Helen Mirren Biography
Second time parents Vasiliy Petrovich Mironov and Kathleen Alexandrina Eva Matilda Rogers had their daughter on July 26 1945 in Chiswick, London, England, UK and they immediately named her Helen Lydia Mironoff. This child would later grow up to become the renowned actress going by the name Helen Mirren, she has had one of the longest standing careers spanning over 50 years from 1965.
Coming from a mixed blood heritage of Russian and English blood, Mirren was raised in an era of the Second World War and her family line from both parents had a rich history of service to the military. Mirren’s father had an active role in the British government and her mother was not involved in politics as her immediate line had chosen to deviate from the profession instead choosing to go for food businesses that grew all over England. For her education, Mirren was taken to the St Bernard's High School for Girls in South End, England and she also attended the New College of Speech and Drama in London, England.
Life for young Mirren was as comfortable as it was volatile, this was because her father’s lucrative job in the government meant that he could cater for the needs of his family but with this also came the risk of being a target of enemy factions in the unstable environment of the World War II as well as The Russian Revolution. Still an undeterred Mirren was determined to live a normal childhood and an even better teenage hood, she exploited her interests in the arts and soon found out that her calling was on the stage.
Although Mirren was obviously talented her parents were not willing for her to continue in the art but the young girl still managed to take part in several plays during her time away in boarding school. There she took part in several lead roles including Cleopatra, The Revenger's Tragedy, All's Well That Ends Well, Cressida in Troilus, Cressida and Phebe, and Miss Julie at The Other Place among others.
Mirren continued her reign in theatre by appearing in even more plays after high school, she specialised in Shakespeare for the first years of her career before making a move into the modern film industry. Some of Mirren’s maiden roles in television films were in Cousin Bette in 1971, As You Like It in 1979, Blue Remembered Hills in 1979, The Twilight Zone in 1985, Losing Chase in 1996, and The Passion of Ayn Rand in 1999.
In the early 1990’s she ventured into bigger films starting with Prime Suspect 2 in 1993, the lead role in the film was followed by many more of the same kind in subsequent productions. These included Prime Suspect 3, Prime Suspect 4: "Scent of Darkness", Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgment, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness, Elizabeth I, Prime Suspect: The Final Act, and Door to Door.
In 2010 Mirren was seen in the films Love Ranch, The Debt, The Tempest, Brighton Rock, Red Victoria, and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. She is currently filming for a 2011 project titled Arthur.
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