15 Rare Photos of a Young Helen Mirren from Early in Her Career
The 1923 star was trained in classic theater.
Dame Helen Mirren is gracing television screens as Cara Dutton in the Yellowstone prequel 1923, and she'll appear in upcoming blockbusters like the Barbie movie and the newest installment in The Fast & The Furious franchise. But the Hollywood icon has been in the public eye since beginning her acting career on stage at the age of 18. Since that debut, she has won an Oscar, four BAFTA Awards, five Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. Some fans may not know about Mirren's early career, so here's a retrospective that shows how talented the performer was even before her years of experience on screen and stage.
1965: Mirren in Antony and Cleopatra
Mirren gained an affinity for acting in school productions and attended teaching college The New College of Speech and Drama. Mirren auditioned for the National Youth Theatre at the age of 18. Her portrayal of Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra at the Old Vic theatre led to her signing with agent Al Parker.
1965: Mirren being painted by Nicholas Egon
Mirren was spotted by painter Nicholas Egan while on her Antony and Cleopatra run, and he spontaneously painted her. Mirren's rise in prominence led to her joining the prestigious Royal Shakespeare company.
1968: Performing in Troilus and Cressida
Mirren played Cressidia in a staging of the Shakespeare play Troilus and Cressidia for the RSC,estimated to have been written around 1602. The play is about a love affair between two people in Troy during the Trojan War.
1969: Photographed at Heathrow
Through her time at the RSC, Mirren also acted in great Shakespeare plays like As You Like It and The Two Gentleman of Verona, and also began appearing in films such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Age of Consent.
1973: Mirren on Call My Bluff
This is one of Mirren's first TV parts... on a game show that is! She was on four episodes of this panel game show Call My Bluff in 1973. The game involved teams of guests earning points by guessing the definitions of obscure words, and then taking turns presenting the real definitions along with bluff ones to try and throw off the opposing team.
1975: Mirren in The Collection on HBO's Laurence Olivier Presents series
Mirren joined an all-star cast including Laurence Olivier and Malcolm MacDowell for this television adaptation of Harold Pinter's play The Collection made for Laurence Olivier Presents on HBO.
1975: Mirren at home
Mirren lived in the London suburb Fulham for this part of her early career. She made her West End debut in 1975 with the musical play Teeth 'n' Smiles, and also appeared in the TV Film Caesar and Claretta.
1976: Mirren rocking bangs
A young Mirren would blend right in at any cool bar or coffee shop even now! In 1976, the actress played Ophelia and Gertrude in a film adaptation of Hamlet.
1977: A veteran stage actor
Along with plenty of modern plays, Mirren continued taking on Shakespeare roles including a stint as Queen Margaret in Henry VI and an acclaimed performance as Isabella in Measure for Measure.
1978: Looking posh
Clearly, Mirren was setting style trends then, and continues to do so now.
1981: Playing Cassandra in an Oresteia adaptation
This trilogy of Greek tragedies by Aeschylus was adapted as a TV miniseries starring Mirren as the classic character Cassandra, a Trojan captive of the Greeks. The late great actress Diana Rigg also appeared in this miniseries as Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra.
1981: Playing Morgana in Excalibur
The actress also put her own spin on classic Arthurian legend by playing Morgana in the film Excalibur. This was also one of the earliest film roles of a young Liam Neeson, and the two actors had a relationship for years after meeting on the set, with Neeson later saying Mirren was instrumental in helping him get an agent.
1981: Mirren and Bob Hoskins in The Duchess of Malfi
Just because she was working a ton on-camera didn't mean Mirren was shying away from the stage. She took on the title role in this 17th-century Jacobean tragedy, which began at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester but transferred to London due to high acclaim.
1983: Already award worthy!
Mirren was nominated for "Actress of the Year in a Revival" at the Society of West End Theatre Awards, now known as the Laurence Olivier Awards, for playing Cleopatra once again in Antony and Cleopatra.
1985 :Mirren at the Berlin Film Festival
Mirren was at the prestigious festival for the screening of her film 2010: The Year We Make Contact, which was a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film was well-received, but failed to escape the titanic shadow of the predecessor. She later said that the 2010 script was "somewhat incomprehensible," but you could arguably say the same about some moments of 2001.
Jacob is a Temporary Partnerships Editor at Hearst based in Queens, New York with his partner and cat Tiger. He loves learning and writing about Film and TV, Video Games, and the weird histories of unexpected subjects.
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