Ilyena Lydia Mironoff was born on 26 July 1945 atQueen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in theHammersmith district of London,[a][15][16] to anEnglish mother andRussian father.[17] Her mother, Kathleen "Kitty" Alexandrina Eva Matilda (née Rogers; 1908–1996), was a working-class woman fromWest Ham, the thirteenth of fourteen children born to a butcher whose own father was the butcher toQueen Victoria.[17][18] Mirren's father, Vasily PetrovichMironoff (1913–80), was a member of an exiled family ofRussian nobility dating back to the first half of the 15th century. He was taken to England when he was two by his father, Pyotr Vasilievich Mironov (1880–1957).[17][19] Pyotr Vasilievich Mironov owned a large family estate near Gzhatsk (nowGagarin) in theRussian Empire.[20] His mother, Mirren's great-grandmother, was Countess Lydia AndreevnaKamenskaya (1848–1928), an aristocrat and a descendant ofCount Mikhail Fedotovich Kamensky, a prominent Russian general in theNapoleonic Wars.[9][21] Her grandfather, Pyotr Vasilievich Mironov, also served as a colonel in theImperial Russian Army and fought in theRusso-Japanese War. He later became a diplomat in the service ofNicholas II and was negotiating an arms deal in Britain when he and his family were stranded by theRussian Revolution in 1917.[22][23] He settled in London and became a cab driver to support his family.[24]
Vasily Mironoff also played the viola with theLondon Philharmonic Orchestra beforeWorld War II.[17] He was an ambulance driver during the war, and served in theEast End of London duringthe Blitz.[25] He and Kathleen Rogers married in Hammersmith in 1938, and at some point before 1951 he anglicised his first name to Basil.[26] Shortly after Helen's birth, her father left the orchestra and returned to driving a cab to support the family. He later worked as a driving-test examiner, then became a civil servant with theMinistry of Transport.[6][17] In 1951, he changed the family name to Mirren bydeed poll.[26] Mirren considers her upbringing to have been "very anti-monarchist".[27] She was the second of three children; she has an older sister Katherine ("Kate"; born 1942) and had a younger brother Peter Basil (1947–2002).[28] Her paternal cousin wasTania Mallet, a model andBond girl.[29] Mirren was brought up inLeigh-on-Sea, Essex.[30]
Sally Beauman reported, in her 1982 history of the RSC, that Mirren—while appearing in Nunn'sMacbeth (1974), and in a letter toThe Guardian newspaper—had sharply criticised both theNational Theatre and the RSC for their lavish production expenditure, declaring it "unnecessary and destructive to the art of the Theatre", and adding, "The realms of truth, emotion and imagination reached for in acting a great play have become more and more remote, often totally unreachable across an abyss of costume and technicalities..." This started a big debate, and led to a question in parliament. There were no discernible repercussions for this rebuke of the RSC.[37][38]
At theWest End'sRoyal Court Theatre in September 1975, she played the role of a rock star named Maggie inTeeth 'n' Smiles, a musical play byDavid Hare; she reprised the role the following year in a revival of the play atWyndham's Theatre in May 1976. Beginning in November 1975, Mirren played in West End repertory with the Lyric Theatre Company as Nina inThe Seagull and Ella inBen Travers's new farceThe Bed Before Yesterday ("Mirren is stirringly voluptuous as theHarlowesque good-time girl":Michael Billington,The Guardian). At the RSC in Stratford in 1977, and at the Aldwych the following year, she played a steely Queen Margaret inTerry Hands' production of the three parts ofHenry VI, while 1979 saw her 'bursting with grace', and winning acclaim for her performance as Isabella inPeter Gill's production ofMeasure for Measure atRiverside Studios. Mirren has appeared in a large number of films throughout her career. Some of her earlier film appearances include roles inHerostratus (1967, Dir. Don Levy),A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968),Age of Consent (1969), andO Lucky Man! (1973).
