Helan Mirren made her name in various very good television roles, and has taken the opportunity to star in several films later in her career, not least for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in the days after Diana's death in The Queen.
She came from a family of Russian aristocrats and east Londoner's. She joined the National Youth Theatre and then the Royal Shakespeare Company and in the 1970's and 1980's she appeared in various West End shows. Her first credited film performance was in Herostratus in 1967. This was follwed by a role in Peter Hall's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. O Lucky Man was a comedy role for her. It was her role in The Long Good Friday that made her a star in films. This was followed up with a change in genre with the historical fantasy Excalibur which was popular at the box office. Through the 1980's she played a number of strong and complex women, notably in The Comfort of Strangers. In the 1990's she played the lead in the police drama Prime Suspect. In this she showed that a more mature woman could be a leading character. In the Madness Of King George she plays a strong wife role for which she was Oscar nominated. Her second Oscar nomination came for her performance as the housekeeper in Gosford Park. Calendar Girls was a different type of character for her and popular at the box office. Her next major success was The Queen and for which she won her Oscar. This was difficult as she was playing the current Queen. In Last Station she plays Tolystoys wife and resonates with her Russian background. Red and its sequel were commercial successes. With Hitchcok she had another good performance as a wife. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 2003.
