name	Stephen Frears
birth date	June 20, 1941
birth place	Leicester, England
birthname	Stephen Arthur Frears
yearsactive	1968–present
occupation	Film director
spouse	Mary-Kay WilmersAnne Rothenstein }}

Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English film director.

Early life

Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late '20s. He was educated at Gresham's School, Norfolk from 1954 to 1959, and later went on to study law at Trinity College, Cambridge from 1960 to 1963.

Career

After graduating from Cambridge, Frears worked as an assistant director on ''Morgan!'' (1966) and ''if....'' (1968), but most of his early directing career was spent in television mainly for the BBC, but also for the commercial sector. He contributed to several high profile anthology series such as the BBC's ''Play for Today'', and produced a series of Alan Bennett's plays for LWT, taking responsibility for working in the gallery on ''The Old Crowd'' while Lindsay Anderson worked with the actors. In the mid-1980s, Frears came to international attention as an important director of British and American films. His first film was ''Gumshoe'' (1971), but it was his production of the Hanif Kureishi screenplay ''My Beautiful Laundrette'' for Channel 4 in 1985 that unexpectedly led to his wider notice. The production, shot on 16 mm film, was released theatrically to great acclaim, and received a nomination for an Academy Award and two nominations for BAFTA Awards. In 1987, he worked with comedian Adrian Edmondson for ''Mr Jolly Lives Next Door'', also starring Peter Cook for a 45-minute programme from the cult series ''The Comic Strip Presents''. In 1985 he had also directed a Comic Strip parody of ''Rebecca'' with the usual Comic Strip ensemble.

Frears next directed another successful British film, the Joe Orton biopic ''Prick Up Your Ears'' (1987), another collaboration with Alan Bennett, which was followed by a second film from a Hanif Kureishi screenplay, ''Sammy and Rosie Get Laid'' (also 1987). The following year he made his Hollywood debut with ''Dangerous Liaisons''. The film was quite successful at the box office. It received numerous nominations for Academy Awards and BAFTA Awards, and Frears himself was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Direction. Frears had another critical success with ''The Grifters'' (1990), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. His film ''Hero'' (1992), starring Dustin Hoffman, was a major box office disappointment. He was also nominated for a Razzie Award for his direction of ''Mary Reilly'' (1996).

Frears has since directed a number of successful films in both Britain and America, including ''The Hi-Lo Country'' (1998), ''High Fidelity'' (2000), ''Dirty Pretty Things'' (2003) and ''Mrs Henderson Presents'' starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. In recent years he has also occasionally returned to directing for television, perhaps most notably ''The Deal'', a dramatised account of the alleged deal between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to decide which of them should become leader of the Labour Party in 1994, for Channel 4 in 2003. His film, ''The Queen'' (2006), was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It achieved immense critical acclaim, box office success and awards. He received his second Academy Award nomination for his direction of the film, and Helen Mirren won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Frears has also directed two films based on stories by Roddy Doyle, ''The Snapper'' and ''The Van''. He holds the "David Lean Chair in Fiction Direction" from the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, England where he teaches frequently.

Personal life

Frears currently lives in London with his wife, the painter Anne Rothenstein, and his two younger children Frankie and Lola. He also has two children, Sam and Will (a stage and film director), from his previous marriage to Mary-Kay Wilmers. Early in his career he made a programme featuring the band The Scaffold and is name checked in their hit song, "Lily the Pink".

Awards

1982: Won BAFTA TV Award for best Single Play ''BBC2 Playhouse: Going Gently'' (#7.27)

1989: Won César Award for Best Foreign Film for ''Dangerous Liaisons''

1990: Nominated for Academy Award for Best Director for ''The Grifters''

1995: Won Goya Award for Best European Film for ''The Snapper''

1996: Nominated for Razzie Award for Worst Director for ''Mary Reilly''

2003: Won BAFTA TV Awards for Best Single Drama for ''The Deal''

2006: Nominated for Academy Award for Best Director for ''The Queen''

2007: Won Goya Award for Best European Film for ''The Queen''

2009: Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Filmography

Feature Films

''Gumshoe'' (1971)

''Bloody Kids'' (1979)

''The Hit'' (1984)

''My Beautiful Laundrette'' (1985)

''Prick Up Your Ears'' (1987)

''Mr Jolly Lives Next Door'' (1987)

''Sammy and Rosie Get Laid'' (1987)

''Dangerous Liaisons'' (1988)

''The Grifters'' (1990)

''Hero'' (1992)

''Mary Reilly'' (1996)

''The Van'' (1996)

''The Hi-Lo Country'' (1998)

''High Fidelity'' (2000)

''Liam'' (2000)

''Dirty Pretty Things'' (2002)

''Mrs Henderson Presents'' (2005)

''The Queen'' (2006)

''Cheri'' (2009)

''Tamara Drewe'' (2010)

''Lay the Favorite'' (2012)

Television

''Three Men in a Boat'' (1975)

''Afternoon Off'' (1979)

''Walter and June'' (1983)

''Saigon: Year of the Cat'' (1983)

''December Flower'' (1984)

''The Snapper'' (1993)

''Fail Safe'' (2000)

''The Deal'' (2003)

References

External links

Category:1941 births Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:English Anglicans Category:English film directors Category:English television directors Category:Living people Category:Old Greshamians Category:People from Leicester Category:Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Category:British people of Jewish descent

an:Stephen Frears ca:Stephen Frears cy:Stephen Frears da:Stephen Frears de:Stephen Frears et:Stephen Frears es:Stephen Frears eu:Stephen Frears fr:Stephen Frears gl:Stephen Frears it:Stephen Frears he:סטיבן פרירס hu:Stephen Frears nl:Stephen Frears ja:スティーヴン・フリアーズ no:Stephen Frears pl:Stephen Frears pt:Stephen Frears ru:Фрирз, Стивен fi:Stephen Frears sv:Stephen Frears tr:Stephen Frears zh:斯蒂芬·弗里尔斯

name	Shashi Kapoor
birthname	Balbir-Raj Prithviraj Kapoor
birth date	March 18, 1938
birth place	Calcutta, West Bengal, British India
years active	1942–1999 (retired)
children	Kunal Kapoor,Sanjana Kapoor,Karan Kapoor
spouse	Jennifer Kendal (1958–1984) ''(died of cancer)''
occupation	Actor, Director, Producer
other names	Balbir Shashi Balbir Raj Shasha ''(used by his brother, Shammi Kapoor)'' Shashi Baba }}

Shashi Kapoor (), born Balbir-Raj Prithviraj Kapoor on 18 March 1938 in Calcutta (now Kolkata), is an award-winning Indian film actor and film producer. He has also been film director and assistant director in Hindi Films. He is a member of the Kapoor family, a film dynasty in India's Bollywood cinema. He is the younger brother of Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor, the son of Prithviraj Kapoor, the widower of Jennifer Kendal, and the father of Karan Kapoor, Kunal Kapoor, and Sanjana Kapoor. He is remembered for many hit Hindi films like ''Jab Jab Phool Khile'', ''Kanyadaan'', Pyar Ka Mausam , ''Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati '', ''Haseena Maan Jayegi'', Sharmeelee, ''Aa Gale Lag Jaa'', Fakira, Phaansi, Chor Machaye Shor, Mukti, ''Satyam Shivam Sundaram'', Heeralal Pannalal , ''Junoon'', Swayamvar and many such films, including ones he starred in with Pran like Chori Mera Kaam, Phaansi, Shankar Dada, Chakkar Pe Chakkar and with Amitabh Bachchan, such as ''Deewar'', ''Namak Halaal''. He has also played leading roles in a number of British films, including several Merchant Ivory productions such as ''Shakespeare-Wallah'', Heat and Dust etc. In 2011, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.

