Critics' Circle Award for Distinguised Service to the Arts

Each year since 1988 The Critics' Circle has presented an award for Distinguished Service to the Arts, voted for by all members of the Circle, embracing Dance, Drama, Film, Music, Visual Arts and Architecture.

At a celebratory luncheon on 10th April 2007 in the National Theatre's Terrace Restaurant, the award for 2006 was presented to Dame Helen Mirren. As David Gritten, chairman of the Film section made clear, the decision to make the award was voted on in November 2006, well in advance of the awards hubbub that surrounded her performance in The Queen.

Accepting the award, an engraved crystal rose bowl, Mirren described it as the most useful she has ever received, while reflecting poignantly that this now "might be the last award I will win in my life. It has been a most incredible year. You do the work and then....."

Previous recipients include Sir Peter Hall (1988), Dame Judi Dench (1997) and Ian McKellen (2003).

Queen Helen takes the Emmy!

For outstanding actress in a mini-series or movie, Helen Mirren received the Emmy, her third in nine nominations, for Elizabeth I. Elizabeth i received nine awards in total: best actress, best supporting actor for Jeremy Irons, best director, best mini-series, casting, art direction, editing, costumes and hair styling.

Helen receives honorary degree

Hollywood star and former Essex schoolgirl Helen Mirren has received an honorary degree from Essex University.

She accepted the honorary doctorate at a graduation ceremony attended by students from the literature, film and theatre studies department as well as those from Loughton's East 15 Acting School, which was made part of the university three years ago. In her acceptance speech, Dame Helen said she was delighted with the honour and congratulated the students.

Afterwards, she told the Evening Gazette how pleased she was that she had been singled out for the honour. She said: "I am proud to be the bearer of the badge Essex girl and I am delighted to have got this award."

Mirren to reprise <i>Prime Suspect</i> role

Dame Helen Mirren is set to reprise her role as DS Jane Tennison for Prime Suspect 7! The last installment of the ITV crime drama had 9 million viewers.
Scripts are being written for a new two-part drama, reports The Sun. An ITV spokeswoman told the paper that Helen was keen to go ahead.

HMAS Founder Peter Wright dies

Founder Peter Wright died suddenly on May 22, 2004. The Helen Mirren Appreciation Society sends our deepest sympathies to Peter's family and friends. He will be greatly missed.

Dame Helen's investiture today

Helen Mirren has been invested as a dame during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London. After receiving her honour from Prince Charles, the 58-year-old star said: "It is just the greatest theatre I have ever been in."

Dame Helen, daughter of an exiled Russian aristocrat, said she had never believed she would receive the award. "It was just lovely. I just felt my mouth go ever so slightly dry. I just thought, 'Don't be so silly'. I am incredibly proud. I am amazed."
Dame Helen was accompanied by her husband, US director Taylor Hackford, her sister Kate Mirren and her grandniece Natasha Fitzgerald.

Helen Mirren returns to PBS in a new Prime Suspect

Will she or won't she? Great news for fans of television drama: She will.

Helen Mirren will reprise her Emmy Award- winning role as tough-talking Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison in a new two-part episode of Prime Suspect for PBS's ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre.

"Countless fans have asked if Helen Mirren will do another Prime Suspect, said Masterpiece Theatre Executive Producer Rebecca Eaton. "Now, we can answer with a resounding 'yes'-and assure them that this new Prime Suspect will be worth the wait."

Filming begins in London next month for Prime Suspect 6, a Granada and WGBH Boston co-production in association with the CBC. In the new series, Tennison's determination to get justice for victims at all costs conflicts sharply with the politics of her new high-ranking position as overseer of all murder investigations.

During its 1992-97 run on PBS, the enormously popular Prime Suspect won the Emmy for Best Mini-Series three times, while its star twice took home the statue for Best Actress. "Mirren has brought off the most sustained example of great acting in the history of television," Esquire wrote.

"Prime Suspect has always been a cultural zeitgeist, and this new series is no exception, tackling contentious issues of the moment. Helen Mirren is one of our greatest stars and we can't wait to work with her again,"

said Andy Harries, Controller of Granada Drama.

Prime Suspect 6 will be produced by David Boulter (The Forsyte Saga 2), written by Peter Berry (The Luzhin Defense), and directed by Tom Hooper (Cold Feet, Daniel Deronda, Love in a Cold Climate). The Executive Producers are Rebecca Eaton for WGBH Boston and Andy Harries for Granada. ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre has been presented on PBS by WGBH for thirty years. Rebecca Eaton is Executive Producer. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Russell Baker is series host. The series is fully funded by ExxonMobil. Additional funding for Prime Suspect 6 is provided by PBS.

Emmy nominations

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
For best actress in a mini series or movie made for tv Helen was up against Maggie Smith in My House in Umbria (winner), Jessica Lange in Normal, Helena Bonham Carter in Live in Baghdad, and Thora Birch in Homeless to Harvard.

Door to Door
For best supporting actress in a mini series or movie made for tv Helen was up against Kathy Baker, also for Door to Door, Anne Bancroft for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, Juliette Lewis for Hysterical Blindness, Gena Rowlands for Hysterical Blindness (winner).

Oscar nomination for Mirren in <i>Gosford Park</i>

Helen Mirren has been nominated for an Academy Award for best performance by an actress in a supporting role for her portrayal of Jane Wilson in Robert Altman's Gosford Park. Other nominees are Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind, Maggie Smith, also in Gosford Park, Marisa Tomei in In the Bedroom and Kate Winslet in Iris.

The Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2001 will be presented on Sunday, March 24, 2002.

Emmy for <i>Ayn Rand</i>

Helen Mirren won the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Emmy award for Best Actress in a Mini-series of Movie for her p

ortrayal of novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand in Showtime's production of Barbara Branden's biography The Passion of Ayn Rand.

"Helen looked stunning in a silver spangled velvet gown (by Badgley Mischka, ed.), a month after saying she was dreading the Emmy's because of problems over what to wear. Two years ago, Miss Mirren was reduced to tears when comedienne Joan Rivers called her the worst dressed award winner at the Golden Globes" This is London