Excerpting, editing, comment by Carolyn Bennett
Dame Helen
Along with Dench, Dame Helen Mirren is my all-time favorite actor,
for her high-level of skill, originality, intelligent creativity, and consistently
accomplished versatility. I know of nothing she could undertake that she would
not make great: from head housekeeper in Gosford Park to The Queen, and of
course, that tough yet vulnerable Prime Suspect series police detective Jane
Tennnison. Mirren has no peer among American actors, who are not so much artists
as they are affected exhibitionists, celebrities with baggage, “movie stars.” Helen
Mirren is a true virtuoso with staying power. Her work, her performance in film
will live to eternity.
Is it any wonder, then, that the British Academy of Film and
Television Arts (BAFTA) is honoring Dame Helen Mirren with the Academy
Fellowship to be presented February 16 at the EE British Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Opera
House, London?
Reading from its website, “The British Academy of Film and
Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes
the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence,
inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public.”
Dame Helen has won four BAFTAs out of eleven nominations, an
Academy Award, three Golden Globes and four Emmy Awards. She is the only actor
to have taken on film roles of Queen Elizabeth the First and the Second. For her
portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 film “The Queen”, Mirren received a
BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actress.
“Mirren’s career,” BAFTA said in its press release, “is a
model of how to balance box office success with critical acclaim.” Quoted in
the release, Chairman John Willis said, “Dame Helen Mirren receives the
Fellowship as one of the most outstanding actresses of her generation. Dame
Helen’s incredibly successful career is testament to the determination,
dedication and skill she brings to each of her roles.”
Past recipients of the British Academy of Film and
Television Arts Fellowship include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Sean
Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench and Vanessa Redgrave.
Dame Helen’s acting career started in the 1960s, sparkled 1980s,
then soared. Acclaim deserved by a performer, without peer. Hear! Hear!
Also in
today’s news: Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, another exceptionally accomplished
artist: born today in Austria two hundred and fifty-eight years ago
This virtuoso “wrote in all the musical genres of his day
and excelled in every one.” At the age of three, Mozart is said to have been “picking
out chords on the harpsichord”; at age four “he was playing short pieces”; and
at age five, he was “composing.” When he was six years old, his father, Leopold
Mozart, “took him to Munich to play at the Bavarian court”; a few months later,
they went to Vienna and performed “at the imperial court and in noble houses.”
At the time of his death, the Austrian composer Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart was widely recognized as one of the greatest composers in the
history of Western music”; he “was widely regarded not only as the greatest
composer of the time but also as a bold and ‘difficult’ [composer].”
Sources and notes
“Dame Helen Mirren To Be Honoured With BAFTA Fellowship: On
Sunday 16 February, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
will present Dame Helen Mirren with the Academy Fellowship at the EE British
Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Opera House, London”, http://www.bafta.org/press/dame-helen-mirren-to-be-honoured-with-bafta-fellowship,316,SNS.html
“Dame Helen Mirren - BAFTA Fellow in 2014,” January 16, 2014,
http://www.bafta.org/film/awards/helen-mirren-fellowship-2014,4076,BA.html
“In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a
year-round Learning & Events programme that offers unique access to some of
the world’s most inspiring talent through workshops, masterclasses, lectures
and mentoring schemes, connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds
across the UK, Los Angeles and New York. BAFTA relies on income from membership
subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate
partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work,” www.bafta.org or www.bafta.org/guru .
“Helen Mirren to receive Bafta fellowship: Oscar-winning
actor hails news of award as ‘the greatest professional honour I can imagine’”
by Ben Child, theguardian.com, Monday 27 January 2014 07.39 EST, http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/27/helen-mirren-bafta-fellowship
IMAGE: HELEN MIRREN at BAFTA site photo credit Giles Keyte 14908
Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptized as
Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, born January 27, 1756,
Salzburg, Archbishopric of Salzburg [Austria], died December 5, 1791, Vienna. Mozart,
Wolfgang Amadeus. (2013). Encyclopædia
Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Deluxe Edition. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.
Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy
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