Profile: Helena Bonham Carter
Born: May 26, 1966, Golders Green, London, England
Height: 5' 4½"
Son: Billy Ray, with Tim Burton, born October 6, 2003
Fact: Helena speaks French fluently.
Quote: “Everyone seems to think I'm very ladylike. That I'm very cultured and intelligent. I drink alot of Diet Coke and belch. I've been known to use the F-word. I've told a few dirty jokes. I arm-wrestle.”
Biography: Helena Bonham Carter
Bonham Carter stepped up to modern roles in a big way in 1995, when she appeared as Woody Allen's wife in Mighty Aphrodite. She then had the title role in Margaret's Museum, in which she gave a powerful performance as a coal miner's wife driven to madness by various tragedies visited upon her. In 1997, she won acclaim for her performance in Iain Softley's adaptation of The Wings of The Dove, scoring a Best Actress Oscar nomination in the process.
After playing a woman stricken with Lou Gehrig's Disease opposite off-screen partner Kenneth Branagh in The Theory of Flight and appearing with Richard E. Grant in A Merry War, Bonham Carter landed one of her most talked-about roles in David Fincher's Fight Club. As the object of Brad Pitt's and Edward Norton's desires, the actress exchanged hair extensions and Victorian mannerisms for a shock of spiky hair and American dysfunction.
Novocaine, opening September 14, is the latest movie for Helena. Bonham Carter's Pre-Raphaelite beauty made her a natural for the movie set when the British Empire reigned and the sight of a bare ankle could induce convulsions. However, the actress, once dubbed by critic Richard Corliss "our modern antique goddess," managed to escape from Planet Merchant Ivory and, while still performing in a number of period pieces, eventually become recognized as an actress capable of portraying thoroughly modern characters.
Bonham Carter is a descendent of the British aristocracy -- both social and cinematic. The great-granddaughter of P.M. Lord Herbert Asquith and the grandniece of director Anthony Asquith, she was born to a banker father and a Spanish psychotherapist mother on May 26, 1966 in London. Although her heritage may have been defined by wealth and power, Bonham Carter's upbringing was fraught with misfortune, from her father's paralysis following a botched surgery to her mother's nervous breakdown when the actress was in her teens.
She made her screen debut in 1985, playing the ill-fated title character of Trevor Nunn's Lady Jane. Starring opposite Cary Elwes as her equally ill-fated lover, Bonham Carter made enough of an impression as the 16th century teen queen to catch the attention of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant, who cast her as the protagonist of their 1986 adaptation of E.M. Forster's A Room With a View. The film proved a great critical success, winning 8 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. The accolades surrounding it provided its young star with her first real taste of fame, as well as steady work: deciding to concentrate on her acting career, Bonham Carter dropped out of Cambridge University, where she had been enrolled.
Filmography:
The Corpse Bride (2005) (voice)--The Corpse Bride
The Wallace & Gromit Movie: Curse of the Wererabbit (2005)--Lady Tottington
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)--Mrs. Bucket
Big Fish (2003)--Jenny (Young & Senior) & The Witch
Henry VIII (2003) (TV)--Anne Boleyn
Live From Baghdad (2002) (TV)--Ingrid Formanek
Till Human Voices Wake Us (2002)--Ruby
The Heart of Me (2002)--Dinah
Football (2001)--Mum
Novocaine (2001)--Susan Ivey
Planet of the Apes (2001)--Ari
Carnivale (1999)--Milly
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything (1999) (TV)--Herself
Women Talking Dirty (1999)--Cora
Fight Club (1999)--Marla
The Singer Theory of Flight (1998)--Jane Hatchard
The Revengers' Comedies (1998)--Karen Knightly
Sweet Revenge (2000)
Merlin (1998) (TV)--Morgan Le Fey
The Petticoat Expeditions (1997)--Narrator
Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997)--Rosemary
The Wings of the Dove(1997)--Kate Croy
"The Great War" (1996) (mini) TV Series (voice)--Vera Brittain
Portraits chinois (1996)--Ada
Twelfth Night: Or What You Will (1996)--Olivia
Margaret's Museum (1995)--Margaret MacNeil
Mighty Aphrodite (1995)--Armanda Weinrib
Butter (1994) (TV)
A Dark Adapted Eye (1994) (TV)--Faith (adult)
Frankenstein (1994)--Elizabeth
Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald (1993) (TV)--Marina Oswald
Dancing Queen (1993) (TV)--Pandora/Julie
Howards End (1992)--Helen Schlegel
Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991)--Caroline Abbott
Hamlet (1990)--Ophelia
Getting It Right (1989)--Lady Minerva Munday
Francesco (1989)--Chiara
La Maschera (1988)--Iris
Maurice (1987) (uncredited)--Lady at Cricket Match
The Vision (1987)--Jo Marriner
A Hazard of Hearts (1987) (TV)--Serena Staverley
A Room with a View (1986)--Lucy Honeychurch
Lady Jane (1986)--Lady Jane
A Grey Pattern of Roses (1983) (TV)--Netty
Other Helena Bonham Carter Sites:
TeraBabes:
Helena Bonham Carter
Idol Pleasures:
Helena Bonham Carter
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