Helen Mirren was born Ilyena Vasilievan Mironov on the 26th of July 1945 in Chiswhick. West London. One of the heroes of the Napoleonic wars, Russian field marshal Mikhail Kamensky was her great-great-great-great grandfather. Her mother was the daughter the butcher of Queen Victoria. As a child Helen attended the St. Bernard’s High School, in Southend on Sea. Then she went to New College of Speech and Drama after high school.
When she was 18, Helen Mirren auditioned and was accepted for the National Youth Theatre. When she was 20 she already had the role of Cleopatra in NYT’s Anthony and Cleopatra. This was staged at the Old Vic. In the production she had a duet with Alan Parker.
Helen Mirren then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and played Castiza in the 1966 production of The Revenger’s Tragedy. Then in 1968 she played Cressida in Troilus and Cressida. In 1971 she played Miss Julie as Miss Julie. Then she briefly joined the International Center for Theatre Research in 1972 to 1973 and toured the United States and North Africa.
In 1975, Helen Mirren returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company and played Lady Macbeth. The same year she played the part of Maggie in the production of Teeth ‘n Smiles, for which she won the Plays and Players Best Actress award. She also performed in West End repertory in the production of The Seagull and The Bed Before Yesterday. In 1977 and 1978 she played Queen Margaret for Henry VI. In 1979 she played Isabella in Measure for Measure. In 1981 she was seen in Faith Healer and The Duchess of Malfi.
In the 80s and the 90s, Helen Mirren was seen in several major productions, such as The Roaring Girl, Two Way Mirror, Elegy for a Lady, Some Kind of Love Story, A Month in the Country, Anthony and Dance of Death. Her performance of A Month in the Country got her nominated twice for Tony Awards as Best Actress. In 2000 she was in Orpheus Descending and in 2003 in Morning Becomes Electra.
Along with her career in stage, Helen Mirren also appeared in many films including, Excalibur, The Mosquito Coast, The Madness of King George, White Nights, Painted Lady, Gosford Park and many others. The performance in the film, The Queen earned her the Best Actress from the Academy Awards, BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards.
Helen Mirren also appeared in dozens of television shows. For her role in the movie made for television Losing Chase she was awarded the Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Mini-series by the Golden Globe Award. She was also awarded by the Emmy for her Elizabeth I role in the miniseries of the same title.