Product Description

Helen Mirren has been an internationally acclaimed actress and the recipient of many awards, transferring without obvious effort from 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 was sent to London by the Tsar and found himself stranded and penniless by the Bolshevik revolution, cut off from the family estate. He brought with him a trunk of papers and photographs. This delightful memoir starts with contents of the trunk, with evocative pictures of Helen's Russian antecedents. She has kept a rich seam of photographs 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 subsequent life in the US 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 is a book to savour, created and written by one of the great personalities of our age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #834206 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
"a witty, self-deprecating account stuffed with photographs and memorabilia" -- Liz Jones MAIL ON SUNDAY "truly captivating...the book outclassed its rivals as utterly as a star turn by its author always does" INDEPENDENT "an absolute delight" GOOD BOOK GUIDE

About the Author
Dame Helen Mirren, born Helen Mironov of Russian-English parentage, is one of the best-known and most respected actresses in Britain. She has become renowned for tackling challenging roles and has won many awards for her powerful and versatile performances, including an Academy Award for her title role in 'The Queen'.

Customer Reviews

Glossy Book for a Glamorous Lady
The photos alone make this book well worth your time - Helen Mirren has a scrapbook of memories to share with us, and she is generous with her reminiscences. She is an astonishingly beautiful woman - always has been - and this is abundantly clear in the photos that we see of her as her career begins and progresses. The stories that she tells to go along with the photos are interesting, and told in a friendly way that makes you think you're sitting down for a chat rather than studying an autobiography. This is a very quick read, because there are actually quite a few more pictures than words, but the format works marvelously; I highly recommend adding this volume to your film and theatre history library.

A ROYAL, GRACEFUL LIFE
It's a shame too many people only know Mirren from her Oscar-winning role as Queen Elizabeth II. She's always been an actress of great note and a woman of great courage. Here's the proof. Her book begins with the actress rifling through the contents of her aristocratic Russian grandfather's trunk of papers and photographs. Sent to London by the Tsar and eventually stranded and made penniless by the Bolshevik revolution, grandpa's life becomes the launching pad for Mirren's own collection of memorabilia. She is a pack rat, and her hoard is a vast and valuable one. In the Frame is as much as photo essay as it is a smartly-penned memoir. Her recollections of those early struggling days in insalubrious London flats set the tome for the success that is to come, and Mirren emerges as level-headed, grateful and gregarious but never greedy. Film and history buffs will relish her challenges playing both Liz I and II. Everyone else will simply relish.