Career

Early Career(1960-1973)

Shashi Kapoor started acting in films as a child in the early 1940s appearing in several mythological films. His best known performances were in ''Aag'' (1948) and ''Awaara'' (1951) where he played the younger version of the characters played by his older brother Raj Kapoor. Right from the age of four, Shashi had started acting in his plays directed and produced by his dad Prithviraj Kapoor, while travelling with Prithvi Theatres. He was acting in both, the plays, as well as the films, where he had small roles to play.He got opportunity to work as assistant director in films with his brother Raj Kapoor as the lead hero like ''Dulha Dulhan'', ''Shriman Satyawadi''

He made his debut as a leading man in the 1961 Yash Chopra film ''Dharmputra'' and went on to appear in 168 films. He was a very popular debonair actor in Bollywood during the 1960s, 1970s and the mid 1980s. Shashi’s initial films like Dharmaputra directed by Yash Chopra and Prem Patra and Benazir both directed by Bimal Roy didn't do well. So he entered into English Movies. He was one of India's first actors to go international. But actress Nanda , who was already an established star with hits under her kit before Shashi tasted success, signed half a dozen Hindi films with him even when he wasn't doing well as she had faith in him that he could deliver good performances. Although their first film as a pair the critically acclaimed romantic film Char Diwari(1961) did not work, the rest were successful at the box office. In the 60’s Shashi had slew of solo hero box office romantic hit films opposite Nanda like Mehndi Lagi Mere Haath (1962), Mohabbat Isko Kahete Hain (1965), Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965), Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhare (1966), Raja Saab(1969) and Rootha Na Karo(1970). In the nineties in an interview, Shashi Kapoor declared that Nanda was his favorite heroine. Simlarly even Nanda declared in an interview that Shashi Kapoor was her favourite hero. But Shashi Kapoor again faced stiff competiton from Rajesh Khanna for acquiring romantic roles, due to which he had a weak period from 1969-1974 although he had hits with Sharmila, Rakhee, Asha Parekh and Nanda in this period.

Peak period (1974-1985)

Shashi Kapoor formed a hit on screen pair with Rakhee, Sharmila Tagore, Zeenat Aman in the late sixties till the mid eighties. Although he has commercial success even opposite heroines like Hema Malini, Parveen Babi, Rekha and others too , the pair Shashi-Rakhee, Shashi-Sharmila and Shashi-Zeenat was more popular among the audiences. With their first movie together ''Sharmelee'' becoming a blockbuster, Rakhee was paired frequently with him and they gave more hit films like ''Kabhi Kabhie'' (1976), ''Baseraa'' (1981), ''Zameen Aasmaan'' (1984) and ''Pighalta Aasman'' (1985) and the critically acclaimed ''Trishna'' (1978). The pair Sharmila- Shashi gave hits like ''Waqt'' (1965), ''Aamne Samne'' (1967), ''Suhana Safar'' (1970), ''Aa Gale Lag Jaa'' (1973), ''Paap Aur Punya'' (1974), ''Swati'' (1986) and the critically acclaimed ''New Delhi Times'' (1985), which fetched Shashi a National Film Award for Best Actor in 1986. With Zeenat Aman, he did Chori Mera Kaam(1975), Deewaangee (1976), ''Satyam Shivam Sundaram'', ''Roti Kapda Aur Makan'', ''Heeralal Pannalal'' (1978), ''Kranti''(1981), Pakhandi (1984) and Bhavani Junction(1985).

His most popular movies include ''Pyar Kiye Jaa ''(1966), ''Haseena Maan Jayegi''(1968) and Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati(1969) both with Babita, ''Kanyadan'',''Pyar Ka Mausam''(1969) both opposite Asha Parekh , ''Chor Machaye Shor'' opposite Mumtaz and ''Abhinetri'' (1970), ''Aap Beati''(1976), Apna Khoon , Trishul(1978) , Maan Gaye Ustaad(1981), Aandhi Toofan (1985) with Hema Malini, Bezubaan with Reena Roy, Chakkar Pe Chakkar(1976), Kali Ghata, Kalyug(1981), ''Vijeta''(1982), Pyaar Ki Jeet(1987) all with Rekha and Bepanaah(1985) with Rati Agnihotri. Other solo hits include Dil Ne Pukara(1967), Naina (1973), ''Phaansi'' (1978), ''Salaakhen''(1975), ''Fakira''(1976), Junoon''(1979) and multistarrer Neeyat (1980).He also worked with Rajesh Khanna in Prem Kahani.

In some of his successful films from the 1970s and in early 1980s he co-starred alongside Pran which include hits Biradari, Chori Mera Kaam, Phaansi, Shankar Dada, Chakkar Pe Chakkar, Rahu Ketu, Apna Khoon and Maan Gaye Ustaad and with Amitabh Bachchan in nine films of which ''Deewaar'' (1975), ''Kabhi Kabhie'' (1976), ''Trishul'' (1978), ''Kaala Patthar'' (1979), ''Suhaag'' (1979), ''Namak Halaal'' (1982) were commercially successful and Shaan(1980), Do Aur Do Panch and Akayla were flops at the box office. Shashi was regularly casted with Sanjeev Kumar too in films like ''Mukti ''(1977), Trishul, Muqaddar(1978), ''Swayamvar''(1980), Sawaal(1982), Pakhandi (1984).Shashi Kapoor, being a senior actor and more popular, was paid more than his male co stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Jeetendra, Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor in those days with exceptions being Pran, Rajesh Khanna and Sanjeev Kumar who were paid higher than Shashi.Although he was in his forties in the late 70’s, being slim and still having charming looks he was casted with his nephews Randhir Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor and with younger heroines like Neetu Singh, Sulakshana Pandit, Bindiya Goswami, Rati Agnihotri and Poonam Dhillon till 1985.After loss of his wife in 1984, Shashi started slowly gaining weight and this resulted him in moving too character roles in films like Alag Alag, Ilzaam(1986), Sindoor (1987). From 1986 onwards, he became very obese and his body was in contrary to his slim and fit image from the early 60’s till 1985.

He was also known internationally for starring in many British and American films, notably Merchant Ivory productions run by Ismail Merchant, such as ‘’ Householder’’(1963) , ''Shakespeare Wallah'' (1965)( opposite his sister-in-law Felicity Kendal ), ''Bombay Talkie'' (1970) and ''Heat and Dust''(1982) in which he co-starred with his wife Jennifer Kendal, The Deceivers (1988) and Side Streets (1998). He also starred in other British and American films such as ''Pretty Polly''(A Matter Of Innocence)(1967) opposite Hayley Mills, ''Siddhartha'' (1972), and ''Sammy and Rosie Get Laid'' (1987).Ismail Merchant also directed Shashi Kapoor in "In Custody"(Muhafiz)(1994).

In 1980 he set up his production house, Film Valas, which produced critically acclaimed films such as ''Junoon'' (1978), ''Kalyug'' (1981), ''36 Chowringhee Lane'' (1981), ''Vijeta'' (1982) and ''Utsav'' (1984). In 1991 he produced and directed a fantasy film titled ''Ajooba'' which had his frequent co-star Amitabh Bachchan and nephew Rishi Kapoor in the lead but the film was a disaster at the box office.

He regarded Nanda, Pran, Ismail Merchant, Dev Anand, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar as his closest friends from the industry since the beginning of his career and maintained cordial relations with Amitabh, Yash Chopra, MGR, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi and most of his female and male co stars.

Later Career (1987-1999)

He accepted very few roles as a character actor in films since 1987. He acted with Pierce Brosnan in ''The Deceivers'' (1988). He also won a National (special jury) Award for his performance in ''Muhafiz (In Custody)''(1994). His last and most recent film appearances were in ''Jinnah'' (1998), a biopic of Mohammed Ali Jinnah in which he was the narrator and another Merchant Ivory production titled ''Side Streets'' (1998). He has now retired from the film industry and did not appear in any film since. He was seen in the limelight at the "Shashi Kapoor Film Festival" held in Muscat, Oman (Sept 2007). He has lost a considerable amount of weight and looked healthy. Recently, at the 55th Annual Filmfare Awards, Shashi Kapoor received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.

