Helen Mirren
- Profession: Actress
- Place/Date of Birth: Chiswick, London, 26 July 2020
Breaking down in tears, she added: "Many years ago when I started off as an actress I had the immense good fortune to work with an actor that was so generous at sharing his craft.
"He became a mentor to me, he helped me believe in myself. Ian Richardson, I’m not too sure I would be here today if it wasn’t for you."
The gong is Dame Helen’s first film Bafta - the Prime Suspect star already has three TV Baftas - and she is up for the best actress Oscar.
More gongs for The Queen - Feb 9 2007
Dame Helen Mirren and her film The Queen continued their award-winning form last night - scooping four more gongs between them.
The Queen took British Film of the Year, British Director of the Year for Stephen Frears and Screenwriter of the Year for Peter Morgan.
Dame Helen, 61, who is up for the best actress Oscar and Bafta for her role as Her Majesty, won British Actress of the Year at the Awards of the London Film Critics’ Circle.
She has already been awarded a Golden Globe for her performance in the acclaimed film, about the Royal Family in the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana.
United 93 clinched Film of the Year and Director of the Year for Paul Greengrass while Forest Whitaker picked up Actor of the Year for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland.
Meryl Streep won Actress of the Year for The Devil Wears Prada and rising British star Emily Blunt, 23, won British Actress of the Year in a Supporting Role for her part in the same film.
Veteran British actor Sir Michael Caine took British Actor of the Year in a Supporting Role for his performance in the Christopher Nolan film The Prestige.
Dame Helen is sexiest older woman - Jan 29 2007
It may not be in the same league as winning an Oscar, but Dame Helen Mirren has been voted the world’s sexiest older woman ahead of Sophia Loren.
The Queen actress, 61, up for an Academy Award for her lauded performance as Her Majesty, tops a list of female stars who have passed the over-50 mark.
Italian screen siren Sophia, 72, one of cinema’s greatest sex symbols, takes second place.
US star Meryl Streep, 57, also contending for the best actress Oscar for her role in The Devil Wears Prada, is third, followed by Judi Dench, 72, another of this year’s Academy Award nominees.
Diane Keaton, 61, is fifth while her Something’s Gotta Give co-star, legendary lothario Jack Nicholson, 69, has been voted sexiest older man.
Bond legend Sean Connery, 76, is next, followed by Robert Redford, 70, Clint Eastwood, 76, and Dreamgirls star Danny Glover, 60, in the poll of 2,700 film fans.
Fliss White, marketing manager for Lovefilm.com, which carried out the survey, said: "Older actors have never been so sought after in Tinseltown and it’s great to see the Brits flying the flag so high, especially in the Oscar nominations."
Sexiest Older Women
1 - Dame Helen Mirren
2 - Sophia Loren
3 - Meryl Streep
4 - Dame Judi Dench
5 - Diane Keaton
Sexiest Older Men
1 - Jack Nicholson
2 - Sean Connery
3 - Robert Redford
4 - Clint Eastwood
5 - Danny Glover
Dame Helen heads British Oscar line-up - Jan 23 2007
Dame Helen Mirren leads a surprisingly strong British contingent for this year’s Oscar nominations.
She is favourite to land the best actress award for her role in The Queen.
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After a brief attempt to accommodate her parents’ wishes by attending teachers’ training college, Helen quit to join the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company and went on to play many of the Bard’s heroines. Helen is now an acclaimed and much-loved and respected actress who is perhaps best known as Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison, in the award winning British television series Prime Suspect.
She co-starred with Bob Hoskins in the British gangster film "The Long Good Friday" (1980) and was a seductively evil Morgana in John Boorman’s "Excalibur" (1981). She recently teamed up with Hoskins once again in the acclaimed British movie "Last Orders".
Helen won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar and Best Actress nomination at Cannes for her role in the film "The Madness of King George".
She currently divides her time between America with hubby Director/Producer Taylor Hackford and her home in Wapping.
December 2007