LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Helen Mirren: National Youth Theatre
built 277 days ago
A descendant of Russian aristocracy, Helen Mirren was born Ilynea Lydia Mironoff on July 26, 1945, in London. A veteran of Britain's esteemed National Youth Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company, Mirren first appeared on-screen in 1967's Herostratus, followed by Peter Hall's 1968 A Midsummer Night's Dream.
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In 1965, at the age of 18, Mirren portrayed Cleopatra in the National Youth Theatre performance at the Old Vic. She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company two years later. That same year, she made her television debut in a BBC production of Herostratus. The next year, in 1968, she played Hernia in a British TV adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was later released theatrically in the US. Other TV credits include The Changeling (1974), Kiss, Kiss, Kill, Kill (1974), Caesar and Claretta (1975), The Collection (1976), The Country Wife (1977), As You Like It (1978), Mrs. Reinhardt (1981), Red King, White Knight (1989), Losing Chase (1996 -- Golden Globe: Best Actress in a Television Movie or Miniseries), On the Edge (2001), Door to Door (2002 -- Golden Globe, Emmy and Screen Actors Guild nominations), and The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003 -- Golden Globe, Emmy and Screen Actors Guild nominations).
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Born and raised in London, England, Mirren is a descendant of a Russian noble family -- her father was a Russian aristocrat who was stranded in London after the 1917 Russian Revolution. Knowing she wanted to become an actress as early as age six, Mirren tried to please her parents with a stint at a teacher's college, but ultimately joined the National Youth Theatre, starting her acting career on stage.
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