The Chicest Vintage Photos of Helen Mirren

At 18 years old, a young Helen Lydia Mirren auditioned for the National Youth Theatre (NYT). Founded in 1956, the organization has produced a number of successful actors, including Colin Firth, Daniel Day-Lewis and Daniel Craig.

In this vintage image, Helen Mirren is in a reading for the NYT with fellow actors Michael Croft and John Nightingale. The celebrated actress credits her time with the NYT as launching her career. She landed her first big role in her third year of study.

In 1965, Helen Mirren played Cleopatra in the NYT’s production of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Prior to this, Mirren had appeared in the NYT’s 1963 production of Hamlet, and 1964’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. However, it was her role as Cleopatra that landed Helen Mirren her first agent.

Speaking about the role, Mirren said, “I was in at the deep end. I loved the power and the passion of that role, and of course, it’s always good to be Queen.”

Due to her time with the National Youth Theatre, Helen Mirren was asked to join the Royal Shakespeare Company. While there, she played a number of roles, including Castiza in 1966’s The Revenger’s Tragedy, and Diana in 1967’s All’s Well That Ends Well.

In this amazing vintage image, the young actress looks fresh faced and chic. Wearing a polka dot long sleeved dress, pearls and a straw hat, Mirren embodies the spirit of the sixties.

Here’s another snap of a young and radiant Helen Mirren. This picture is from 1967, and features her then boyfriend, actor Bruce Meyers. Around this time, Mirren also acted in other on stage productions. Between 1965-1967, she appeared in four productions at the University Theatre in Manchester.

Helen Mirren has described herself as having a sense of adventure, and feeling connected to nature. She once commented, “I don’t think I have slept in the same bed for more than three or four months my whole life.”

During her time with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Helen Mirren played a number of roles. In this image, she’s playing Cressida from a 1968 production of Troilus and Cressida. Much like the National Youth Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company has produced a number of successful actors.

Former members include Mia Farrow, Ralph Fiennes, Paul Bettany, Christopher Plummer, Patrick Stewart, Tilda Swinton, Ian McKellen, Daniel Day Lewis. The company is based in Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace and gravesite of William Shakespeare.

As well as acting on stage, Helen Mirren is a hugely successful on screen actress. Way back in the late 60s, while she was acting with the RSC, Mirren also starred in the 1968 movie adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

However, her first major movie role was in Australian comedy drama Age of Consent. Mirren played Cora, a wild-living woman turned muse. This picture of the actress wearing a white shirt and wide leg pants is from the promotional tour for the film.

In this vintage shot, actress Helen Mirren waits with a pile of luggage at Heathrow Airport, London. Wearing a black outfit, round sunglasses and strappy flats, Mirren almost looks like singer and actress Barbra Streisand here.

Helen Mirren spent most of late 1968 and early 1969 shooting Age of Consent in Australia. She also travelled with the RSC, performing in Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. Speaking about her career, Mirren has said, “I always try to make the tapestry of my work as broad as possible.”

In 1970, Helen Mirren continued acting with the RSC, starring in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Richard III, and Hamlet. People were starting to take an interest in the actress, especially following her role in Age of Consent.

In 1970, British-Austrian filmmaker John Goldschmidt followed Mirren’s time at the RSC, and created documentary Doing Her Own Thing. Mirren has said, “In acting Shakespeare you realise how exciting it is. I find it quite uninteresting to read. It is only when I start acting that it comes alive.”

Over the next few years, Helen Mirren travelled with director Peter Brook’s International Centre for Theatre Research in North Africa, Asia, and the US. The organization was founded in 1970 and was focused on developing new experimental types of theatre.

These years made Mirren rethink all of her previous acting work, and was a huge influence when she returned to England. In 1972, Mirren starred in biopic Savage Messiah, and in a television version of Miss Julie.

After her time traveling the world, Helen Mirren re-joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, and played Lady Macbeth in their 1975 production of Macbeth. That same year, Mirren made her West End debut, playing rock star Maggie in musical Teeth ‘n’ Smiles.

The actress then joined The Lyric Theatre, and performed in Chekhov’s The Seagull, and Ben Travers’ The Bed Before Yesterday. For the BBC, Mirren starred in Caesar and Claretta and The Apple Cart.

Also in 1975, Helen Mirren was invited to give her first television interview. She sat down with British interviewer Michael Parkinson, and was shocked when he asked her some rather inappropriate questions, including references to her body.

Parkinson said to the Shakespearean actress, “You are, in quotes, a serious actress?” Mirren responded, “In quotes? What do you mean in quotes? How dare you.” Years later, the actress maintained that the interview was extremely sexist. For his part, Parkinson has never apologized.

This stunning vintage image of a chic Helen Mirren was taken on a photo shoot in 1976. During this year, the actress filmed historical drama Caligula in Italy. The movie wasn’t released until 1979, and became highly controversial because of its explicit content.

Mirren also continued with her television acting during this period. She starred opposite Laurence Olivier in Pinter’s The Collection in 1976, and in adaptations of The Country Wife, and Hamlet in 1977. This particular production of Hamlet was rather experimental.

