Dame Helen Mirren is one of those established legacy actresses who feels as if she’s always been a part of the entertainment industry. She was once a beginner herself, though it wasn’t long before the whole world got to see for themselves just how talented this young woman from a foggy little town called London really was.
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Helen Mirren’s Road To Fame And Fortune
It’s no wonder that Helen Mirren, born Helen Lydia Mironoff to an English mother and Russian father, was able to make her way to superstardom. Mirren’s family have an interesting number of royal connections on both her mother and father’s sides of the family.
Fascinating Family Background
Mirren’s father was a member of an exiled Russian noble family. Her great-grandmother was Countess Lydia Andreevna Kamenskaya, an aristocrat and a descendant of a prominent general of the Napoleonic Wars. There’s also a connection to the British royal family via Mirren’s mother’s side of the family. Both her grandfather and great-grandfather were butchers, with the latter serving as the butcher to Queen Victoria.
Despite her illustrious bloodline, however, Mirren grew up as the daughter of a cab driver father and a working-class mother. Early on, she showed signs of being bitten by the acting bug after being cast in several school productions. Upon turning 18-years-old, Mirren joined the National Youth Theatre and after two years with the company, she was cast as Cleopatra in Antony And Cleopatra, which she has referred to as the role that launched her career.
Mirren In 1976
Four years later, in 1969, Mirren was cast opposite James Mason in Age Of Consent, one of her earliest film roles as a young actress. Though most of Mirren’s time as an actress, especially in those early years, were spent on the stage, it was her film career that made her into the household name that she is today.
It’s an eclectic mix of genres that makes up the collection of films Mirren has worked on. She’s starred in Catherine The Great, The Fate Of The Furious, and both National Treasure films. We mentioned one Fast & Furious title, but she’s actually been in several movies in that franchise. It might seem odd that Mirren’s credits list works of Shakespeare alongside Vince Diesel’s mindchild, but that’s just part of Mirren’s charm.
Our First Look At Mirren
That same charm has clearly been with Mirren since the beginning of her long and storied career in acting. In this promotional photo for her film Age Of Consent, Mirren looks over her shoulder while sitting as backwards in a living chair as her long skirt will allow. Despite all the years that separate Mirren’s latest photos from this early one, there’s something about her eyes that have remained exactly the same. We hope they never change.
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