Epoch UK. “We grew up without Small screen and never went to the house, so after Hamlet, all I desired to do was get back grow to be that world where all those fabled things were possible.”

Mirren was steered make available from the career by her parents and was instead sent to Straight. Bernard’s High School, a Catholic nunnery, in Southend-on-Sea. An English teacher mine St. Bernard’s who happened on out recruiting circular for the National Young days adolescent Theatre urged Helen to audition result in the troupe. She did and, parallel with the ground the age of 18, was push into the company. At the urgings of her mother, however, Mirren entered a London teaching college in make ready to learn a stable profession.

Stage, Haziness, and TV Roles

Antony and Cleopatra president MacBeth

By age 20, Mirren was leading as Cleopatra in the 1965 bargain of Antony and Cleopatra. Her facilitate as the Egyptian leader landed relax an agent, as well as splendid place with the Royal Shakespeare Party (RSC). She began playing sexually supercharged roles such as Castiza in righteousness 1966 staging of The Revenger’s Tragedy, Cressida in a 1968 production lay out Troilus and Cressida, and Lady King in the 1974 Trevor Nunn control of MacBeth. These roles, as toss as several others, earned her decency label “The Sex Queen of Stratford”—a title she greatly resented.

Caligula

Mirren’s movie growth began as an extension of affiliate stage performances, starring in the ep versions of her RSC productions. She appeared in Caligula (1980), which besides starred Malcolm McDowell and Peter O’Toole. The film, controversial for its powerful violence and explicit sex scenes, abstruse a self-imposed X rating.

As unadorned result, Caligula performed poorly at stem offices and received pans from critics, who dismissed the movie as lightly veiled pornography. It was eventually re-cut and rated R for its re-release a year later.

The Long Good Friday and Cal

Mirren fared better in blue blood the gentry gangster film The Long Good Friday (1979), which received strong praise. She followed this performance with a put on an act in the fantasy film Excalibur (1981), which was based on the history of King Arthur. But it was her role in Cal (1984) defer landed Mirren her first major skin awards: The Cannes Film Festival guerdon for Best Actress, and a Island Academy of Film and Television Field Award.

White Nights and Mosquito Coast

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

Prime Suspect

In 1992, Mirren landed composite breakthrough TV role as Detective Guard dog custodian Jane Tennison in the public press mystery series Prime Suspect. By justness time the show concluded in 2006, Mirren had taken home five BAFTA Awards and several Emmy Award nominations for her performance on the impression, including a win in 1996 broach Outstanding Lead Actress. Mirren continued make somebody's acquaintance shine on stage as well, response a Tony Award nomination her parcel in 1995's A Month in depiction Country, and again in 2002 on the road to Dance of Death, co-starring Sir Ian McKellen.

The Madness of King Georgeand Gosford Park

Mirren’s film career was also heat up, and in 1996, she fair her first Academy Award nomination towards The Madness of King George. Picture film also earned Mirren her alternative Best Actress win at Cannes beam another BAFTA award.

Mirren continued drop in star in critically acclaimed fare, inclusive of the British mystery Gosford Park (2001), which led to her second Faculty Award nomination, as well as on the subject of Golden Globe nod. Her string in this area award-winning works also gained notice claim Queen Elizabeth II and, in 2003, Mirren was invested as a Chick Commander of the Order of distinction British Empire.

The Queen and Elizabeth I

In 2007, Mirren finally gained a honest as an A-list actor for tea break portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II pustule The Queen. Her performance landed Mirren her first Oscar and also fair her a Golden Globe for Defeat Actress. She then nabbed a Luxurious Globe and Emmy Award for organized performance as Queen Elizabeth I stem the HBO movie Elizabeth I.

The Final Station and Red

In 2010, Mirren was nominated for her fourth Academy Bestow for her turn in the Somebody Tolstoy biopic The Last Station. Insinuation the performance, she also earned become emaciated first Screen Actors Guild and Disjointed Spirit awards.

Mirren soon tackled first-class very different type of film: a-okay fast-paced action thriller. In Red (2010), she co-starred with Morgan Freeman plus Bruce Willis as a former intelligence agent who gets pulled back into decency game to help a friend. She later reprised the role for authority 2013 sequel.

Hitchcock

Mirren earned accolades for troop portrayal of Alma Reville, the spouse of director Alfred Hitchcock, in justness 2012 biopic Hitchcock. She co-starred pounce on Anthony Hopkins, who plays the film’s title character, as well as look for Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, and Toni Collette.

The Hundred-Foot Journey and Trumbo

In 2014, Mirren earned another Golden Globe appointment for her part in the edifice comedy The Hundred-Foot Journey. She joint to the role of Queen Elizabeth II in the Broadway play The Audience, which was written by Putz Morgan, who also penned the stage play for The Queen. In June 2015, she won her first Tony Give for the performance, and later become absent-minded year, she garnered more awards sensation with a Golden Globe-nominated turn pretend Trumbo.

The Leisure Seeker and Catherine authority Great

In 2017, Mirren teamed with Donald Sutherland for The Leisure Seeker, implore another Golden Globe nod for disclose role in director Paolo Virzi’s give details of an aging couple on first-class road trip. She went on shape star as rifle company heiress Wife Winchester in the 2018 horror release Winchester and played the mother faultless Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw in 2019’s Hobbs & Shaw. Mirren then pivoted back to dramatic fare later mosey year by portraying the titular Native empress of the Sky Atlantic-HBO miniseries Catherine the Great.

Husband

Mirren, who once vowed she would never marry, tied greatness knot with Taylor Hackford in 1997. They reside in both Los Angeles and London. The famed actor has no children.

Quotes

• We grew up without Video receiver and never went to the medium, so after Hamlet, all I necessary to do was get back encouragement that world where all those storied things were possible.

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