Helen Mirren Receives Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Dame Helen Mirren received the 2,488th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, honoring an acclaimed career that has seen her portraying a wide array of roles in movies, television and theater.

Playwright and screenwriter David Mamet and director Jon Turteltaub joined Mirren in speaking at the ceremony, which began at 11:30 a.m. in front of the Pig N' Whistle pub on Hollywood Boulevard.

Mamet wrote and directed the HBO made-for-television movie "Phil Spector," in which Mirren portrays attorney Linda Kenney Baden, who defended the music producer in his first murder trial. It is scheduled to debut this spring.

Turteltaub directed Mirren in the 2007 film "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," in which she portrayed the mother of the historian and amateur cryptologist played by Nicolas Cage.

Thursday's ceremony coincides with Mirren's promotional efforts on behalf of "Phil Spector."

Born on July 26, 1945, in the London suburb of Chiswick, Mirren won a best actress Academy Award in 2007 for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in "The Queen."

Mirren received her first Oscar nomination for her portrayal of another queen, Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III in the 1994 film "The Madness of King George."

Her other Academy Award nominations were for her roles as a housekeeper in the 2001 mystery comedy-drama "Gosford Park" and the wife of Russian writer Leo Tolstoy in the 2009 biographical drama "The Last Station."

Mirren's other honors include six Emmy nominations and two Emmys as outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or movie for portrayal of Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison in the British series "Prime Suspect."

Mirren won two other Emmys in the category for her portrayals of Queen Elizabeth I in the 2005 HBO two-part miniseries "Elizabeth I" and novelist Ayn Rand in the Showtime made-for-television movie "The Passion of Ayn Rand."

Mirren can be currently seen in movie theaters in "Hitchcock," in which she portrays Hitchcock's wife, Alma, in a role that has brought her nominations for Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards.

Other Mirren films include "Calendar Girls," "State of Play," "Some Mother's Son," "The Debt," "Arthur," "Teaching Mrs. Tingle," "The Tempest," "Love Ranch," and "The Long Good Friday."

Mirren began her acting career portraying Cleopatra in a 1965 National Youth Theatre production of "Antony and Cleopatra" and has continued to work extensively on the London stage. She received Tony Award nominations for both her appearances on Broadway, "A Month in the Country" and "Dance of Death."

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