In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures (Hardcover)

by Helen Mirren (Author)
Key Phrases: youth theatre, amazing year, Prime Suspect, East End, Ayan Sola (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Helen Mirren has been an internationally ac-claimed actress -- and the recipient of many awards, transferring between stage, cinema and television -- for over 40 years.

Known in her youth for a forthright style, a liberated attitude and a bohemian outlook, she has never ceased to be out of the public eye, with legions of admiring fans all over the world. This illustrated memoir is an account of an extraordinary talent, and a life well lived.

Helen's aristocratic Russian grandfather, Pyotr Vasilievich Mironov, a military man, was sent to London by the Czar and found himself stranded and penniless by the Bolshevik revolution, cut off from the family estate near Smolensk. He brought with him a trunk of papers and photographs. This delightful memoir starts with the contents of the trunk, with evocative pictures of Helen's Russian antecedents. She has kept a rich seam of photo-graphs and memorabilia from her life, and her parents, family life, childhood, teenage and early years as an actress living in insalubrious flats are vividly documented.

Helen's many distinguished roles in theatre, cinema and television and the illustrious men and women she has encountered are commemorated, as well as her forays into Hollywood and her sub-sequent life in the United States with her husband, film director Taylor Hackford. Golden Globe and Oscar ceremonies make their appearance, as do many stunning images of Helen by the world's leading photographers.

In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures is a book to savour, created and written by one of the great personalities of our age.

About the Author
Helen Mirren, born Helen Mironov of Russian-English parentage, is one of the best-known and most-respected actresses in Britain and America. In a career that spans stage, screen and television, she has become renowned for tackling challenging roles and has won many awards for her powerful and versatile performances.

She began her career with the National Youth Theatre in 1965 in a performance that resulted in her discovery. Two years later she was invited to join the Royal Shakespeare Company and starred in a number of highly regarded productions. In 1972 she joined renowned director Peter Brook's Theatre Company and toured the world.

Her film career began in the late 1960s with Michael Powell's Age of Consent, but her breakthrough role was in John Mackenzie's The Long Good Friday. Her performance saw critics hailing a major new screen star. She earned her first Academy Award nomination for her performance in The Madness of King George and her second for her role in Gosford Park. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for Calendar Girls. Her most recent and celebrated role was as Elizabeth II in The Queen, for which she won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and an Academy Award as Best Actress.

In the early 1990s, Helen starred in the Emmy and BAFTA award-winning television series Prime Suspect, in which she starred as Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison. The final Prime Suspect was released in 2006, bringing this iconic role to its conclusion, and she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Her television roles have won her a string of awards, most recently in 2006, for her performance as Elizabeth I, for which she won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for Best Actress.

Helen Mirren is married to the American film director Taylor Hackford. She became a Dame of the British Empire in 2003.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Atria (March 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416567607
• ISBN-13: 978-1416567608
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 7.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #106,384 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Satisfying Read, March 28, 2008

By	J. Conaway - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Charmingly written with wonderful photographs throughout. Just the right touch and very much in her own voice. She comes across as sane, funny and empathetic. Someone worth knowing. A very satisfying memoir.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When I grow up, I want to be Helen Mirren., April 27, 2008

By	Melissa Niksic (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures" is as much a scrapbook as it is an autobiography of Helen Mirren, one of today's most acclaimed actresses. Mirren always striked me as being a very private person, and I was pleasantly surprised that she chose to share so much of her personal and professional life in this book. "In the Frame" begins with a history of Mirren's Russian family ancestry and chronicles her childhood upbringing, her relationships with her parents and siblings, her introduction into the world of theatre, her numerous relationships, and her eventual success in television and film. In addition to the text, this book contains hundreds of never-before-seen photographs, many from Mirren's personal collection, and other memorabilia that Mirren has saved throughout her life.