Personal life

Attended Don Bosco High School in Matunga, Bombay. In July 1958, he married the English actress Jennifer Kendal and they acted in a number of films together, most notably in the Merchant Ivory productions. Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kendal met in Calcutta in 1956 while working for their respective theater groups. Shashi Kapoor was both assistant stage manager as well as actor for his father’s theater group, Prithvi. Geoffery Kendal’s Shakespearana group was also present at the same time in Calcutta and Jennifer was Geoffery’s daughter. After their subsequent meeting, the couple fell in love and after facing initial opposition from Geoffery and support from sister in law Geeta Bali, they got married. He had three children with Kendal; Karan Kapoor, Kunal Kapoor and Sanjana Kapoor. Jennifer and Shashi Kapoor established Prithvi theater in November 5, 1978 in Mumbai. Kendal died of cancer in 1984. After his wife’s death, he became de-motivated and started to put on weight. He looked slim and fit in his films till 1985. The English actress Felicity Kendal is his sister-in-law. Shashi Kapoor’s children for a short while became film actors but their Caucasian looks and accented Hindi prevented them from having a successful career in Hindi films. His son Kunal is married to director Ramesh Sippy's daughter and Sanjana to wildlife conservationist Valmik Thapar. Kunal Kapoor then moved onto ad film direction and established his production house Adfilm-Valas which is today extremely successful. Karan Kapoor became successful in modeling and later he settled down in London and pursued a career in photography. Sanjana Kapoor is in incharge of Prithvi Theater today.

Awards

Civilian award

2011 - Padma Bhushan by the Government of India

National Film Awards

Winner

1986 – National Film Award for Best Actor for ''New Delhi Times''

1994 – National Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film) for ''Muhafiz'' (1993)

1979 – National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi (as producer) for ''Junoon''

Filmfare Awards

Winner

2010 – Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award

Nominated

Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards

Other Awards

2011 – Mohammed Rafi Award

Lifetime Achievement Award

:* 2009 – The 7^th Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) :* 2009 – The 11^th Mumbai Film Festival (MFF)

Filmography

Actor

Producer

{|class="wikitable" |+Filmography as Producer |- !Year !!Film !!Notes |- |1978 |''Junoon'' |Won 1979National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi |- |1980 |''Kalyug'' |- |1981 |''36 Chowringhee Lane'' |- |1982 |''Vijeta'' |- |1984 |''Utsav'' |- |1991 |''Ajooba'' |}

Assistant Director

{|class="wikitable" |+Assistant Direction Filmography |- !Year !!Film !!Notes |- |1991 |''Ajooba'' |- |1974 |''Manoranjan'' |- |1964 |''Dulha Dulhan'' |- |1960 |''Shriman Satyawadi'' |- |1959 |''Guest House'' |- |1958 |''Post Box 999'' |}

Director

{|class="wikitable" |+Direction Filmography |- !Year !!Film !!Notes |- |1991 |''Ajooba'' |- |1988 |''Vozvrashcheniye Bagdadskogo Vora'' |Russian film |- |}

Works

''Shashi Kapoor presents the Prithviwallahs'', by Shashi Kapoor, Deepa Gahlot, Prithvi Theatre (Bombay, India). Roli Books, 2004. ISBN 8174363483.

Further reading

''The Kapoors: the first family of Indian cinema'', by Madhu Jain. Penguin, Viking, 2005. ISBN 0670058378.

References

External links

Shashi Kapoor with Jennifer, an NDTV Movies image

Category:National Film Award winners Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:1938 births Category:Living people Category:Indian film actors Category:Indian film producers Category:Hindi-language film directors Category:Indian child actors Category:Indian actors Category:Hindi film actors Category:Indian Hindus Category:Punjabi people Category:People from Mumbai Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan

ar:شاشي كابور de:Shashi Kapoor dv:ޝަޝީ ކަޕޫރު es:Shashi Kapoor fr:Shashi Kapoor hi:शशि कपूर it:Shashi Kapoor he:שאשי קאפור kn:ಶಶಿ ಕಪೂರ್ ka:შაში კაპური ml:ശശി കപൂർ mr:शशी कपूर pl:Shashi Kapoor fi:Shashi Kapoor sv:Shashi Kapoor ta:சசி கபூர்

birth date	July 26, 1945
birth name	Helen Lydia Mironoff
birth place	Chiswick, London, England
occupation	Actor
years active	1965–present
spouse	Taylor Hackford(1997–present)
partner	Taylor Hackford(1986–1997)
website	Official site }}

Dame Helen Mirren, DBE (born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.

Early life and family

Mirren was born Helen Lydia Mironoff in Queen Charlotte's Hospital, Chiswick, West London. Her father, Vasiliy Petrovich Mironov (1913–1980), was of Russian origin, and her mother, Kitty (née Kathleen Alexandrina Eva Matilda Rogers; 1909–1996), was English. Mirren's paternal grandfather, Colonel Pyotr Vasilievich Mironov, was in the Tsarist Army and fought in the 1904 Russo-Japanese War. He later became a diplomat, and was negotiating an arms deal in Britain, when he and his family were stranded during the Russian Revolution. The former diplomat became a London cab driver to support his family.

His son, Helen Mirren's father, changed the family name to the Scottish-sounding Mirren in the 1950s and became known as Basil Mirren. He played the viola with the London Philharmonic before World War II, and later drove a cab and was a driving-test examiner, before becoming a civil servant with the Ministry of Transport. Mirren's mother was from West Ham, East London, and was the 13th of 14 children born to a butcher whose father had been the butcher to Queen Victoria. Mirren considers her upbringing to have been "very anti-monarchist".

The first house she remembers living in was in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, when she was two or three years old, after the birth of her younger brother, who was named Peter Basil after his grandfather and great-great-grandfather. Mirren was the second of three children, born two years after her older sister Katherine ("Kate"; born 1942). She later lived in Leigh-on-Sea.

Education

Mirren attended St Bernard's High School for Girls in Southend-on-Sea, where she acted in school productions, and subsequently a teaching college, the New College of Speech and Drama in London, "housed within Anna Pavlova's old home, Ivy House" on the North End Road – which leads from Golders Green to Hampstead, N. London. At age eighteen, she auditioned for the National Youth Theatre and was accepted. By the time she was 20, she was Cleopatra in the NYT production of ''Antony and Cleopatra'' at the Old Vic, which led to her signing with the agent Al Parker.

Theatre

Early years

Her work for the NYT led to Mirren joining the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), playing Castiza in Trevor Nunn's 1966 staging of ''The Revenger's Tragedy'', Diana in ''All's Well That Ends Well'' in 1967, Cressida in ''Troilus and Cressida'' and Phebe in ''As You Like It'' in 1968, Julia in ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' in 1970, and Tatiana in Gorky's ''Enemies'' at the Aldwych and the title role in ''Miss Julie'' at The Other Place in 1971. She also appeared in four productions, directed by Braham Murray for Century Theatre at the University Theatre in Manchester between 1965 and 1967.

In 1970 Director/producer John Goldschmidt made the documentary film ''Doing Her Own Thing'' about Mirren at the Royal Shakespeare Company. The film was made for ATV and shown on the ITV Network in the UK.

In 1972–73 Mirren worked with Peter Brook's International Centre for Theatre Research, and joined the group's tour in North Africa and the US which created ''The Conference of the Birds''. Returning to the RSC she played Lady Macbeth at Stratford in 1974 and at the Aldwych Theatre in 1975.

