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| Helen Mirren at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party at Morton's The Steakhouse in West Hollywood, California, February 25, 2007. |
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| wwwhelenmirren.com |
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| Helen Mirren |
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Forecourt Ceremony held on Monday, March 28, 2011
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Born: Helen Lydia Mironoff, July 26, 1945, in Hammersmith, London, England
Age at the time of the ceremony: 65 |
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Helen Mirren can play anything. Rising through the ranks of British actors, Mirren has always been an "up for anything" performer. She is in great demand by producers of both arthouse flicks and mainstream Hollywood action movies. Now, who else may make that claim?
Mirren's father's family were Russian diplomats, who became stranded in London after the Russian Revolution. Pyotr Mironov drove a cab to support his family. Helen's father met an English woman of Russian heritage;
Helen is the second of three children, who grew up in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex.
In school, Helen participated in theatricals; upon graduating, she auditioned for the National Youth Theatre, was accepted, and before long was headlining in Shakespearean plays at the Old Vic. Her work there led to her joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966. Mirren has continued to work in theatre while doing her film roles.
Starting out with director Peter Hall, she appeared as Hermia in A Midsummer's Night's Dream (released in Janaury 1969) with Derek Godfrey as Theseus. Mirren got second billing under James Mason in director Michael Powell's (yes, that Michael Powell) Age of Consent (released in May 1969).
A documentary about Mirren's work at the RSC was filmed in 1970 and was called Doing Her Own Thing, aired over the ITV network in 1971. She played Gosh Boyle for enfant terrible director Ken Russell in Savage Messiah (released in June 1972) with Scott Anthony as sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. Mirren handled multiple roles in director Lindsey Anderson's O Lucky Man! (released in May 1973) with Malcolm McDowell.
In a more classic mode, Mirren played Ophelia and Gertrude to Tony and David Meyer's Hamlet (released in 1976) with (are you sitting down?) Quentin Crisp as Polonius, then got talked into appearing as Caesonia, wife of Roman Emperor Caligula (released in August 1979) with Malcolm McDowell.
She starred in the ganster picture The Long Good Friday (released in August 1980) with Bob Hoskins, then played Morgana in director John Boorman's Excalibur (which played the Chinese in April 1981) with Nigel Terry as King Arthur; for director Taylor Hackford, she appeared in the Russian ballet drama White Nights (released in December 1985) with Mikhail Baryshnikov.
For director Peter Weir, Mirren played Harrison Ford's wife in The Mosquito Coast (released in November 1986). She starred as Michael Gambon's wife in the arthouse hit The Cook, the Theif, His Wife & Her Lover (premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 1989) with Richard Bohringer. Mirren worked for a long time as detective Jane Tennison in a series of Prime Suspect television movies aired over ITV and PBS from April 1991 to October 2006.
In another arthouse hit, Mirren played Queen Charlotte in The Madness of King George (released in December 1994) with Nigel Hawthorne in the title role, and played the redoubtable Ayn Rand in The Passion of Ayn Rand aired over Showtime in January 1999 with Eric Stoltz.
For director Robert Atman, Mirren played head housekeeper in the mystery Gosford Park (released in December 2001) with Maggie Smith, and continued to show her wild side in Calendar Girls (released in December 2003) with Julie Walters. She also appeared in the Hollywood comedy Raising Helen (released in May 2004) with Kate Hudson.
Delving into British royalty, she played the title role in Elizabeth I aired over HBO in April 2006 with Hugh Darcy as the Earl of Essex, and then played Queen Elizabeth II (and would win an Oscar for Best Actress) for director Stephen Frears in The Queen (which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2006) with James Cromwell as Prince Philip.
In Hollywood once more, she played
Nicolas Cage's mother in National Treasure: Book of Secrets (released in December 2007). On the arthouse side, she played the wife of Christopher Plummer's Count Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station (which Premiered at the Chinese on November 3, 2009).
In a gerder-reversal for director Julie Traymor, Mirren played "Prospera" in The Tempest (which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2010) with Felicity Jones. Then she took the John Gielgud role of Hobson in the remake of Arthur (released in April 2011) with Russell Brand.
She played the wife of director Alfred Hitchcock (which Premiered at the Chinese on November 1,2012) with Anthony Hopkins in the title role, and essayed Queen Elizabeth II once more in The Audience (released in June 2013) with Edward Fox as Winston Chirchill. For director Lasse Hallström, she starred as a bitter restaurateur in The Hundred-Foot Journey (released in August 2014) with Om Puri (we love Om Puri). Mirren played Maria Altmann, who tried to get a Gustav Klimpt painting, swiped from her family by the Nazi's, in Woman in Gold (released in April 2015) with Ryan Reynolds.
Mirren played Mother Ginger (whatever that is) for Lasse Hallström once more in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (released in November 2018) with Makenzie Foy. She starred in Luc Bresson's "Beautiful woman becomes 'the world's most feared assassin' " Anna (released in June 2019) with Sasha Luss in the title role, she has a similar role in Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw (which played the Chinese in August 2019) with Dwayne Johnson.
Mirren stars in the title role in HBO's series Catherine the Great stating in October 2019. She also starred in the crime movie The Good Liar (released in November 2019) with Ian McKellan. She stars with Matthew Goode in The Duke (shown at the Venice Film Festival in September 2020). For extra points, Mirren joined the cast of F9: The Fast Saga as "Queenie" (and which played the Chinese in June 2021).
Mirren makes an appearance as "Hespera" in the film Shazam! Fury of the Gods with Zahary Levi (which played the Chinese in March 2023).
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Helen Mirren Forecourt block. Executed by unknown, Monday, March 28, 2011. 48 x 36 inches. |
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Helen Mirren Forecourt ceremony, Monday, March 28, 2011. Helen Mirren gives out a grin while placing her hands in the cement backwards. |
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