Mirren is very straightforward and candid, and she doesn't hold back when describing things like her first sexual encounter and a drunken night on an Indian reservation that resulted in a tattoo on her hand. Although the stories are intriguing, the best aspect of the book is the stunning photography. There are pictures of Mirren as a young girl, on the sets of numerous theatrical productions, at her wedding to director Taylor Hackford, and on the red carpet at the 2007 Academy Awards, where she won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in "The Queen." After reading this book and looking at all these photos, I feel like I've known Mirren for years, and I certainly wish that I have. She's intelligent, independent, honest, spirited, and funny...exactly the type of person that you'd make an effort to get to know. Fortunately, by reading "In the Frame," you'll have the opportunity to do just that.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tits, Tiaras and Toils of the Queen, Helen Mirren, April 19, 2008

By	prisrob "pris," (New EnglandUSA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

"The tiaras and silvering hair of Britain's sexiest sixty something - it's all here, in In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures, a glossy hardback scrapbook of photographs extensively annotated by Helen Mirren. Born Ilyena Vasilievna Mironov in Chiswick, London, in 1945." Eva Wiseman

Helen Mirren, my image of the perfect woman and actress, warts and all, beautiful to look at as she ages and beautiful in mind and soul as I got to know her a little better. I think she will love the title I chose for this review, like me, she's a little bit raunchy and rock 'n roll. Helen was asked why she wrote this book. It seems that she has been asked many times to write her story, but could not think it through. A good friend suggested she write it like a scrapbook. Helen has always been surrounded by pictures of herself, her family and what is important to her. She started with the pictures, and the words came pouring out. This is a lovely way to write a book, the gorgeous pictures give you a mind's eye picture of Helen at the time. One of the more innovative methods of writing about yourself.

Helen's father was from a royal Russian family who came to the UK and ended up as a very well educated cab driver. Helen loved this part of her life,getting to knwo her Russan ancestors. She explains the history of the family, and along with the pictures we get a feel for what life was like.

At 23, Helen visited a palm reader in the UK who told her that she would see her greatest success after the age of 45. How right she was! She began her career with the National Youth Theater in the UK in 1965, and forty years later won an Academy Award for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 feature film "The Queen," She tells us of her many experiences in these past forty years, the memorable plays and movies and people that she met along the way. She has had one hell of a life, and she has worked very hard for every bit of it. Strangely, her role as Detective Tennison in 'Prime Suspect' on BBC TV helped to show her veritable talents. She signed a contract for one season and ended up playing four. This series became a 'WATER COOLER' series- everyone was talking about it. And then the same year that she ended her reign as Tennison, she played the Queen, and won the top coveted prize for her acting. The years in-between were filled with a busy career in TV, film and theatre. As Max Holmer says when he interviewed her, "She has won acclaim for 'The Madness of King George' and 'Gosford Park', took her clothes off for Calendar Girls, then came the damehood, The Queen and the Oscar."

Helen shares her version of her first lovemaking and other areas of her sexual history, but it is the photos that you will love. She has indeed had wonderful luck with her photographers and some marvelous pictures grace this book. Like me, I can see you looking at the photos before you start reading.

Helen talks about her family, her loves and losses. And she introduces us to her husband, Taylor Lockeford, an acclaimed director in his own right. He brought two sons into the union, and a ready made family with its trials and tribulations is in the fore. Her subsequent marriage in Scotland, and their stay in an old castle completes the story of her life thus far. It is not the life of a princess grown into a queen, but that of an everyday young girl who has become one of the best known women in the world.

"Actress Helen Mirren began her career with the National Youth Theater in Great Britain in 1965, and four decades later is still packing in audiences at cinemas and playhouses around the world. Best known to American audiences for her Academy Award-winning turn as Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 feature film "The Queen," Max Follmer

A wonderful rollicking look into the life of a woman many of us emulate. Helen Mirren is a woman that could be my best friend. I feel like I know her as a person through her writing and her photos. This is a woman to be admired and loved. I have seen most of her films and television series, and I have never been disappointed.

Highly Recommended. prisrob 04-20-08

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