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Helena Bonham Carter Profile |
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Birth Date: May 26, 1966
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Birth Place: Golders Green, London, England, UK
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Birth Name: Helena Bonham Carter
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Height: 5'5"
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Biography |
Helena Bonham Carter is an Academy
Award-nominated English actress, known for her roles in the
films A Room with a View, Howards End, and Fight Club.
Bonham Carter was born in Golders Green, London. Her father,
Raymond Bonham Carter, was a merchant banker and the
alternate UK director representing the Bank of England at
the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. during
the 1960s. Her mother, Elena (née Propper de Callejón), was
a psychotherapist. Bonham Carter's father came from a famous
British political family, being the son of politicians
Violet Bonham Carter, Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury and
Maurice Bonham Carter, the grandson of the former Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom, H. H. Asquith, and a
relative of several Life peers. Helena Bonham Carter's
maternal grandfather, Eduardo Propper de Callejón, was
Spanish; he served as a diplomat and former
Minister-Counsellor at the Spanish Embassy in Washington,
D.C. Bonham Carter's Jewish maternal grandmother, Hélène
Fould-Springer (who converted to Catholicism at marriage),
was French-Austrian. Her sister was the French
philanthropist Liliane de Rothschild (1916–2003), the wife
of Baron Elie de Rothschild.
Bonham Carter has two brothers, Edward and Thomas. Her
father, who became ill when she was 10, suffered a stroke
during an operation to remove a benign brain tumour, and was
subsequently confined to a wheelchair. Bonham Carter was
educated at the South Hampstead High School, a girls'
independent school in Hampstead, London and later at
Westminster School, a co-educational independent school near
Parliament (Palace of Westminster).
Bonham Carter's launch into the world of acting came in
1979, when she won a national writing contest and used the
money won to pay for her entry into the actor's directory,
"Spotlight". She made her professional acting début at the
age of 16, in a television commercial. She also had a part
in a minor TV film A Pattern of Roses (1983). Her first
starring film role was in Lady Jane (1984, released 1986)
which had mixed reviews. Her breakthrough performance was in
the role of Lucy Honeychurch in A Room with a View (1985,
released 1986) which was filmed after Lady Jane, but
released first.
These early films led to her being typecast as a "corset
queen," and "English rose," playing pre- and early 20th
century characters, particularly in Merchant-Ivory films.
She eventually expanded her range, and now has a high
profile for more recent films such as Fight Club, Tim
Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride and
Big Fish, and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the
Were-Rabbit. She also speaks French fluently, starring in a
1996 French film Portraits chinois. In August 2001, she was
featured in Maxim magazine. Bonham Carter was a member of
the jury at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Controversially,
they unanimously selected The Wind That Shakes the Barley as
the best film.
Bonham Carter played Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter and
the Order of the Phoenix, which began filming in February
2006 and was released in 2007. She replaced Helen McCrory,
who left due to pregnancy. Bonham Carter received positive
reviews as Lestrange, described as a "shining but underused
talent"; her character will re-appear in the final two movie
adaptation of the six and seventh books. Her next project
will be the film adaptation of Sweeney Todd, which is slated
for a late 2007 release.
Bonham Carter was in a relationship with actor Kenneth
Branagh (with whom she appeared in several films) from 1994
to the summer of 1999. She then briefly dated actors Rufus
Sewell and Steve Martin. In October 2001, she began her
current relationship with director Tim Burton, whom she met
while filming Planet of the Apes. She has appeared in all of
Burton's subsequent films, and the couple have a son,
Billy-Ray Burton, born on October 4, 2003. They live in
adjoined houses with a hallway that connects the two homes. |
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Other
Information |
Lived with Kenneth Branagh. [1994 - September 1999]
Great-granddaughter of H.H. Asquith, British Prime Minister
(1908-1916).
Cousin of Crispin Bonham-Carter and Baroness Jane
Bonham-Carter.
Her father was severely paralyzed by botched brain surgery
in the 1980s.
Speaks French fluently.
She was denied admission to King's College, Cambridge
University, not because of her grades or her test scores but
because school officials were afraid that she would leave
mid-term to pursue her acting career. Because of Cambridge's
rejection, Helena decided to concentrate fully on acting.
She is the granddaughter of Violet Bonham Carter, a Life
Peeress in her own right and the niece of Mark Bonham
Carter, who was created a Life Peer in his own right as
well. Her half-Spanish mother 'Elena Propper de Callejon' is
niece of Baroness Liliane de Rothschild, née Fould-Springer.
Delivered her first child, a boy, Billy Ray, with boyfriend
Tim Burton on October 6, 2003.
Engaged to director Tim Burton (October 2001 - present).
Planned to return to the West End with an appearance in
"Rubenstein's Kiss"; however, the play was delayed because
of her busy schedule. The production, also set to star Gary
Kemp of Spandau Ballet fame, was due to open in November
2004 but has now been postponed.
In 2005, her voice appeared in two stop-motion animated
films. They were Corpse Bride (2005) and Wallace & Gromit in
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). Both films were
nominated for the Academy award for best animated film. The
award went to Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the
Were-Rabbit.
In May 2006, she launched her own fashion line, "The
Pantaloonies," with swimwear designer Samantha Sage. Their
first collection, called Bloomin' Bloomers, is a Victoriana
style selection of camisoles, mop caps and bloomers. The duo
are now working on Pantaloonies customized jeans which
Helena describes as "a kind of scrapbook on the bum.".
Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.
Turned down the role of Bess in Breaking the Waves (1996)
due to the sexual content. The role went to Emily Watson who
was nominated for an Oscar for that role.
She is the daughter of a prominent British banker and the
great-granddaughter of Asquith, the Liberal prime minister.
Her brother Edward is married to TV presenter Victoria
Studd. |
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