The 19th annual U.K. Women in Film and TV Awards were held December 4 @ London's Park Lane Hilton Hotel with actress Helen Mirren receiving a lifetime achievement award.
To her credit, Mirren has also won an Academy Award, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes and four Emmy Awards during her career.She was born 'Helen Vasilievna Mironov' in Hammersmith, West London in 1945, her paternal grandfather a Russian nobleman, tsarist colonel and diplomat who was stranded in England during the Russian Revolution.
At age eighteen, she auditioned for the National Youth Theatre and was accepted leading to numerous professional stage performances in the UK and North America.
Mirren has appeared nude in many of her films including earlier work in "Caligula" and "Excalibur" as well as her recent work in "Calendar Girls".
During her film career, she has portrayed three British queens, including 'Elizabeth I' in the television series "Elizabeth I" (2005), 'Elizabeth II' in "The Queen" (2006) and 'Queen Charlotte', wife of George III in "The Madness of King George" (1994).
She is also well-known for her 7-season run as detective 'Jane Tennison' in "Prime Suspect", a multiple award winning British TV drama.December 5, 2003, Mirren was invested as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)...
