Trivia: Her grandfather Piotr Vasilievich Mironoff was a Tsarist (White Russian) aristocrat who was in London negotiating an arms deal for the World War I when the 1917 Russian Revolution stranded him there. His wife and son (Helen's father) joined him in London. Before marrying director Taylor Hackford in 1997, she had lived with him in Los Angeles since 1986. Used to work in Southend on Sea; Essex; UK at an amusement park "The Kursaal" as a "blagger" to attract customers on to rides. Made a DBE (Dame of the British Empire) in the Queen's Birthday Honours, June 2003. John Boorman said he cast her opposite Nicol Williamson in Excalibur (1981), against both of their protests, because he felt their dislike of each other made them perfect as rivals Morgana and Merlin. Measurements: 36C-25-36 (starlet days), 38C-26-37 (on "Prime Suspect"-1996), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) She allegedly refused the C.B.E. (Commander of order of the British Empire) in 1996. Nominated for Best Actress, Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for her performance of "Orpheus Descending" at the Donmar Warehouse. [2001] Nominated for Best Actress, Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for her performance in "Mourning Becomes Electra" at the Royal National Theatre: Lyttelton Stage. [2004] Became an Associate Member of RADA. Nominated for Best Actress, Tony Award for "Dance of Death" by August Strindberg. [2002] Despite her Russian birth name and ancestry, she is not fluent in Russian. Her great-great-great-great-grandfather was field-marshal Kamensky, one of the Russian heroes of the Napoleonic wars. She is the only actress to play both Queen Elizabeth I (in "Elizabeth I" (2005)) and Queen Elizabeth II (The Queen (2006)). At the premiere of The Queen (2006) at the Venice Film Festival, her performance received a 5 minute standing ovation.