Helen Mirren Biography
From the age of 13 when she played Caliban in a school production of "The Tempest,” Helen Mirren knew she wanted to be an actress. Her Russian-born father and English mother may have encouraged her to be a teacher like her siblings, but Mirren's mind was set. She auditioned for and won a spot with the National Youth Theatre and at the tender age of 18 was cast as the Egyptian queen in Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" at London's Old Vic Theatre, a part that has become something of a talisman for her. (She went on to tackle the role again in 1983 opposite Michael Gambon and again in 1998 with Alan Rickman.) By the time she was 20, she was a company member at the Royal Shakespeare Company where she excelled in her numerous appearances in the Bard's cannon. Petite and blonde, Mirren exuded confidence and a sultry appeal leading one journalist to tag her as "The Sex Queen of Stratford,” partly for her charged portrayals, partly because of her penchant for doffing her clothing in films like "Age of Consent" (1969) and on stage (as Lady Macbeth in 1974).
In the mid-1970s, Mirren enjoyed a breakthrough with her acclaimed performance as Nina in a West End revival of Chekhov's "The Seagull.” That role allowed her to combine her intelligence with her sensuality, something which has come to be her hallmark. The actress managed to bring a measure of grace to her part as the most promiscuous woman in Rome in the controversial "Caligula" (1979), which in retrospect doesn't seem as daring.