As reported by Sally Beauman in her 1982 history of the RSC, Mirren, while appearing in Nunn's ''Macbeth'' (1974) and in a highly publicised letter to ''The Guardian'' newspaper, attacked both the National 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..." There were no discernible repercussions for this rebuke of the RSC.

West End and RSC

At the Royal Court in September 1975 she notably played rock star Maggie in ''Teeth 'n' Smiles'', a musical play by David Hare, which was revived at Wyndham's Theatre in May 1976 winning her the Plays & Players Best Actress award, voted by the London critics.

From November 1975 Mirren played in West End repertory with the Lyric Theatre Company as Nina in ''The Seagull'' and Ella in Ben Travers' new farce ''The Bed Before Yesterday'' ("Mirren is stirringly voluptuous as the Harlowesque good-time girl": Michael Billington, ''The Guardian'', 10 December 1975). At the RSC in Stratford in 1977, and at the Aldwych the following year, she played a steely Queen Margaret in Terry Hands' production of the three parts of ''Henry VI'', while 1979 saw her 'bursting with grace' with an acclaimed performance as Isabella in Peter Gill's otherwise unexceptional production of ''Measure for Measure'' at Riverside Studios.

In 1981 she returned to the Royal Court for the London premiere of Brian Friel's ''Faith Healer''. In the same year she also received acclaim for her performance in the title role of John Webster's ''The Duchess of Malfi'', a production of Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre which transferred to The Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, London. Reviewing her portrayal for ''The Sunday Telegraph'', Francis King wrote: "Miss Mirren never leaves it in doubt that even in her absences, this ardent, beautiful woman is the most important character of the story."

Her performance as Moll Cutpurse in ''The Roaring Girl'' at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in January 1983, and at the Barbican Theatre April 1983), "swaggered through the action with radiant singularity of purpose, filling in areas of light and shade that even Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker omitted." – Michael Coveney, ''Financial Times'', April 1983.

After a relatively barren sojourn in the Hollywood Hills, she returned to England at the beginning of 1989 to co-star with Bob Peck at the Young Vic in the London premiere of the Arthur 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" (interview by Sheridan Morley: ''The Times'' 11 January 1989). In ''Elegy for a Lady'' she played the svelte proprietress of a classy boutique, while as the blonde hooker in ''Some 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" (Michael Billington, ''The Guardian'').

Broadway debut

A further stage breakthrough came in 1994, in an Yvonne Arnaud Theatre production bound for the West End, when Bill Bryden cast her as Natalya Petrovna in Ivan Turgenev's ''A Month in the Country''. Her co-stars were John Hurt as her aimless lover Rakitin and Joseph Fiennes in only his second professional stage appearance as the cocksure young tutor Belyaev. "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." (John Thaxter, Richmond & Twickenham Times, 4 March 1994).

Mirren was twice nominated for Broadway's Tony Award as Best Actress (Play): in 1995 for her Broadway debut in ''A Month in the Country'', now directed by Scott Ellis ("Miss Mirren's performance is bigger and more animated than the one she gave last year in an entirely different London production", Vincent Canby in the NY Times, 26 April 1995). Then again in 2002 for August Strindberg's ''Dance of Death'', co-starring with Sir Ian McKellen, their fraught rehearsal period coinciding with the terrorist attacks on New York on September 11, 2001 (as recorded in her ''In the Frame'' autobiography, September 2007).

National Theatre

Mirren had an unhappy experience at the National Theatre in 1998 when she played Cleopatra to Alan Rickman's Antony. In 2000 Nicholas Hytner, who had worked with Mirren on the film version of ''The Madness of King George'', cast her as Lady Torrance in his revival of Tennessee Williams' ''Orpheus Descending'' at the Donmar Warehouse in London. Michael Billington, reviewing for ''The Guardian'', described her performance as "an exemplary study of an immigrant woman who has acquired a patina of resilient toughness but who slowly acknowledges her sensuality."

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 of Eugene O'Neill's ''Mourning Becomes Electra'' directed by Howard 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.” (''In the Frame'', September 2007).

She played the tragic title role in Jean Racine's ''Phèdre'' at the National in 2009, in a production directed by Nicholas Hytner. The production was also staged at the amphitheater of Epidaurus on 11 and 12 July 2009.

Selected stage credits

Cleopatra, ''Anthony and Cleopatra'', Old Vic Theatre, London, 1965

Cathleen, ''Long Day's Journey Into Night'', Century Theatre, Manchester,England 1965

Kitty, ''Charley's Aunt'', Century Theatre, Manchester, 1967

Nerissa, ''The Merchant of Venice'', Century Theatre,Manchester, 1967

Castiza, ''The Revenger's Tragedy'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, 1967

Diana, ''All's Well That Ends Well'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1967

Cressida, ''Troilus and Cressida'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, London, 1968

Hero, ''Much Ado about Nothing'', Aldwych Theatre, 1968–1969

Win-the-Fight Littlewit, ''Bartholomew Fair'', Aldwych Theatre, 1969

Lady Anne, ''Richard III'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1970

Ophelia, ''Hamlet'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1970

Julia, ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1970

Tatyana, ''Enemies'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1971

Harriet, ''The Man of Mode'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1971

Title role, ''Miss Julie'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1971

Elayne, ''The Balcony'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1971

Isabella, ''Measure for Measure'', Riverside Studios Theatre, London,1974

Lady Macbeth, ''Macbeth'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1974, then Aldwych Theatre, 1975

Maggie, ''Teeth 'n' Smiles'', Royal Court Theatre, London, 1975, thenWyndham's Theatre, London, 1976

Nina, ''The Seagull'', Lyric Theatre, London, 1975

Ella, ''The Bed before Yesterday'', Lyric Theatre, 1975

Queen Margaret, ''Henry VI, Parts I, II and III'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1977, then Aldwych Theatre, 1978

Title role, ''The Duchess of Malfi'', Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, England, 1980, then Mound House Theatre, London, 1981

Grace, ''Faith Healer'', Royal Court Theatre, 1981

Cleopatra, ''Antony and Cleopatra'', Pit Theatre, London, 1983

Moll Cutpurse, ''The Roaring Girl'', Barbican Theatre, London, 1983

Marjorie, ''Extremities'', Duchess Theatre, London, 1984

''Madame Bovary'', 1987

Angela, "Some Kind of Love Story," and dying woman, "Elegy for a Lady," in ''Two-Way Mirror'' (double-bill), Young Vic Theatre, *London, 1989

''Sex Please We're Italian'', 1991

Natalya Petrovna, ''A Month in the Country'', London, 1994, then Criterion Theatre, New York City, 1995

''Antony and Cleopatra'', Royal National Theatre, London, 1998

''Collected Stories'', London, 1999

Lady Torrance, ''Orpheus Descending'', Donmar Warehouse, London, 2000

Alice, ''Dance of Death'', Broadhurst Theatre, New York City, 2001–2002

''Mourning Becomes Electra'', Lyttelton Stage, Royal National Theatre, 2003

''Phedre'', National Theatre, 2009

Also appeared as Susie Monmican, The Silver Lassie; in ''Woman in Mind'', Los Angeles.

Film

Mirren has also appeared in a large number of films throughout her career. Some of her earlier film roles include ''Age of Consent'', ''O Lucky Man!'', ''Caligula'', ''Excalibur'', ''2010'', ''The Long Good Friday'', ''White Nights'', ''When the Whales Came'' and ''The Mosquito Coast''. She appeared in ''Some Mother's Son'', ''Painted Lady'', ''The Prince of Egypt'' and ''The Madness of King George''. One of her other film roles was in Peter Greenaway's ''The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover'', as the eponymous thief's wife, opposite Michael Gambon. Her favourite film is ''Teaching Mrs. Tingle'', in which she plays sadistic History teacher, Mrs Eve Tingle.

