came first at primary school and then at St Bernard’s High School for Girls at Southend on Sea in school productions. Determined on a career in theatre, at 18 she auditioned for the National Youth Theatre and at 20 impressed early on stage at the Old Vic in her role as Cleopatra in Anthony and Cleopatra in 1965. The result of her work with the NYT was an invitation to join the Royal Shakespeare Company. A clutch of high-profile roles followed including Diana in All’s Well That Ends Well and Rosalind in As You Like It. She also appeared in touring productions, all the time adding to her reputation both for acting and as an independent-minded woman. In 1970, a documentary film Doing Her Own Thing about Helen and her time at the RSC was made and shown on TV. Throughout the ‘70s, she was often offered roles that showcased her feisty, passionate nature and she became a favourite in West End theatres. In 1972, she was famously dubbed “the sex queen of the Royal Shakespeare Company” by the BBC’s Michael Parkinson. In 1977 at the RSC in Stratford and the following year at the Aldwych Theatre, she played a steely Queen Margaret in the three parts of Henry VI. In 1979, she was winning praise as Isabella in Measure for Measure.
Helen Mirren A NATIONAL TREASURE TO describe actress Helen Mirren as the Queen of British theatre and film would definitely not be far from the truth. After all, Helen, now 75, has played a queen on film a total of six times and Queen Elizabeth II twice. In fact, she is the only actress to play both Queen Elizabeth I and II and won a BAFTA for her role as the latter in the 2006 film The Queen about the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death. 10
Perhaps she was always meant to play such regal roles as, although born into a working class family, her paternal grandfather was a Russian diplomat and her great, great, great, great grandfather was Field Marshal Kamensky, one of the Russian heroes of the Napoleonic wars. Helen Lydia Mironoff – her father changed the family name to Mirren by deed poll – she was the second of three children. Her introduction to acting
Probably inevitably, she made a breakthrough on Broadway and was subsequently twice nominated for Tony Awards as Best Actress. Later, in 2015, she won a Tony as Best Actress playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience which also won her an Olivier Award in the US, joining luminaries like Ingrid Bergman, Dame Maggie Smith and Al Pacino. Alongside her enviable theatrical career, Helen has appeared in a large number of films. Early on, these included A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Age of Consent, O Lucky Man! and Caligula. Pivotally, in 1980, she starred with Bob Hoskins in The Long Good Friday which really made film audiences sit up and notice her. Excalibur, 2010, White Nights, The Mosquito Coast and When the Whales Came followed. Her film repertoire was wide: The Madness of King George, Some Mother’s Son, The Prince of Egypt, The Cook,