At the beginning of 1989, Mirren co-starred withBob Peck at theYoung Vic in the London premiere of theArthur Miller double-bill,Two Way Mirror, performances which prompted Miller to remark: "What is so good about English actors is that they are not afraid of the open expression of large emotions. British actors like to speak. In London, there's a much more open-hearted kind of exchange between stage and audience" (interview bySheridan Morley:The Times 11 January 1989).[43] InElegy for a Lady she played the svelte proprietress of a classy boutique, while as the blonde hooker inSome Kind of Love Story she was "clad in a Freudian slip and shifting easily from waif-like vulnerability to sexual aggression, giving the role a breathy Monroesque quality".[44]
Mirren portrayedAyn Rand in the television film,The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999), where her performance won her anEmmy;Door to Door (2002); andThe Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003). At the National Theatre in November 2003 she again won praise playing Christine Mannon ("defiantly cool, camp and skittish",Evening Standard; "glows with mature sexual allure",Daily Telegraph) in a revival ofEugene O'Neill'sMourning Becomes Electra directed byHoward Davies. "This production was one of the best experiences of my professional life, The play was four and a half hours long, and I have never known that kind of response from an audience ... It was the serendipity of a beautifully cast play, with great design and direction, It will be hard to be in anything better."[32] She played the title role inJean Racine'sPhèdre at the National in 2009, in a production directed byNicholas Hytner. The production was also staged at theEpidaurus amphitheatre on 11 and 12 July 2009.
Mirren's other appearances includeThe Clearing (2004),Pride (2004),Raising Helen (2004), andShadowboxer (2005). Mirren also provided the voice for the supercomputer "Deep Thought" in the film adaptation ofDouglas Adams'sThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005). Mirren's first film of the 2000s wasJoel Hershman'sGreenfingers (2000), a comedy based on the true story about the prisoners ofHMP Leyhill, a minimum-security prison, who won gardening awards.[52] Mirren portrayed a devoted plantswoman in the film, who coaches a team of prison gardeners, led byClive Owen, to victory at a prestigious flower show.[53] The project received lukewarm reviews, which suggested that it added "nothing new to this already saturated genre" ofBritish feel-good films.[54] The same year she acted inThe Pledge,Sean Penn's third directorial effort, in which she played a child psychologist. A critical success,[55] theensemble film tanked at the box office.[56] Also that year, she filmed the American-Icelandic satirical dramaNo Such Thing oppositeSarah Polley. Directed byHal Hartley, Mirren portrayed a soulless television producer in the film, who strives for sensationalistic stories. It was largely panned by critics.[57]
In 2007, Mirren said that the directorMichael Winner had treated her "like a piece of meat" at acasting call in 1964.[65] Asked about the incident, Winner toldThe Guardian, "I don't remember asking her to turn around but if I did I wasn't being serious. I was only doing what the [casting] agent asked me – and for this I get reviled! Helen's a lovely person, she's a great actor and I'm a huge fan, but her memory of that moment is a little flawed."[66] In 2010, Mirren appeared in five films. InLove Ranch, directed by her husbandTaylor Hackford, she portrayedSally Conforte, one half of a married couple who opened the first legalbrothel in the US, theMustang Ranch inStorey County, Nevada.[67] Mirren starred in the principal role ofProspera, the duchess ofMilan, inJulie Taymor'sThe Tempest. This was based on theplay of the same name byShakespeare; Taymor changed the original character's gender to cast Mirren as her lead.[68] While the actor garnered strong reviews for her portrayal, the film itself was largely panned by critics.[69]
