Biography for
Helena Bonham Carter

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Mini Biography

For a time in the late 1990s, it seemed that Helena Bonham Carter was about to deliver on her promise and begin what would be a major career as a first-rate, important actress. Audiences and critics had always known of her extraordinary look. a delicate beauty that evoked another time and another place, but her performance in "The Wings of the Dove" (1997) had shown her to be possessed of a vital acting talent as well. She received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her work in the film although Francis McDormand won the Academy Award for her role in "Fargo."

Born in Golders Green, London, England on May 26, 1966, Helen Bonham Carter had achieved success in films early. Before she was 20 years old, she had scored her first lead in director James Ivory's tasteful adaptation of E.M. Forster's novel "A Room With a View" (1985), only her second film. She followed up this auspicious debut as a leading player assaying the uncrowned Queen of England, "Lady Jane Grey," in the eponymous film. In the first part of her career, she became a staple in what can be seen as an annex of the British Heritage industry, starring in more tasteful adaptations of British or anglo-American novels, such as the adaptation of E.M. Forster's "Maurice" (1987), her second film for James Ivory

In hindsight, it is no coincidence that "Room," her first film under the Merchant-Ivory banner (director Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant, and screenwriter Ruth Jabha Prawler' ), proved to be the brand's big breakthrough on the big screen, ushering them into the big-time, with a good box office showing and full-blown Oscar recognition. In the two Merchant-Ivory films in which she was a major star, the brand scored their greatest success. Though it was Emma Thompson, her rival for Kenneth Branagh's affections, who won a Best Actress Oscar for "Howard's End" (1992), Bonham Carter'S presence in the film clearly was a factor in its great success. It began a three-picture run that climaxed with Merchant-Ivory's last wholly unqualified success, "Howards End" (1992)

Howards End" (1992) was the last film she made for Merchant-Ivory, and the brand's career eventually wound down without their good-luck charm, as Helena Bonham Carter was the real thing. The patrician offspring of British Prime Minister 'H.H Asquith' 's blue blood (he was her great-great-grandfather; her great-grand-uncle Anthony Asquith was a noted English director), Helena Bonham Carter possessed of an extraordinary look with her dark hair and eyes and porcelain skin, Carter was born to be part of the Merchant-Ivory stable, giving their ersatz-Englishness a certain "je ne sais quoi" that paid off in handsome dividends, rather like British gilt-edged government securities.

Ironically, it was her turn as the undisputed star of the neo-Merchant-Ivory "Wings of the Dove" that brought her her Oscar nod. She was not only beautiful, she not only could act, but she was courageous. In "Wings," she arguably had the most explicit nude scene ever to be limned by an Oscar-nominated actress, but lost out to Helen Hunt.

Alas, her subsequent career, while interesting, has failed to deliver on that promise, though she is still young and likely to astound us once again. Her choice of roles can be seen as an attempt to break out of the Merchant-Ivory cottage industry ghetto of Henry James & E.M. Forster adaptations. She was quite memorable in the neo-classic "Fight Club" and seemed to be on the verge of achieving that rare status of someone who is a star with an extraordinary look who can also act while retaining true sexpot status. (On the distaff side, the great Paul Newman comes to mind. Brando was a superstar who could act, but hardly a sexpot. Julie Christie had a chance but turned her back on stardom, while Jane Fonda came close, though her sex-kitten act was a bit forced, but finally chucked it all away after having her breasts unnecessarily augmented for Ted Turner.) Carter's output since then has evinced an erosion in her status as both star and actress, though her beauty remains undiminished.

Mini Biography

Helena Bonham Carter, daughter of Raymond Bonham Carter, a merchant banker, and Elena Bonham Carter (née Propper de Callejón), a psychotherapist, was born in Golders Green, London, England on May 26, 1966 and is the youngest of three children. She is the great-granddaughter of former Prime Minister Herbert H. Asquith and her blue-blooded family tree also contains Barons and Baronesses, diplomats, and a director, Bonham Carter's great-uncle Anthony Asquith, who made Pygmalion (1938) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), among others. Cousin Crispin Bonham-Carter is also an actor.

