She’s the coolest 70 year old we know, and she’s got style to boot. Dame Helen Mirren is Hollywood royalty.
Through the years, the world has become more and more impressed, not to say, obsessed with her acting chops, her wicked sense of humour and her confidence in aging with class and style.
Nine important things we know about Helen Mirren after six decades in the business:
She is an incredibly talented actress.
Her wit is as quick as a whip.
She is the poster lady for graceful aging.
She has portrayed a Queen six times, for obvious reasons.
She is fluent in French.
She is a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
She has had four nominations and one win for Best Actress Academy Award.
She has been named the world’s sexiest older woman.
She has incredible style.
Helen Mirren was born Illiana Lydia Petrovna Mironova on July 26, 1945, London, England, to a London born mother and a Russian father. Mirren fell in love with theatre at 13 when she was wowed by a Hamlet performance. “I was blown away by all this over-the-top drama,” she said in an interview with The Times UK. “We grew up without TV and never went to the cinema, so after Hamlet, all I wanted to do was get back into that world where all those fabulous things were possible.”
Helen Mirren started out in theatre in the 50’s in the Royal Shakespeare Company before making the switch to film in the ’60s. Mirren has starred in many movies throughout her career spanning over five decades, including, Calendar Girls, Hitchcock and The Last Station.
She is known for her versatility in comedy and drama as well as being a highly technical and experienced actress. One of her greatest achievements is boasting the triple crown of acting having won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role play Elizabeth II in The Queen, an Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role in West End and a Tony for her Broadway performance The Audience.
Part of Mirren’s likeability is the graceful and humorous way she has handled aging in an industry that places so much value in youth.
“The best thing about being over 70 is being over 70,” Mirren says in an interview with AARP The Magazine. “Certainly when I was 45, the idea of being 70 was like ‘Arghhh!’ but you only have two options in life: Die young or get old. There is nothing else. The idea of dying young when you’re 25 is kind of cool – a bit romantic, like James Dean. But then you realize that life is too much fun to do that.”
Known for her overtly sensual screen persona, Helen Mirren is among the few actresses of her generation who has become known for her comfort with nudity. In fact, to commemorate her 50th birthday she posed naked for the cover of Britain’s Radio World. Once again, Mirren has proved to the world that aging is something to embrace, not something to fear.
Mirren’s big break was undoubtedly her role in the 1992 TV series as Detective Inspector Jane Tennison in the public television mystery series Prime Suspect. By the time the show ended in 2006, she had taken home five BAFTA Awards and several Emmy Award nominations for her performance on the show, including a win in 1996 for Outstanding Lead Actress. Mirren’s film career also started to gain attention, and in 1996 she earned her first of many Academy Award nominations for The Madness of King George.
After a raft of nominations and awards, Helen Mirren officially became acting royalty. In 2003 Queen Elizabeth II published a list of those she had chosen to appoint as Officers of the Order of the British Empire. Among the exclusive list of stand -outs in their fields were David Beckham, Rodger Moore (James Bond) and our girl Helen, thus solidifying her place forever more as Queen of the screens and stage.
In 2007, Mirren gained worldwide recognition as an A-list actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen. The performance landed Mirren her first Oscar, and also earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Mirren proved to be a standout even her lighter and more comedic roles. She earned another Golden Globe nomination for her role in the Disney feel-good comedy The One Hundred Foot Journey. Further demonstrating that no matter what the role, Mirren brings her A-game.
A favourite on talk shows, Mirren consistently delights audiences with her wit and charm. Never taking life too seriously Mirren has been known to bring the funny to live TV including twerking for audiences, chatting with Jimmy Fallon while sucking helium and confessing her love for Vin Diesel to Seth Myers.
However, it is Helen’s elegant, timeless style that has captured fashion lovers’ hearts around the world. This is a lady who knows how to dress for her age while looking confident, sexy and oh-so-stylish.
Here are some of our favourite pics to prove that women only get better with age.