Mirren played a gutsy tea-shop owner who tries to save one of her young employees from marrying a teenage killer inRowan Joffé'sBrighton Rock, acrime film loosely based onGraham Greene's 1938novel.[70] Thefilm noirpremiered at theToronto International Film Festival in September 2010,[71] where it received mixed reviews.[72] Mirren's biggest critical and commercial success of the year wasRobert Schwentke's ensemble action comedyRed, based onWarren Ellis's graphic novel, in which she portrayed Victoria, an ex-MI6 assassin.[73] Mirren was initially hesitant to sign on due to film's graphic violence, but changed her mind upon learning ofBruce Willis's involvement.[74] Released to positive reviews, it grossed $186.5 million worldwide.[75] Also in 2010, the actor lent her voice toZack Snyder's animated fantasy filmLegend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, voicingantagonist Nyra, a leader of a group of owls. The film grossed $140.1 million on an $80 million budget.[76] Mirren's next film was the comedy filmArthur, a remake of the 1981film of the same name, starringRussell Brand in the lead role.Arthur received generally negative reviews from critics, who declared it an "irritating, unnecessary remake".[77]
In preparation for her role as a retired IsraeliMossad agent in the filmThe Debt, Mirren reportedly immersed herself in studies of Hebrew language, Jewish history, andHolocaust writing, including the life ofSimon Wiesenthal, while in Israel in 2009 for the filming of some of the movie's scenes. The film is a remake of a2007 Israeli film of the same name.[78] In 2012, Mirren playedAlfred Hitchcock's wifeAlma Reville in the 2012 biopicHitchcock based onStephen Rebello's non-fiction bookAlfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. The film centres on the pair's relationship during the making ofPsycho, a controversialhorror film that became one of the most acclaimed and influential works in the filmmaker's career. It became a moderate arthouse success and garnered a lukewarm critical response from critics, who felt that it suffered from "tonal inconsistency and a lack of truly insightful retrospection."[79] Mirren was universally praised, however, withRoger Ebert noting that the film depended most on her portrayal, which he found to be "warm and effective".[80] Her other film that year wasThe Door, a claustrophobic drama film directed byIstván Szabó, based on the Hungarian novel of the same name. Set at the height ofcommunist rule in 1960s Hungary, the story of the adaptation centres on the abrasive influence that a mysterious housekeeper wields over her employer and successful novelist, playedMartina Gedeck. Mirren found the role "difficult to play" and cited doing it as "one of the hardest things [she has] ever done".[81]
On 15 February 2013, at the West End'sGielgud Theatre she began a turn asElizabeth II in the World Premiere ofPeter Morgan'sThe Audience.[82] The show was directed byStephen Daldry. Michael Billington ofThe Guardian wrote of her performance, "who once again gives a faultless performance that transcends mere impersonation to endow the monarch with a sense of inner life and a quasi-Shakespearean aura of solitude."[83] In April she was named best actress at theOlivier Awards for her role.[84] On 7 June 2015‚ Mirren won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play‚ for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II inThe Audience (a performance which also won her theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Actress). Her Tony Award win made her one of the few actors to achieve the US "Triple Crown of Acting", joining the ranks of acclaimed performers includingIngrid Bergman‚ DameMaggie Smith, andAl Pacino.[85]
The following year, Mirren replacedBette Midler inDavid Mamet's biographical television filmPhil Spector aboutthe American musician.[86] TheHBO film focuses on the relationship between Spector and his defence attorney Linda Kenney Baden, played by Mirren, during the first of his twomurder trials for the death in 2003 ofLana Clarkson in his California mansion.Spector received largely mixed to positive reviews from critics, particularly for Mirren and co-starAl Pacino's performances, and was nominated for elevenPrimetime Emmy Awards, also winning Mirren aScreen Actors Guild Award at the20th awards ceremony. The film drew criticism both from Clarkson's family and friends, who charged that the suicide defence was given more merit than it deserved, and from Spector's wife, who argued that Spector was portrayed as a "foul-mouthed megalomaniac" and a "minotaur".[87] Also in 2013, Mirren voiced the character of Dean Abigail Hardscrabble inPixar's animated comedy filmMonsters University, which grossed $743 million against its estimated budget of $200 million,[88] and reprised her role in the sequel filmRed 2.[89] The action comedy received a mixed reviews from film critics, who called it a "lackadaisical sequel",[90] but became another commercial success, making over $140 million worldwide.[91]