Mirren continued her successful film career when she starred more recently in ''Gosford Park'' with Maggie Smith and ''Calendar Girls'' where she starred with Julie Walters. Other more recent appearances include ''The Clearing'', ''Pride'', ''Raising Helen'', and ''Shadowboxer''. Mirren also provided the voice for the supercomputer "Deep Thought" in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. During her career, she has portrayed three British queens in different films and television series: Elizabeth I in the television series ''Elizabeth I'' (2005), Elizabeth II in ''The Queen'' (2006), and Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, in ''The Madness of King George'' (1994). She is the only actress ever to have portrayed both Queens Elizabeth on the screen.

Mirren's title role of ''The Queen'' earned her numerous acting awards including a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award, among many others. During her acceptance speech at the Academy Award ceremony, she praised and thanked Elizabeth II and stated that she had maintained her dignity and weathered many storms during her reign as Queen. Mirren later appeared in supporting roles in the films ''National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets'', ''Inkheart'', ''State of Play'', and ''The Last Station'', for which she was nominated for an Oscar.

In preparation for her role as a retired Israeli Mossad agent in the film ''The Debt'', Mirren reportedly immersed herself in studies of Hebrew language, Jewish history, and Holocaust writing, including the life of Simon Wiesenthal, while in Israel in 2009 for the filming of some of the movie's scenes. The film is a remake of a 2007 Israeli film of the same name (Hebrew: Ha-khov).

Television

Mirren is known for her role as detective Jane Tennison in the widely viewed ''Prime Suspect'', a multiple award-winning television drama that was noted for its high quality and popularity. Her portrayal of Tennison won her three consecutive BAFTA awards for Best Actress between 1992 and 1994.

Some of Mirren's other television performances include ''Cousin Bette'' (1971); ''As You Like It'' (1979); ''Blue Remembered Hills'' (1979); ''The Twilight Zone'' episode "Dead Woman's Shoes" (1985); ''Losing Chase'' (1996); ''The Passion of Ayn Rand'' (1999), where her performance won her both the Emmy and the Golden Globe; ''Door to Door'' (2002); and ''The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone'' (2003). In 1976, she appeared with Laurence Olivier, Alan Bates and Malcolm McDowell in a production of Harold Pinter's ''The Collection'' as part of the ''Laurence Olivier Presents'' series. She also played Elizabeth I in 2005, in the television serial ''Elizabeth I'', for Channel 4 and HBO, for which she received an Emmy Award. Mirren won another Emmy Award on 16 September 2007 for her role in ''Prime Suspect: The Final Act'' on PBS in the same category as in 2006.

Mirren hosted ''Saturday Night Live'' on 9 April 2011.

Awards and recognition

Film awards

In 1984, Mirren won Best Actress for her role in the film ''Cal'' at the Cannes Film Festival and the 1985 Evening Standard British Film Awards. In 1994 and 2001, she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her roles in ''The Madness of King George'' and ''Gosford Park'', respectively. In 1995, she had also been awarded for Best Actress once again in Cannes for playing Queen Charlotte in ''The Madness of King George''. In 2002, she received the SAG Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for ''Gosford Park''. Mirren is the first female actress to be nominated for three acting performances at the Golden Globe Awards in the same year. She won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role in the movie drama category for Stephen Frears' ''The Queen'' in 2006 (along with two nominations in the Actress in a Mini-series or TV Movie category for ''Elizabeth I'', and ''Prime Suspect: Final Act''). She won both Golden Globes for ''The Queen'' and ''Elizabeth I'' and also won two SAG awards the same year for the same roles. Mirren is the third actor to win two Golden Globes in the same year, and the first ever to win for both leading roles in TV and film in the same year. She is one of only three actresses (the first was Liza Minnelli in 1973 and then decades later Helen Hunt) to win a Golden Globe, an Oscar and an Emmy for performances given in the same year.

Along with the Golden Globe, Mirren's acclaimed performance in ''The Queen'' won her the 2007 Academy Award for Best Actress. She also received Best Actress awards from the Venice Film Festival, Broadcast Film Critics, National Board of Review, Satellite Awards, Screen Actors Guild and a BAFTA, as well as critics awards from all over the world. Entertainment Weekly recently ranked her Number 2 for Entertainer of the Year for 2006 and also won the award for best actress in film at the new Greatest Britons Awards for her role in ''The Queen''. In 2007, Mirren became an Honorary Patron of the University Philosophical Society at Trinity College Dublin.

She won the Best Actress award at the 2009 Rome International Film Festival for her performance as Tolstoy's wife in ''The Last Station''.

Academy Award nominations

Best Actress

* '''2006 – ''The Queen''

* 2009 – ''The Last Station''

Best Supporting Actress

* 1994 – ''The Madness of King George''

* 2001 – ''Gosford Park''

Television awards

Mirren won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Mini-series or TV Movie in 1997 for her role in ''Losing Chase''. She received two nominations in the Actress in a Mini-series or TV Movie category for ''Elizabeth I'', and ''Prime Suspect: The Final Act'', where she only won the Golden Globe for her title role performance in ''Elizabeth I''. In that same year she won an SAG award for that same role. Mirren also won an Emmy for her role in ''Elizabeth I'' in category Lead Actress in a Mini-Series or a Movie in 2006. She had previously won an Emmy twice before, in that same category, in 1996 for her role in ''Prime Suspect: Scent of Darkness'' and in 1999 for ''The Passion of Ayn Rand''.

At the end of a triumphant year of awards for her acclaimed movie performance as Queen Elizabeth II in ''The Queen'', Dame Helen also collected a 2007 Emmy Television award as Best Actress in a Mini-Series for her performance as Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison in ''Prime Suspect: The Final Act''. She now has four Emmy awards. This seventh, and apparently concluding instalment, of the ''Prime Suspect'' saga portrayed Tennison as an alcoholic destined for retirement. It was screened in the US on the public service network PBS.

Emmy Awards

Awards won are indicated by bold lettering.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

1993 – ''Prime Suspect 2''

1994 – ''Prime Suspect 3''

1996 – ''''Prime Suspect 4'': "Scent of Darkness"''

1997 – ''Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgment''

1999 – ''The Passion of Ayn Rand''

2003 – ''The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone''

2004 – ''Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness''

2006 – ''Elizabeth I''

2007 – ''Prime Suspect: The Final Act''

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

2003 – ''Door to Door''

Critics' Circle Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts

Each year, since 1988, The Critics' Circle has presented an award for Distinguished Service to the Arts voted for by all members of the Circle embracing: Dance, Drama, Film, Music, Visual Arts and Architecture. At a celebratory luncheon, on 10 April 2007 in the National Theatre's Terrace Restaurant, the award for 2006 was presented to Dame Helen Mirren. As David Gritten, chairman of the Film section made clear, the decision to make the award was voted on in November 2006, well in advance of the awards hubbub that surrounded her performance in ''The Queen''. Accepting the award, an engraved crystal rose bowl, Mirren described it as the most useful she has ever received, while reflecting poignantly that this now "might be the last award I will win in my life. It has been a most incredible year. You do the work and then....." Previous recipients include Peter Hall (1988), Judi Dench (1997) and Ian McKellen (2003).

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire

On 5 December 2003, she was invested as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). When she received the honour, Mirren commented that Prince Charles was "very graceful" but forgot to give her half of the award. Another person had to remind him to give Mirren the star. She also said that she felt wary about accepting the award and had to be persuaded by fellow comrades to accept the DBE. In 1996, she had declined appointment as a Commander of the order (CBE).

Personal life

Mirren married American director Taylor Hackford (her partner since 1986) on 31 December 1997, his 53rd birthday. The ceremony took place at the Ardersier Parish Church near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. The couple had met on the set of ''White Nights''. It is her first marriage, and his third (he has two children from his previous marriages). Mirren has no children and says she has "no maternal instinct whatsoever."

