Mirren, Helen (1945–)

English actress. Name variations: Dame Helen Mirren. Born Ilyena Lydia Mironoff, July 26, 1945, in Chiswick, London, England; dau. of English mother and Russian father (violinist with London Philharmonic Orchestra); sister of Catherine and Peter Mironoff; m. Taylor Hackford (producer and director), 1997.

Possibly best known as Chief Inspector Jane Tennison on British series "Prime Suspect," began career at 18 as Cleopatra for National Youth Theater (1965); joined Royal Shakespeare Co. (1967) where she starred in numerous plays, including nontraditional portrayal of Lady Macbeth in Trevor Nunn's production of Macbeth (1974), as well as The Roaring Girl and Antony and Cleopatra (1984); made 1st film, Herostratus (1967), followed by Peter Hall's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968), Miss Julie (1972), The Age of Consent (1969), Savage Messiah (1972), Hamlet (1976), Caligula (1979), Blue Remembered Hills (1979), Excalibur (1981), White Nights (1985), Mosquito Coast (1986), The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989), Calendar Girls (2004) and Cal, for which she won Best Actress Award at Cannes (1984); made Broadway debut as Natalya Petrovna in A Month in the Country (1995); won 3 BAFTA awards for series "Prime Suspect" (1990–2000); nominated for Best Actress Oscar for The Madness of King George (1995); won Golden Globe for Losing Chase (1996); won Emmy Award for The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999) and received 2nd Oscar nomination for Gosford Park (2001); nominated for Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress for Orpheus Descending (2001) and Mourning Becomes Electra (2003); won Tony award for Dance of Death (2002). Created Dame of British Empire (DBE, 2003).