What is Helen Mirren?
{{BLP sources|date=April 2012}} [[File:Helen Mirren at the Orange British Academy Film Awards.jpg|thumb|Helen Mirren in 2007]] '''Dame Helen Lydia Mirren''' [[Order of the British Empire|<small>DBE</small>]] (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; 26 July 1945) is an [[English people|English]] [[actor]] active in [[theatre]], movie and television. ==Early life== Mirren was born in [[Chiswick]], [[Middlesex]], England, to a [[Russians|Russian]] father and an English mother, she was raised in [[Essex]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/8303064/Helen-Mirren-interview.html|title=Helen Mirren interview|first=Gina|last=Piccalo|date=7 February 2011|publisher=|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> ==Acting== She began her acting career in 1963 with the [[National Youth Theatre]], later joining the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]]. She has since then appeared with several theatre companies in a wide variety of roles. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest British actresses of all time. She began appearing in movies while still very young but did not really attract attention until the late 1970s. Her movies include: ''[[Caligula (movie)|Caligula]]'' (1979), ''[[The Long Good Friday]]'' (1980), ''[[Excalibur (movie)|Excalibur]]'' (1981), ''[[Cal]]'' (1981), ''[[White Nights]]'' (1985), ''Pascali's Island'' (1988), ''[[The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover]]'' (1989), ''[[The Madness of King George]]'' (1994), ''[[Gosford Park]]'' (2001), and ''[[The Queen (2006 movie)|The Queen]]'' (2006), for which she won the [[Academy Award]] for best actress, and several other awards ([[Golden Globe]], [[BAFTA]], etc.). Mirren has also appeared in several series on television, notably as Inspector Jane Tennison in the ''Prime Suspect'' series, she was also acclaimed as [[Queen regnant|Queen]] [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] in the series ''Elizabeth I'' (2006). ==Personal life== Mirren is an [[atheism|atheist]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.examiner.com/pop-culture-in-atlanta/helen-mirren-atheist|tit