In the August 2011 issue of Esquire magazine, Mirren said, "I am quite spiritual. I believed in fairies when I was a child. I still do sort of believe in the fairies. And the leprechauns. But I don't believe in God."

Mirren's autobiography, ''In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures'', was published in the UK by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in September 2007. Reviewing for ''The 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."

In 1990, Mirren stated in an interview that she is an atheist.

In a ''GQ'' interview in 2008, Mirren stated she had been date raped as a student and had often taken cocaine at parties during the 1980s. She stopped using the drug after reading that Klaus Barbie made a living from cocaine dealing.

On 11 May 2010, Mirren attended the unveiling of her waxwork at Madame Tussauds London. The figure reportedly cost £150,000 to make and took four months to complete.

Controversy

In July 2010, during the Anglo-American BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Mirren declared herself to be "embarrassed and mortified at being British" had England defeated the US at football during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. "I was so relieved it was a draw because, you know, if Britain had beaten America, what with BP, which to my mind stands for bloody p***-poor."

This provoked an angry response in the UK, where British tabloid ''The Daily Mail'' accused her of being disloyal and cynically playing up to her American audience.

References in pop culture

The Mars Volta on their 2008 album The Bedlam in Goliath have a song called "Ilyena" that is named after Mirren. Mars Volta lyricist/singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala has stated an affinity for Mirren.

Filmography

+Film and television credits	! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1967	''Herostratus''
1968	''''	Hermia
1969	''Red Hot Shot''
1969		Cora Ryan
1972	''Miss Julie''	Miss Julie
1972	''Savage Messiah''	Gosh Boyle
1973	''O Lucky Man!''	Patricia
1975	''Caesar and Claretta''	Claretta Petacci
1976	''Hamlet''	Ophelia (character)
1979	''''	Joanne
1979		[[Caesonia
1980	''Hussy''	Beaty
1980	''''	Alice Rage
1980	''''	Victoria
1981		Morgana
1984		Marcella
1984		Tanya Kirbuk
1984		Princess Amelia	TV series: 1 episode
1985	''Heavenly Pursuits''	Ruth Chancellor
1985	''Coming Through''	Frieda von Richtofen Weekley
1985		Galina Ivanova
1986	''''	Mother Fox
1988		Lydia Neuman
1989	''When the Whales Came''	Clemmie Jenkins
1989	''''	Georgina Spica
1990	''Bethune: The Making of a Hero''	Frances Penny Bethune
1990	''''	Caroline
1991		Jane Tennison	TV series
1991		Lilia Herriton
1993	''''	Annie Marsh
1993		Geruth
1994	''''
1995	''''	Snow Queen	(voice)
1996	''Some Mother's Son''	Kathleen Quigley	Also Associate Producer
1992	''Losing Chase''	Chase Phillips	TV
1997	''Critical Care''	Stella
1998	''Sidoglio Smithee''
1998	''''	The Queen	(voice)
1999	''''	Ayn Rand
1999	''Teaching Mrs. Tingle''	Mrs. Eve Tingle
2000	''Greenfingers''	Georgina Woodhouse
2001	''''	Doctor
2001		The Boss
2001	''Happy Birthday''	Distinguished Woman	Also Director
2001		Amy
2001	''Gosford Park''	Mrs. Wilson
2003	''''	Karen Stone	TV
2003	''Calendar Girls''	Chris Harper
2004	''''	Eileen Hayes
2004	''Raising Helen''	Dominique
2005	''''	Deep Thought	(voice)
2005
2005	''Shadowboxer''	Rose
2006	''''	Queen Elizabeth II
2007	''National Treasure: Book of Secrets''	Emily Appleton
2008		Elinor Loredan
2009		Cameron Lynne
2009	''''
2010	''Love Ranch''	Grace Bontempo
2010	''''
2010		Ida
2010		Victoria
2010	''Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole''	Nyra	(voice)
2011		Lillian Hobson
2011	''''	Rachel Singer

Further reading

''Command Performance'', a profile of Helen Mirren written by John Lahr in The New Yorker magazine, 2 October 2006

''In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures'' (autobiography) by Helen Mirren, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2007 ISBN 978-0-297-85197-4.

*Rather than writing an autobiography Helen Mirren was commissioned by Alan Samson at Orion Books to write about her life in a series of chapters based on pictures from her extensive personal collection of photography and memorabilia. Edited by Chris Worwood, with whom she worked on the Award-winning HBO series ''Elizabeth'', the book covers every aspect of her life from her aristocratic Russian heritage to her days with Peter Hall's RSC company to her Academy Award for ''The Queen''.

References

External links

Official website

Helen Mirren at the MBC Encyclopedia of Television

Helen Mirren Biography at Tiscali

The Helen Mirren Appreciation Society, official fan club

Arifa Akbar, "Helen Mirren: The good, the bad and The Queen", (interview), ''The Independent'' (London), 27 May 2007

Kevin Maher, ''Dame Helen Mirren: I'm an Essex Girl'' (interview), ''The Times'' (London), 12 February 2010

Morley Safer profile of Helen Mirren on ''CBS'' ''60 Minutes'', 7 January 2007

Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Essex Category:Actresses awarded British damehoods Category:Alumni of Middlesex University Category:Audio book narrators Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actress Golden Globe winners Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Emmy Award winners Category:English atheists Category:English film actors Category:English people of Russian descent Category:English radio actors Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:English voice actors Category:European Film Award for Best Actress winners Category:Golden Orange Honorary Award winners Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from Westcliff-on-Sea Category:Royal National Theatre Company members Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members

ar:هيلين ميرين an:Helen Mirren be:Хелен Мірэн bg:Хелън Мирън bs:Helen Mirren ca:Helen Mirren cs:Helen Mirren cy:Helen Mirren da:Helen Mirren de:Helen Mirren et:Helen Mirren es:Helen Mirren eu:Helen Mirren fa:هلن میرن fr:Helen Mirren fy:Helen Mirren gl:Helen Mirren hy:Հելեն Միրեն id:Dame Helen Mirren it:Helen Mirren he:הלן מירן la:Helena Mirren hu:Helen Mirren mn:Хелен Миррен nl:Helen Mirren ja:ヘレン・ミレン no:Helen Mirren pms:Helen Mirren pl:Helen Mirren pt:Helen Mirren ro:Helen Mirren ru:Миррен, Хелен simple:Helen Mirren sr:Хелен Мирен sh:Helen Mirren fi:Helen Mirren sv:Helen Mirren tl:Helen Mirren th:เฮเลน เมียร์เรน tr:Helen Mirren uk:Гелен Міррен vi:Helen Mirren yo:Helen Mirren zh:海倫·美蘭

name	Tamsin Greig
birth date	February 23, 1967
birth place	Kent, England
nationality	British
religion	Christian
education	Bachelor of Arts
alma mater	University of Birmingham
birth name	Tamsin Greig
othername	Tamsin Leaf
occupation	Actress
spouse	Richard Leaf (?-present)
children	Nathanael ZephaniahJakob ZebedeeRoxie Joy
religion	Christianity
television	Dr. Caroline Todd in ''Green Wing''Fran Katzenjammer in ''Black Books''Alice Chenery in ''Love Soup''Debbie Aldridge in ''The Archers''Beverly Lincoln in ''Episodes''Mum (Jackie) in ''Friday Night Dinner''
awards	Royal Television Society Programme Awards: Comedy Performance2004 ''Green Wing''Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress2007 ''Much Ado About Nothing''Whatsonstage.com Best Supporting Actress in a Play2011 ''The Little Dog Laughed''* Birthdate reported incorrect by Tamsin Greig, Radio 5 live, 23/2/2011 }}

Tamsin Greig () (born 23 February 1967) is an English actress principally known for two Channel 4 television comedy parts: Fran Katzenjammer in ''Black Books'' and Dr. Caroline Todd in ''Green Wing''. Other notable roles include Alice Chenery in BBC One's comedy drama ''Love Soup'', Debbie Aldridge in BBC Radio 4's soap opera ''The Archers'', Miss Bates in the 2009 BBC version of Jane Austen's ''Emma'', Beverly Lincoln in transatlantic sitcom ''Episodes'' and Jackie in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Friday Night Dinner''.

