Mirren, Helen (1945-…), is a British motion-picture, stage, and television actress. She has won widespread popularity and prominent awards for her work. For example, Mirren won the award for best actress at the Cannes Festival for her performance in The Madness of King George (1995). She has won several Emmy Awards, including two for her portrayal of a police inspector in the English TV series “Prime Suspect” (1991-2006). Mirren received the Academy Award for best actress for her role as Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006). She won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Elizabeth II in a 2015 production of the play The Audience. Mirren also has won several Golden Globe Awards for her acting.
Helen Mirren was born on July 26, 1945, in Chiswick, London, England. Her real name is Ilynea Lydia Mironoff. She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1967 after several years with the National Youth Theatre. She remained with the RSC for eight years, except for a period of absence in 1972 and 1973, when she toured Africa and the United States with Peter Brook’s Centre Internationale de Recherches Theatrale.
Mirren distinguished herself in a number of classic stage roles. In 1970, she played Ophelia in Hamlet, by the English playwright William Shakespeare. And in 1974, she played Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Mirren had the leading female role in a production of The Duchess of Malfi, by the English playwright John Webster, in 1980. She also had the female lead in a production of A Month in the Country, by the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, in 1994; and in a production of The Dance of Death, by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg, in 2001. Additionally, Mirren has appeared in plays by such modern writers as the British playwrights David Hare and Stephen Poliakoff.
Mirren made her motion-picture debut in 1967. Since then, she has appeared in many other films, including The Long Good Friday (1980); The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989); Gosford Park (2001); Last Orders (2002); National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007); Inkheart (2008); State of Play and The Last Station (both 2009); and The Debt, Love Ranch, and Red (all 2010). Mirren’s later films include Arthur (2011); Hitchcock (2012); the TV movie Phil Spector (2013); The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014); Eye in the Sky, Trumbo, and Woman in Gold (all 2015); Collateral Beauty (2016); and Golda (2023). She has also voiced characters for some animated feature films.
Mirren’s notable television credits include starring roles in the miniseries Elizabeth I (2005) and Catherine the Great (2019). She co-starred with American actor Harrison Ford in the series “1923” (2022-2023).
In 1997, Mirren married the American film director Taylor Hackford. In 2003, she was made a dame commander of the Order of the British Empire and became known as Dame Helen Mirren.