Never one to shy away from her interests, ambitions or creative direction, Helen Mirren has always been a headstrong and self-assured woman. In this picture, taken in 1976, the actress embraces a 70’s rock and roll meets bohemian aesthetic. She wears floaty embroidered fabrics with punky curls, and dark eye makeup.

Speaking to Glamour, Mirren advised women to “Forget the word beauty.” She said, “find another word that applies to you. My word is swagger. It’s not your beauty; it’s your swagger.”

In this next image, taken in 1977, Helen Mirren looks rather like fellow actress Diane Keaton. With casual overalls, clogs, a newsboy cap and a button-down shirt, the actress looks full on laidback 70s chic. In this year, Mirren re-joined the RSC, and played Queen Margaret in Henry VI.

Helen Mirren has commented that she hates when female characters are described as “strong” or “feisty.” She said, “It’s the most condescending thing. You say that about a three year old. It infantilises women.”

Helen Mirren first played Rosalind in Shakespeare’s As You Like It when she was with the RSC in 1968. She reprised the role in 1978, as part of the new BBC Shakespeare collection. With ten years of Shakespearean acting experience, Mirren also appeared in the collection’s 1981 adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and 1982’s Cymbaline.

The series came up against lots of difficulties, and wasn’t a success in the UK. However, Mirren promoted the collection in the US.

At this stage in her career, Helen Mirren had acted successfully on stage, and on the small and big screens. In 1979 she appeared in The Quiz Kid, and played Cassandra in The Serpent Son – Agamemnon (pictured). This was also the year that Caligula was eventually released.

Though Mirren had shot the movie three years prior, the director had added in a number of controversial scenes. This made the film one of the biggest scandals in 21st century cinema.

In the 1980s, Helen Mirren starred in a number of movies, including gangster film The Long Good Friday, and comedy The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu. The latter was released only two weeks after English actor Peter Sellers passed away, and was a critical and commercial flop.

On the other hand, The Long Good Friday was a big hit, and is considered one of the top 100 British films in several lists. The movie includes political plots from the time period, and is considered an 80s classic.

Also in 1980, Helen Mirren played the titular character in Jacobean play The Duchess of Malfi. The production was widely praised, and Mirren especially was credited for her starring role. British theatre critic Francis King commented that she “swaggered through the action with radiant singularity of purpose.”

Mirren’s co-star, Pete Postlethwaite, said of her performance, “Helen is a stunning actress and exceptional lady. She has always had wonderful ability and can switch from cold to ranging, invincible to vulnerable, her emotional palette and range are extraordinary.”

In 1983, Helen Mirren played the female lead in low-budget Irish drama, Cal. The director commented that he was impressed with her Irish accent, and she revealed she had been listening to a recording of actor Liam Neeson reciting the script. Also this year, Mirren starred in play The Roaring Girl.

The following year, Helen Mirren travelled the world, going between London, Los Angeles and Russia. While in Russia, she explored her family history.

Helen Mirren has an extremely impressive filmography that just keeps on going. In the early 80s she starred in medieval fantasy Excalibur, sci-fi film 2010: The Year We Make Contact, musical drama White Nights, and drama The Mosquito Coast.

In 1989, the actress starred in British film When the Whales Came, based on the children’s book of the same name. Helen Mirren wore this stunning orange gown for the film’s premiere, along with a chic up do and glamorous ‘80s gold earrings.

As we enter the 1990s, Helen Mirren continues to rack up the roles. In 1990 she starred in another controversial movie, this time the psychological thriller The Comfort of Strangers. The movie also starred Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson.

1991 saw the start of Mirren’s most famous TV role, as Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison in British police procedural Prime Suspect. This was a significant role for women on television, and Mirren was the perfect actress to bring the show to life.

For her role as Detective Jane Tennison, Helen Mirren won three consecutive British Academy Television Awards for Best Actress. Once the series was released in the US, it won the Emmy Award for Best Miniseries of the Year.

Speaking about the character, Mirren has said, “There are certain things about her I don’t like at all. I don’t like her brutality, I don’t like her extreme selfishness. I don’t like her job and could never be involved in a profession like it.”

As we know, Dame Helen Mirren has won quite a number of awards during her long career. In total, the actress has one Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards, three Golden Globes, four Emmys, and one Tony Award. Mirren was made a Dame in 2003 by Queen Elizabeth II, the monarch she played in 2006’s The Queen.

In fact, Helen Mirren is the only actress to have portrayed both Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth II on screen. Mirren also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

As well as her magnificent talent, Helen Mirren is bursting with personality and individuality. The actress has walked the red carpet barefoot, experimented with pink hair in her 70s, and is never afraid to speak out about what she believes in.

She has said, “Sometimes bad things happen to very good people and sometimes good things happen to bad people. But at least if you try to do good things, then you’re spending your time doing something worthwhile.” Well put!

Dame Helen Mirren shows no signs of slowing down. She starred in 2018’s horror movie Winchester, and in 2019’s ensemble film Berlin, I Love You. Also in 2019, she stepped into the shoes of another iconic female monarch, playing Catherine the Great in a four part miniseries for HBO.

The actress has signed on for action movie F9 in 2021, and for war drama White Bird: A Wonder Story. One thing’s for sure, we can count on Helen Mirren to always be her absolute best.