Career

Radio

Greig has had a long-running part as Debbie Aldridge in the BBC Radio 4 soap opera ''The Archers'' since 1991. Due to her other work, she is not in the show all the time and her character Debbie spends most of her time living in Hungary.

Greig is also known for her comedy roles. She guest-starred in five episodes of the second series in the radio version of ''Absolute Power'', playing Gayle Shand, a rival to Prentiss McCabe and Charles Prentiss's former lover. Her comedy roles do pose problems for Greig, who has admitted that she has problems with corpsing.

Television

One of Greig's first television appearances was in an insurance advert three weeks before giving birth to her first son.

Greig subsequently appeared in a number of supporting parts, notably as Lamia in ''Neverwhere'' (1996) and The Mother in an episode of ''People Like Us'' (2000). Her first major role was Fran Katzenjammer in the sitcom ''Black Books'' in 2000, a neurotic who owned "Nifty Gifty", a sort of new-age gift shop. Her character became unemployed in the first series and eventually became worse at everything she tried as the series went on. Several later roles depict similar characters. In 2004, Greig had a small part in the movie ''Shaun of the Dead'' with Dylan Moran and Simon Pegg, who both also appeared in ''Black Books''. In 2005, she appeared as a nurse in an episode of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' entitled "The Long Game", which also featured Simon Pegg, the writer and star of ''Shaun of the Dead''.

In 2004, she played constantly embarrassed surgical registrar Dr. Caroline Todd, the lead character in the Channel 4 comedy drama series ''Green Wing''. Her performance won her "Best Comedy Performance" in the 2005 Royal Television Society Awards. She also appeared as Caroline in an appearance at ''The Secret Policeman's Ball''.

She starred in the BBC comedy drama series ''Love Soup'' (2005), as Alice Chenery, a lovelorn woman working on a department store perfume counter, in a role specifically written for her by David Renwick, whom she met in 2003 when she appeared in an episode of ''Jonathan Creek''.

Greig appeared in the role of Edith Frank in the BBC's January 2009 production of ''The Diary of Anne Frank''. Also in 2009, she appeared as Miss Bates in the BBC serial ''Jane Austen's Emma''. In 2010, she played Sacharissa Cripslock in the two part mini-series ''Terry Pratchett's Going Postal''.

In 2011, she starred in the BBC comedy ''Episodes'' made by American company Showtime, alongside Matt LeBlanc and Stephen Mangan that subsequently aired in the US on the Showtime network. She also stars in the Channel 4 sitcom, Friday Night Dinner.

Theatre

During 2006 and early 2007, Greig played Beatrice in a much acclaimed production of ''Much Ado About Nothing'' for which she won a Laurence Olivier Award, and Constance in ''King John'', as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's ''The Complete Works'' season. Whilst the win itself was a surprise, her acceptance speech was received very well as being highly entertaining, claiming that she was so excited that she had wet her dress. To make it worse, the dress was hired. The speech was apparently completely improvised. Backstage, when told not to tell her mother about her wetting her dress, she told the host that her mum was dead before dedicating her award to her 'dead mum'. She also won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for "Best Shakespearean Performance" in ''Much Ado About Nothing'', becoming the first woman to win the award, and was nominated for "The FRANCO'S Best Actress in a Play" in the Whatsonstage Theatregoers' Choice Awards.

At the Gielgud Theatre in March 2008, she co-starred with Ralph Fiennes, Janet McTeer and Ken Stott in the UK premiere of Yasmina Reza's ''The God of Carnage'' (''Le Dieu du carnage'') translated by Christopher Hampton and directed by Matthew Warchus. The play won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2009. In 2008, she co-starred in the surreal sci-fi film ''Captain Eager and the Mark of Voth''.

In November 2008, she made her National Theatre debut in ''Gethsemane'', a new play by David Hare which toured the UK.

Greig was starring in ''The Little Dog Laughed'' by Douglas Carter Beane at the Garrick Theatre in London, which did run a limited season until 10 April 2010. She starred alongside Rupert Friend, Gemma Arterton and Harry Lloyd, and the play was directed by Jamie Lloyd. She won the 2011 WhatsOnStage Theatregoers Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a play for her portrayal. Her performance as Diane in ''The Little Dog Laughed'' garnered her a second Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress.

Cinema

Greig starred with Richard E. Grant in the film ''Cuckoo'', and with Roger Allam and Gemma Arterton in ''Tamara Drewe''. She also made a short cameo appearance in the 2004 comedy ''Shaun of the Dead''.

==Personal life== Greig grew up in Kent. She moved to Kilburn when she was three with her two sisters. She went to Malorees Junior School, followed by Camden School for Girls where she passed A-Levels in English, French and Mathematics, and graduated with a first class honours degree in Drama and Theatre Arts from the University of Birmingham. After that, she worked as a temp at the Family Planning Association until 1996; she also spent some time at a secretarial college. She never planned to move back to London, but she did in 1996, because her father was dying and she wanted to comfort him. She now lives in a flat in Kensal Green. She converted to Christianity at this time, having been raised as an atheist.

She is married to actor Richard Leaf, whom she met on the set of Neil Gaiman's 1996 miniseries ''Neverwhere'', and has three children, Nathanael Zephaniah, Jakob Zebedee and Roxie Joy. They are sometimes comically referred to as "Leaflets". Greig has previously admitted that she is somewhat embarrassed by the marriage because, "It suddenly hit me one day: after we're married I'll be called Mrs T Leaf!" She has stated that she is often mistaken for Sharleen Spiteri, the lead singer of the band Texas, for the impressionist Ronni Ancona, for comedian Sue Perkins and is even sometimes mistaken for a man.

One review by Charlie Spencer in ''The Telegraph'' described her (in her role as Beatrice in ''Much Ado About Nothing'') as "not exactly beautiful, a little like Edwina Currie". She is a supporter of the National Health Service, giving her backing to a rally organised by pro-NHS protest group NHS Together. She also supports more practical teaching of Shakespeare in British schools, supporting the RSC's "Stand Up For Shakespeare" manifesto.

References

External links

tv.com Tamsin Greig biography.

Tamsin Greig – Drama Faces Biography of Tamsin Greig on the BBC Drama Faces website.

Ms Tamsin Greig at Debrett's ''People of Today''

Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from London Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham Category:Converts to Christianity from atheism or agnosticism Category:English Christians Category:Converts to Anglicanism from atheism or agnosticism Category:English radio actors Category:English soap opera actors Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:Olivier Award winners Category:People from Camden Town Category:People from Kilburn, London Category:Royal National Theatre Company members Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members Category:Shakespearean actors

fr:Tamsin Greig no:Tamsin Greig ro:Tamsin Greig fi:Tamsin Greig sv:Tamsin Greig

birth name	John Paul Cusack
birth date	June 28, 1966
birth place	Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
occupation	Actor Screenwriter
religion	Roman Catholic
years active	1983-present }}

John Paul Cusack (born June 28, 1966) is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including ''Say Anything...'', ''Grosse Point Blank'', ''The Thin Red Line'', ''Stand by Me'', ''Con Air'', ''Being John Malkovich'', ''High Fidelity'', ''Serendipity'', ''Runaway Jury'', ''The Ice Harvest'', ''1408'', ''Igor'', ''2012'' and ''Hot Tub Time Machine''.

