One of the coolest things ever in the history of entertainment was when Dame Helen Mirren was 66 years old, and she won the title of hottest female body of the year by an LA Fitness poll, beating out JLo. That was just five-years ago, and the now 71-year old acting force continues to wow with her smarts, humor, talent and her killer body.
Dame Mirren is most known for her multiple Emmy Award winning turn as Jane Tennison on the acclaimed ITV series Prime Suspect (1991-2006), as well as winning the Oscar in 2007 for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, a character she reprised for her 2015 Tony Award winning performance in Peter Morgan’s The Audience.
This Londoner was born in 1945 to an English and Romani mom and a Russian father. By age 18, she was accepted into the National Youth Theatre (NYT) where within two years she was playing leads. She was a staple in the London theater scene including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theater, Royal Court Theatre for decades. She then also conquered Broadway, all the while also making movies and TV shows.
Dame Mirren knows her way around a costume drama. She starred in films Excalibur, The Madness of King George, Gosford Park, The Last Station and Hitchcock.
She made a younger generation of fans in 1999 when she stared as the wicked title character Teaching Mrs. Tingle.
Mirren has been married to director Taylor Hackford since 1997, though the were together for more than a decade prior. She also had a relationship with Liam Niessen in the 1980s.
Her autobiography In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures was published September 2007.
She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for Services to the Performing Arts in 2003.
Happy Birthday, Dame Helen Mirren!