HELENA BONHAM CARTER
Name: Helena Bonham Carter
Born: 26 May 1966 Golders Green, London, England
Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated
English actress, known for her portrayals of Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter
and the Order of the Phoenix, Marla Singer in the film Fight Club, her Oscar-nominated
performance as Kate Croy in The Wings of the Dove, her Golden Globe-nominated
performance as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, and her collaborations with her
domestic partner, Tim Burton.
Bonham Carter was born in Golders Green, London, England. Her mother, Elena (née
Propper de Callejón), is a psychotherapist. 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;
he came from a famous British political family, being the son of Maurice Bonham
Carter and Violet Bonham Carter, Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury (whose father was
the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, H. H. Asquith). Helena Bonham Carter's
maternal grandfather, Eduardo Propper de Callejón, was of half Spanish and half
Jewish ancestry, and served as a diplomat and former Minister-Counsellor at the
Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C. Helena Bonham Carter's Jewish
maternal grandmother, Hélène Fould-Springer, was the daughter of Baron Eugène
Fould-Springer, a French-born banker who was a cousin of Achille Fould, and
Mitzi Springer, whose father was the industrialist Baron Gustav Springer.
Hélène Fould-Springer's sister was the French philanthropist Liliane de
Rothschild (1916–2003), the wife of Baron Élie de Rothschild, and her other
sister, Therese, was the mother of British writer David Pryce-Jones.
Bonham Carter has two brothers, Edward and Thomas, and is a cousin of actor
Crispin Bonham Carter.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 the Palace of
Westminster. She is a first cousin thrice removed of Florence Nightingale.
Bonham Carter has not received any formal training in acting. Her 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. Bonham Carter also appeared in episodes of Miami Vice as Don
Johnson's love interest during the 1986-87 season.
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, 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 that 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 was released in 2007. She replaced Helen McCrory, who left due to
pregnancy, (but will be portraying Helena's character's sister Narcissa Malfoy
in the sixth and possibly seventh film adaptations). Bonham Carter received
positive reviews as Lestrange, described as a "shining but underused talent";
her character will re-appear in the final two movie adaptations of the six and
seventh books. She then played Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney Todd's (Johnny Depp)
amorous accomplice in the film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway
musical, Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The film was released
on December 21, 2007 in the US and January 25, 2008 in the UK. Directed by
Tim Burton, Bonham Carter received a Golden Globe nomination ("Best Actress -
Comedy or Musical") for her performance, though she did not win. She also won
the Best Actress award in the 2007 Evening Standard British Film Awards for her
performances in Sweeney Todd and Conversations With Other Women.
Name: Helena Bonham Carter
Born: 26 May 1966 Golders Green, London, England
Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated
English actress, known for her portrayals of Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter
and the Order of the Phoenix, Marla Singer in the film Fight Club, her Oscar-nominated
performance as Kate Croy in The Wings of the Dove, her Golden Globe-nominated
performance as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, and her collaborations with her
domestic partner, Tim Burton.
Bonham Carter was born in Golders Green, London, England. Her mother, Elena (née
Propper de Callejón), is a psychotherapist. 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;
he came from a famous British political family, being the son of Maurice Bonham
Carter and Violet Bonham Carter, Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury (whose father was
the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, H. H. Asquith). Helena Bonham Carter's
maternal grandfather, Eduardo Propper de Callejón, was of half Spanish and half
Jewish ancestry, and served as a diplomat and former Minister-Counsellor at the
Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C. Helena Bonham Carter's Jewish
maternal grandmother, Hélène Fould-Springer, was the daughter of Baron Eugène
Fould-Springer, a French-born banker who was a cousin of Achille Fould, and
Mitzi Springer, whose father was the industrialist Baron Gustav Springer.
Hélène Fould-Springer's sister was the French philanthropist Liliane de
Rothschild (1916–2003), the wife of Baron Élie de Rothschild, and her other
sister, Therese, was the mother of British writer David Pryce-Jones.
Bonham Carter has two brothers, Edward and Thomas, and is a cousin of actor
Crispin Bonham Carter.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 the Palace of
Westminster. She is a first cousin thrice removed of Florence Nightingale.
Bonham Carter has not received any formal training in acting. Her 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. Bonham Carter also appeared in episodes of Miami Vice as Don
Johnson's love interest during the 1986-87 season.
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, 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 that 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 was released in 2007. She replaced Helen McCrory, who left due to
pregnancy, (but will be portraying Helena's character's sister Narcissa Malfoy
in the sixth and possibly seventh film adaptations). Bonham Carter received
positive reviews as Lestrange, described as a "shining but underused talent";
her character will re-appear in the final two movie adaptations of the six and
seventh books. She then played Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney Todd's (Johnny Depp)
amorous accomplice in the film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway
musical, Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The film was released
on December 21, 2007 in the US and January 25, 2008 in the UK. Directed by
Tim Burton, Bonham Carter received a Golden Globe nomination ("Best Actress -
Comedy or Musical") for her performance, though she did not win. She also won
the Best Actress award in the 2007 Evening Standard British Film Awards for her
performances in Sweeney Todd and Conversations With Other Women.