Biography for
Helen Mirren More at IMDb Pro »

Date of Birth

26 July 1945, Chiswick, London, England, UK

Birth Name

Illiana Lydia Petrovna Mironova

Nickname

Popper

Height

5' 4" (1.63 m)

Spouse

Taylor Hackford

(31 December 1997 - present)

Trivia

Her grandfather Piotr Vasilievich Mironoff was a Tsarist (White Russian) aristocrat who was in London negotiating an arms deal for the World War I when the 1917 Russian Revolution stranded him there. His wife and son (Helen's father) joined him in London.

Before marrying director Taylor Hackford in 1997, she had lived with him in Los Angeles since 1986.

Used to work in Southend on Sea; Essex; UK at an amusement park "The Kursaal" as a "blagger" to attract customers on to rides.

Made a DBE (Dame of the British Empire) in the Queen's Birthday Honours, June 2003.

John Boorman said he cast her opposite Nicol Williamson in Excalibur (1981), against both of their protests, because he felt their dislike of each other made them perfect as rivals Morgana and Merlin.

Measurements: 36C-25-36 (starlet days), 38C-26-37 (on "Prime Suspect"-1996), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

She allegedly refused the C.B.E. (Commander of order of the British Empire) in 1996.

Nominated for Best Actress, Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for her performance of "Orpheus Descending" at the Donmar Warehouse. [2001]

Nominated for Best Actress, Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for her performance in "Mourning Becomes Electra" at the Royal National Theatre: Lyttelton Stage. [2004]

Became an Associate Member of RADA.

Nominated for Best Actress, Tony Award for "Dance of Death" by August Strindberg. [2002]

Despite her Russian birth name and ancestry, she is not fluent in Russian.

Her great-great-great-great-grandfather was field-marshal Kamensky, one of the Russian heroes of the Napoleonic wars.

She is the only actress to play both Queen Elizabeth I (in "Elizabeth I" (2005)) and Queen Elizabeth II (The Queen (2006)).

At the premiere of The Queen (2006) at the Venice Film Festival, her performance received a 5 minute standing ovation.

Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 2004.

Played a Queen a total of six times: The Queen (2006), "Elizabeth I" (2005), The Prince of Egypt (1998), The Snow Queen (1995), The Madness of King George (1994), and Caligola (1979).

Became the third person, after Sigourney Weaver and Joan Plowright, to win two Golden Globes for acting in the same year. The characters she played were both Queens of England, Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II.

She dedicated her BAFTA win for The Queen (2006) (for Best Actress in a Leading Role) to Ian Richardson for playing a huge part in her success story. She said (in her acceptance speech) that Richardson was very supportive towards her when she started out acting, and without him she may not have been so successful. She dedicated this award two days after Richardson died. [2007]

Nominated for Best Actress, Tony Award for "A Month in the Country" by Ivan Turgenev. [1995]

She and her husband Taylor Hackford are both Oscar-winners.

Is fluent in French.

She currently owns a house in Los Angeles, London and the South of France.

According to the April 2007 issue of Architectural Digest, She and her husband have sold their estate in New Orleans, which still remains her favorite American city.

She won an Oscar for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006), making her the most recent of eleven actors to win the Award for playing a real person who was still alive at the evening of the Award ceremony (as of 2007). The other ten actors and their respective performances are: Spencer Tracy for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938), Gary Cooper for playing Alvin C. York in Sergeant York (1941), Patty Duke for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962), Jason Robards for playing Benjamin Bradlee in All the President's Men (1976), Robert De Niro for playing Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (1980), Sissy Spacek for playing Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), Susan Sarandon for playing Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995), Geoffrey Rush for playing David Helfgott in Shine (1996), Julia Roberts for playing Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000) and Jim Broadbent for playing John Bayley in Iris (2001/I).

Was voted 2nd in Entertainment Weekly's Entertainers of the Year in December 2006.

Won Film Achievement, Greatest Britons. [2007]

Won 29 major awards for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006), including all the awards that are considered the biggest (except Cannes). She was also nominated for 3 more awards for the same film.

Stepmother of Rio Hackford and Alexander Hackford.

Sister of Peter Basil Mironoff and Katherine Mironoff.

Daughter of Vasily Mironoff and Kathleen Rogers.

Is one of five actresses to have won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award. The others in chronological order are Julia Roberts for Erin Brockovich (2000), Renée Zellweger for Cold Mountain (2003), Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line (2005) and Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006).

Personal Quotes

The actress describes herself as "being famous for being cool about not being gorgeous."

The trick in life is learning how to deal with it.

[About the Academy Awards] "It's the creme-de-la-creme of bulls**t."

Actors are rogues and vagabonds. Or they ought to be. I can't stand it when they behave like solicitors from Penge." "I'm a would-be rebel. The good girl who'd like to be a bad one.

All you have to do is to look like crap on film and everyone thinks you're a brilliant actress. Actually, all you've done is look like crap.

Flesh sells. People don't want to see pictures of churches. They want to see naked bodies

On becoming Dame Helen Mirren in 2003, "In England, it's a big deal. I do feel it's a great honor. But I had to think about it quite seriously for a couple of weeks. It does sort of squash you into the establishment thing. In the end, my baser feelings got the better of me. I succumbed to pride."

"Being me right now is sort of amazing." - 2006.

[Part of her BAFTA acceptance speech, BAFTA Film Awards, 2007] - "This is great. What an honour, especially to be nominated - just to be nominated - amongst those incredible powerhouse performances this year from women. - I applaud them. I think they were absolutely fantastic. Write more roles for us like that please."

[On Ian Richardson, BAFTA Film Awards, 2007] - "Many years ago, when I started off as an actress, I had the immense good fortune to work with an actor that was so generous at sharing his craft - He became a mentor to me, he helped me believe in myself. Ian Richardson, I'm not too sure I would be here today if it wasn't for you."

I get half-drowned, jump across an abyss and fly. I loved every minute of it. Getting attached to wires and flying was the most glorious feeling. It's a lot easier than acting! [on her role in National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007) playing Nicolas Cage's mother.] (People Magazine - 19 November 2007)

On not having children: No. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I am so happy that I didn't have children. Well, you know because I've had freedom.

[On the participation of celebrities in social movements] I've been involved with Oxfam on the proliferation of the illegal sale of small arms throughout the world, which is causing such, such devastation. The only way you can sometimes garner attention is by sending someone like me as a front person.

Where Are They Now

(September 2006) Winner of the Volpi Cup as Best Actress for her role in the forthcoming The Queen (2006) at the 63rd Venice Film Festival.

(March 2008) Release of her book, "In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures".

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