Early life

Cusack was born in Evanston, Illinois, to an Irish Catholic family. His father, Dick Cusack (1925–2003), was also an actor, as are his siblings Ann, Joan, Bill and Susie. His father was also a documentary filmmaker, owned a film production company, and was a friend of activist Philip Berrigan. Cusack's mother, Nancy (née Carolan), is a former mathematics teacher and political activist. Cusack spent a year at New York University before dropping out, saying that he had "too much fire in [his] belly".

Career

Cusack gained fame in the mid-1980s after appearing in teen movies such as ''Better Off Dead'', ''The Sure Thing'', ''One Crazy Summer'', and ''Sixteen Candles''. Cusack made a cameo in the 1988 music video for "Trip At The Brain" by Suicidal Tendencies. In 1989 he starred as Lloyd Dobler in Cameron Crowe's ''Say Anything...''. His roles broadened in the late 1980s and early 1990s with more serious-minded fare such as the politically themed ''True Colors'' and the film noir thriller ''The Grifters''. He was later offered the role of the title character of Fred in the film "Drop Dead Fred", but dropped out due to a death in his family.

Cusack experienced box office success with his roles in the dark comedy ''Grosse Pointe Blank'' and the Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster ''Con Air''. In the years since, his range of films has diversified, appearing in roles such as an obsessive puppeteer in ''Being John Malkovich'', a lovelorn record store owner in ''High Fidelity'', and a Jewish art dealer mentoring a young Adolf Hitler in ''Max''. He starred in the horror film ''1408'', based on Stephen King's short story of the same name. He next appeared as a widowed father in the Iraq War-themed drama ''Grace is Gone'' and as assassin Brand Hauser in the dark political satire, ''War, Inc.'', along with Hilary Duff and Marisa Tomei.

His sister Joan Cusack and close friend Jeremy Piven have appeared in many of his films. The siblings appeared as two geeks in ''Sixteen Candles'': John as one of Farmer Ted's posse, and Joan as the geek with the neck brace. They also appeared together in ''Say Anything'', ''Grosse Pointe Blank'', ''High Fidelity'', ''Cradle Will Rock'', ''Martian Child'', and ''War, Inc.''. Piven and Cusack played opposite one another in ''One Crazy Summer'', ''Serendipity'', ''Say Anything'', and ''Grosse Pointe Blank''. Cusack also had a brief cameo, seen from behind but speaking a line of dialogue, in ''Broadcast News'', in which Joan also appeared. Piven also had roles in ''The Grifters'' and ''Runaway Jury''.

Cusack was next seen in Roland Emmerich's disaster film, ''2012'', which was released in theaters November 13, 2009; he played Jackson Curtis, a book writer and limo driver, with his ''Identity'' and ''Martian Child'' co-star Amanda Peet. Most recently Cusack was seen in ''Hot Tub Time Machine'', opposite Rob Corddry, Clark Duke, and Craig Robinson, which came out in March 2010.

Personal life

Cusack has an allegiance to both the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox, for which, he says, he is "in trouble there for that." He has led the crowd in a performance of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field. He has also been spotted at multiple Chicago Bears games and attended many of the Stanley Cup Finals games in support of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Cusack has trained in kickboxing for over 20 years under former world kickboxing champion Benny “The Jet" Urquidez. He began training under Urquidez in preparation for his role in ''Say Anything'' and currently holds the rank of Level 6 black belt in Urquidez’ Ukidokan Kickboxing system.

Political views

Since May 2005, John Cusack has been an avid blogger at ''The Huffington Post'', including an interview with Naomi Klein. He has written extensively on his opposition to the war in Iraq and his disdain for the Bush administration, calling its worldview "depressing, corrupt, unlawful, and tragically absurd".

He also appeared in a June 2008 MoveOn.org advertisement, where he made the claim that George W. Bush and John McCain have the same governing priorities.

Stalking incident

In March 2008, police arrested Emily Leatherman outside Cusack's home for stalking the actor. On October 10, 2008, Leatherman pled no contest and received five years probation and mandatory psychiatric counseling, and was ordered to stay away from Cusack, his home and business for the next 10 years.

Filmography

style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Year	Film	Role	Notes
1983		Roscoe Maibaum
	''Sixteen Candles''	Bryce
''Grandview, U.S.A.''	Johnny Maine
	''The Sure Thing''	Walter (Gib) Gibson
''The Journey of Natty Gann''	Harry
	Lane Meyer
		Denny Lachance
''One Crazy Summer''	Hoops McCann
		Dan Bartlett
	Angry Messenger
	''Eight Men Out''
''Tapeheads''	Ivan Alexeev
	''Elvis Stories''	Corky	short subject
''Say Anything...''	Lloyd Dobler
''Fat Man and Little Boy''	Michael Merriman
1990		Roy Dillon
1991		Peter Burton
	''Shadows and Fog''	Student Jack
''The Player''	Self	Cameo
''Bob Roberts''	Cutting Edge Host
''Roadside Prophets''	Caspar
	''Map of the Human Heart''	The Mapmaker
	Joey Coyle
	''Floundering''	JC
''Bullets Over Broadway''	David Shayne
	Charles Ossining
1996		Deputy Mayor Kevin Calhoun
	''Grosse Pointe Blank''	Martin Q. Blank	Screenplay and co-producerNominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
''Con Air''	U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin
	Dimitri	voice
	John Kelso
	''Chicago Cab''	Scary man	Executive producer
''This Is My Father''	Eddie Sharp, the Pilot
	Capt. Gaff
	''Pushing Tin''	Nick Falzone
''Cradle Will Rock''	Nelson Rockefeller	Nominated - Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
''Being John Malkovich''	Craig Schwartz	Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best ActorNominated — London Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorNominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best CastNominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
''The Jack Bull''	Myrl Redding	TV film, executive producer
	2000		Rob Gordon	Screenplay and co-producerNominated — American Comedy AwardNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated — Empire Awards
	''[[America's Sweethearts''	Eddie Thomas
	Jonathan Trager
		Max Rothman	associate producer
''Adaptation.''	Himself	uncredited
		Ed Dakota
''Breakfast With Hunter''	Himself	documentary
''Runaway Jury''	Nicholas Easter
	''Must Love Dogs''	Jake Anderson
''The Ice Harvest''	Charlie Arglist
	''Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film''	Himself	documentary
	Ray Keene
	''Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten''	Himself	documentary
''Martian Child''	David Gordon
	Mike Enslin	Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actor
	Stanley Philipps	Producer
2008		Igor	voice
2008	''War, Inc.''	Brand Hauser	also writer, producer
2009		Jackson Curtis	nominated-Teen choice award: Actor SCI-FI
	''Hot Tub Time Machine''	Adam	also producer
2011		Mike Fletcher	post-production
2012		Edgar Allan Poe	filming	}Titanic-Two the surface

The Frozen Ground ( 2012 )

References

External links

John Cusack Interview

The Onion A.V. Club interview, November 27, 2007

Category:1966 births Category:Actors from Chicago, Illinois Category:American anti–Iraq War activists Category:American bloggers Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Cusack family Category:Living people Category:New York University alumni Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:People from Evanston, Illinois

ar:جون كيوزاك an:John Cusack bn:জন কুস্যাক bg:Джон Кюзак ca:John Cusack co:John Cusack da:John Cusack de:John Cusack et:John Cusack es:John Cusack fa:جان کیوساک fr:John Cusack ga:John Cusack id:John Cusack it:John Cusack he:ג'ון קיוזק hu:John Cusack mn:Жон Кьюзак nl:John Cusack ja:ジョン・キューザック no:John Cusack pl:John Cusack pt:John Cusack ru:Кьюсак, Джон sr:Џон Кјузак sh:John Cusack fi:John Cusack sv:John Cusack th:จอห์น คูแซก tr:John Cusack uk:Джон К'юсак vi:John Cusack zh:約翰·庫薩克