Mirren's only film of 2014 was the comedy-dramaThe Hundred-Foot Journey opposite the Indian actorOm Puri. Directed byLasse Hallström and produced bySteven Spielberg andOprah Winfrey, the film is based onRichard C. Morais's 2010 novelwith the same name and tells the story of a feud between two adjacent restaurants in a French town. Mirren garnered largely positive reviews for her performance of a snobby restaurateur, a role which she accepted as she was keen to play a French character, reflecting her "pathetic attempt at being a French actress."[92] The film earned her anotherGolden Globe nomination and became a modest commercial success, grossing $88.9 million worldwide.[93]
In 2015, Mirren reunited with her former assistantSimon Curtis onWoman in Gold, co-starringRyan Reynolds.[92] The film was based on the true story of Jewish refugeeMaria Altmann who, together with her young lawyerRandy Schoenberg, fought the Austrian government to be reunited withGustav Klimt's painting of her aunt, the famousPortrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.[94] The film received mixed reviews from critics, although Mirren and Reynold's performances were widely praised.[95] A commercial success,Woman in Gold became one of the highest-grossing specialty films of the year.[96] The same year, Mirren appeared inGavin Hood's thrillerEye in the Sky (2015), in which she played as a military intelligence officer who leads a secretdrone mission to capture a terrorist group living inNairobi, Kenya.[97] Mirren's last film that year wasJay Roach's biographical dramaTrumbo, co-starringBryan Cranston andDiane Lane. The actor playedHedda Hopper, the famous actress andgossip columnist, in the film, which received generally positive reviews from critics and garnered her a 14th Golden Globe nomination.[98]
Mirren lived with actorLiam Neeson during the early 1980s; they met while working onExcalibur (1981). Neeson said Mirren was instrumental in his getting an agent.[113][114]
In 1985 on the set ofWhite Nights, Mirren met American directorTaylor Hackford. The pair began dating in 1986. The couple married on 31 December 1997, Hackford's 53rd birthday, at theArdersier Parish Church nearInverness in theScottish Highlands.[115] It is her first marriage and his third. He has two children from his previous marriages. She has no children herself, and has stated that she has "no maternal instinct whatsoever". She added, "I'm so happy I don't have children. But I do love children and I've got family, and Taylor has children that I'm involved with - and with great pleasure - but it's just not for me."[116] Mirren's autobiography,In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures, was published in the UK byWeidenfeld & Nicolson in September 2007. Reviewing forThe Stage, John Thaxter wrote: "Sumptuously illustrated, at first sight it looks like another of those photo albums of the stars. But between the pictures there are almost 200 pages of densely printed text, an unusually frank story of her private and professional life, mainly in the theatre, the words clearly Mirren's own, delivered with forthright candour."[117]
In an interview withIsrael'sChannel 12 in August 2023, Mirren expressed strong support for the country's existence, stating, "I believe in Israel because ofthe Holocaust." She said she opposed the direction the country was being taken by theIsraeli government and its proposedjudicial reform, but also opposed a cultural boycott and remained firmly supportive of the state. Reflecting on her first visit to Israel after theSix-Day War in 1967, she recalled, "I witnessed things that were wrong. I saw Arabs being thrown out of their houses in Jerusalem. But it was just the extraordinary magical energy of a country just beginning to put its roots in the ground. It was an amazing time to be here."[122]
In April 2021, Mirren took part in themusic video "La Vacinada" (meaningthe vaccinated woman in brokenSpanish language) of Italian comedian and singerChecco Zalone.[123] In the song and video, Zalone jokes about the fact that, in times ofCOVID-19 pandemic, it is safer to have anaffair with someone who has already beenvaccinated against thevirus, and asthe elderly get vaccinated first, an older partner (played by Mirren in the video) is now the best choice.[124]
