 Helen Mirren (born Ilyena Mirnoff) is an intelligent actress who can move serenely between trashy (Caligula, (US/Italy, d. Tinto Brass, 1979)) and quality (The Madness of King George (UK/US, d. Nicholas Hytner, 1994, UK/US) roles.
She showed off her body in Michael Powell's Age of Consent (Australia, 1969), Ken Russell's Savage Messiah (1972) and Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (UK/France, 1989).
She is best known to general audiences as Jane Tennison in the Prime Suspect TV series (1991-1996), though there have been notable film performances: in the gangster classic, The Long Good Friday (d. John Mackenzie, 1979), as Morgana in Excalibur (UK/US, d. John Boorman, 1981), as the Queen in The Madness of King George and as one of the mothers in Some Mother's Son (Ireland/US, d. Terry George, 1996).
She has had an extensive Hollywood career, and with her 2001 performances as Michael Caine's widow in Last Orders (UK/Germany, d. Fred Schepisi) and the housekeeper with a dark secret in her past in Gosford Park (UK/Germany/US, d. Robert Altman, for which she garnered an Oscar nomination), she has matured into one of Britain's great character actresses.
On stage with the RSC, she proved a formidable performer as Ophelia (1970), Miss Julie (1971) and Lady Macbeth (1974). She is married to US-based director Taylor Hackford.
Book: Helen Mirren: A Celebration, edited by Amy Rennert (1995)
Anthony Slide, Encyclopedia of British Film
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FILM & TV CREDITS
