Helen Mirren

Dame Helen Mirren (born Ilyena Lydia Mironoff on July 26, 1945) is a British stage, television and movie actress. She is particularly well-known for her role as the female detective Jane Tennison in the Prime Suspect series of television dramas.

Related Topics:
Dame - July 26 - 1945 - British - Actress - Detective - Prime Suspect - Drama

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Mirren was born in England to a Russian-noble father who emigrated there in response to the Russian Revolution, and an English mother. She first appeared on stage in 1965 as Cleopatra for the National Youth Theatre. This led to her joining the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing Cressida in Troilus and Cressida, and Lady Macbeth in the production by Trevor Nunn.

Related Topics:
England - Russia - Noble - Russian Revolution - 1965 - Cleopatra - National Youth Theatre - Royal Shakespeare Company - Troilus and Cressida - Lady Macbeth - Trevor Nunn

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In 1972 she joined Peter Brook's International Centre for Theatre Research, and joined the group's tour across North Africa which created The Conference of the Birds. The "sexy" image she acquired in her youth has been little affected by encroaching age although it is complemented by the iron-willed image she created in her Prime Suspect role.

Related Topics:
1972 - Peter Brook

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She married American director Taylor Hackford, her domestic partner since 1986, on his 53rd birthday on December 31, 1997, in the Scottish Highlands.

Related Topics:
Director - Taylor Hackford - Domestic partner - December 31 - 1997

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She appeared in Belfast-born director Terry George's film Some Mother's Son, which was about the 1981 Hunger Strikes in Northern Ireland, opposite Irish actress Fionnuala Flanagan.

Related Topics:
Terry George - Northern Ireland

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She was invested as a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) on December 5, 2003, despite certain comments she had made previously, much like Billy Connolly being awarded the CBE, both of which honours may be credited to the Labour Government of Tony Blair.

Related Topics:
December 5 - 2003 - Billy Connolly - CBE - Tony Blair

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At the Edinburgh Television Festival in August 2004, director Stephen Frears revealed that he had cast Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in a forthcoming project entitled The Queen, set during the week between the death and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. Co-incidentally, she also memorably played Elizabeth I in 2005 in a television movie for Channel 4.

Related Topics:
Edinburgh - 2004 - Stephen Frears - Queen Elizabeth II - Diana, Princess of Wales - 1997 - Elizabeth I - 2005 - Channel 4

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She voices the supercomputer Deep Thought in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, released on April 29, 2005.

Related Topics:
Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - April 29 - 2005

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