Dame Helen Mirren ("Dame" is a reference to her title of "Dame of the British Empire", roughly the female equivalent of British knighthood), was born Ilyena Lydia Mironoff on July 26, 1945, in London, and is one of today's most respected actresses whose work includes a wide range of consistently challenging roles. Her current slate of projects include "Shadowboxer" opposite Cuba Gooding Jr., the thriller "Awake" and the upcoming television drama "The Queen," She was recently seen starring on the London stage receiving outstanding reviews for her performance in Eugene O'Neill's "Mourning Becomes Electra."
Mirren starred in Showtime's: "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" and "The Passion of Ayn Rand", for which she won an Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Helen added another brilliant performance to an accomplished body of work that includes her British Academy Award, Emmy and Golden Globe winning role as Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison in the critically acclaimed PBS series "Prime Suspect."
As a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Mirren has portrayed most of the classic theatrical roles, including Ophelia, Cressida, Lady Macbeth, Nina in "The Seagull" and the title role in August Strindberg's "Miss Julie."Helen also returned to the stage starring opposite Stuart Townsend in Tennessee Williams' "Orpheus Descending" at London's Donmar Warehouse and opposite Sir Ian McKellen in August Strindberg's "Dance of Death."
Her other film credits include: "The Clearing" opposite Robert Redford, Garry Marshall's "Raising Helen," "Calendar Girls," for which she received a Golden Globe nomination, "Gosford Park" starring opposite Maggie Smith for which she received a SAG Award as well as Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Award® nominations, starring opposite Jack Nicholson in the Sean Penn directed "The Pledge," "Last Orders," "Teaching Mrs. Timgle," "Some Mother's Son," "The Madness of King George" (Best Actress, Cannes Film Festival; Academy Award® nomination); "Cal" (Best Actress, Cannes Film Festival); "Mosquito Coast," opposite Harrison Ford; "The Long Good Friday," opposite Bob Hoskins; "Excalibur;" "Comfort of Strangers;" "Pascali's Island" and Peter Greenaway's controversial "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover."
In addition to her acting talents, Helen made her directorial debut, directing a short entitled "Happy Birthday" for Showtime's "Directed By" film series. She has also Associate Produced the television mini-series "Painted Lady" and the film "Some Mother's Son."Mirren currently divides her time between London, New York and Los Angeles.
Prior to her role in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, she was probably most well known as "Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison" in the award winning British TV show, "Prime Suspect".
Anna Chancellor plays the voice of Deep Thought in the 2005 big budget Disney movie, "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy."
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