In 1990, Mirren said in an interview that she was anatheist.[125] In the August 2011 issue ofEsquire, she said, "I am quite spiritual. I believed in fairies when I was a child. I still do sort of believe in thefairies. And theleprechauns. But I don't believe in God."[126]
In a 2008 interview withGQ, Mirren said she wasdate raped as a student, and had often usedcocaine at parties in her twenties and until the 1980s.[127][128] She stopped using it after reading thatKlaus Barbie made a living from cocaine dealing.[127][128][129][130]
Mirren toldRadio Times, "I'm anaturist at heart. I love being on beaches where everyone is naked. Ugly people, beautiful people, old people, whatever. It's so unisexual and so liberating."[131] In 2004, she was named Naturist of the Year byBritish Naturism. She said: "Many thanks to British Naturism for this great honour. I do believe in naturism and am my happiest on a nude beach with people of all ages and races!"[132]
Mirren has described herself as "such afeminist".[133]
On 11 May 2010, Mirren attended the unveiling of her waxwork atMadame Tussauds in London. In 2012, she was among the British cultural icons selected by artistPeter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork—the Beatles'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover—to celebrate the British cultural figures of his life that he most admired.[134][135] In 2010, she was named Sexiest Woman Alive byEsquire, and in a 2011 photo shoot for the magazine, she stripped down and covered up with theUnion Jack.[136]
In 2013, Mirren was announced as one of several new models forMarks & Spencer's "Womanism" campaign. Subtitled "Britain's leading ladies", the campaign featured Mirren alongside British women from various fields, including pop singerEllie Goulding, double Olympic gold medal-winning boxerNicola Adams, and writerMonica Ali.[137] In March 2013,The Guardian listed Mirren as one of the 50 Best-Dressed Over 50.[138] In March 2024, to commemorate the 65th anniversary ofInternational Women's Day, Mirren was one of a number of female celebrities who had their likeness turned intoBarbie dolls.[139]
^abMirren's birth name has been variously reported asIlyena Lydia Mironoff,[4][5][6] asHelen Lydia Mironoff,[7][8][9] or in at least one source as Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov.[10]
^Bigsby, Christopher (2011).Arthur Miller: 1962–2005. Hachette UK.
^Billington, Michael (25 January 1989)."The Coutours of Passion".The Guardian. London. p. 46.Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved22 October 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^Thaxter, John (4 March 1994). "A Month in the Country".Richmond & Twickenham Times.Instead of a bored Natalya fretting the summer away in dull frocks, Mirren, dazzlingly gowned, is a woman almost wilfully allowing her heart's desire for her son's young tutor to rule her head and wreak domestic havoc....Creamy shoulders bared, she feels free to launch into a gloriously enchanted, dreamily comic self-confession of love.
^Canby, Vincent (26 April 1995)."Theater Review; Turgenev's Inquiry Into Calamitous Love".The New York Times.Archived from the original on 20 October 2019. Retrieved20 October 2019.Miss Mirren's performance is bigger and more animated than the one she gave last year in an entirely different London production.
^Thaxter, John (1 November 2007). "In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures".The Stage.
^Gilbert, Gerard (18 August 2006)."Helen Mirren: Her crowning achievement".The Independent.Archived from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved2 August 2022.I've never been a member of Labour, or any political party for that matter, but in 1997 I wanted to get rid of the Conservatives; wanted to get rid of that appalling lot.
^Garfield, Simon (25 November 1990). "The Sunday Review Pages: Helen Mirren interview".The Independent. London. p. 27.Sometimes I feel like a farmer during a war, someone who doesn't know very much about it and carries on digging, hoping for rain. But just the last few days I've had this terrible feeling of... doom. It's a, er,biblical, kind ofOld Testament feeling. I'm an atheist, but I was suddenly thinking of those stories of the flood and punishment. Because we've become unbelievably greedy and destructive.
^Cartner-Morley, Jess (29 March 2013)."The 50 best-dressed over 50s".The Guardian. London.Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved20 October 2019.
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