After experiencing family dramas that included her father's stroke-which left him wheelchair-bound-and attending South Hampstead High School and Westminster School in London, Bonham Carter devoted herself to an acting career. That trajectory actually began in 1979 when, at age 13, she entered a national poetry writing competition and used her second place winnings to place her photo in the casting directory "Spotlight." She soon had her first agent and her first acting job, in a commercial, at age 16. She then landed a role in the made-for-TV movie A Pattern of Roses (1983) (TV), which subsequently led to her casting in the Merchant Ivory films A Room with a View (1985) and Lady Jane (1986), which was her first leading role.

Often referred to as the "corset queen" or "English rose" because of her early work, Bonham Carter has continued to surprise audiences with magnificent performances in a variety of roles from her more traditional corset-clad character in The Wings of the Dove (1997) and Shakespearian damsels to the dark and neurotic anti-heroines of Fight Club (1999) and many of Tim Burton's films. Though consistently a versatile and engaging actress, Bonham Carter has never won a major American film award. However, she has received a number of critical awards and has been nominated for five Golden Globes, an Oscar, a SAG Award, and two Emmys.

Bonham Carter was nominated for a Golden Globe for the fifth time for her role in partner Tim Burton's film adaptation of the Steven Sondheim musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), for which Burton and co-star Johnny Depp were also nominated. Since their meeting while filming Planet of the Apes (2001), Bonham Carter and Burton have made four movies together. They live in adjoining residences in London, sharing a connecting hallway, and have two children: Billy Ray Burton, 4, and Nell Burton, who was born December 15, 2007. Ironically, a mutual love of Sweeney Todd was part of the initial attraction for the pair. Despite that, Bonham Carter has said in numerous interviews that her audition process for the role of Mrs. Lovett was the most grueling of her career and that, ultimately, it was Sondheim who she had to convince that she was right for the role.

Mini Biography

Helena Bonham Carter is an actress of great versatility, and one of the UK's finest and most successful.

Most recently, she has starred in Sweeney Todd as Mrs Lovett alongside Johnny Depp for which she was awarded Best Actress at the Evening Standard British Film Awards 2008. Other recent work includes Conversations with Other Women opposite Aaron Eckhart, as Mrs Bucket in Tim Burton's massive hit Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and provided the voices for the aristocratic Lady Campanula Tottington in Wallace & Gromit - Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and the eponymous dead heroine in Tim Burton's spooky Corpse Bride.

Her acclaimed performance in Merchant Ivory's The Wings of the Dove in 1997 won her a Best Actress Academy Award nomination, a Golden Globe Best Actress nomination, a BAFTA Best Actress nomination, and a SAG Awards Best Actress nomination. It also won her a Best Actress Award from the National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics, the Boston Society Film Critics, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Texas Society of Film Critics, and the Southeastern Film Critics Association.

Other notable credits which followed include her appearance with Steve Martin in Novacaine, her memorable performance as Marla Singer in David Fincher's neo-classic Fight Club opposite Edward Norton and Brad Pitt, Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes, in which she played an ape, Thaddeus O'Sullivan's The Heart of Me, opposite Paul Bettany, and Big Fish, her second effort with Tim Burton in which she appeared as a witch.

Helena achieved success in films early on in her career. Before she was 20 years old, she had scored her first lead in director James Ivory's tasteful adaptation of E.M. Forster's novel A Room With a View (1985), only her second film after playing the leading role in Trevor Nunn's Lady Jane. Helena went on to make three more films under the Merchant-Ivory banner - Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991) and Howards End (1992) - and an earlier uncredited appearance in Maurice (1987).

Helena has also starred in Mick Jackson's Live From Baghdad, alongside Michael Keaton, receiving a nomination for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe; Paul Greengrass' The Theory of Flight, in which she played a victim of motor neurone disease; Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night, in which she played Olivia, opposite Woody Allen in his Mighty Aphrodite, Mort Ransen's Margaret's Museum, Kenneth Branagh's Frankenstein, and Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet.

In between her many films Helena has also managed a few television appearances which include most recently her portrayal of Jacqui Jackson in Magnificent Seven, the tale of a mother struggling to raise seven children - three daughters and four autistic boys; as Anne Boleyn in the two parter biopic of Henry VIII starring Ray Winstone; and as Morgan Le Fey alongside Sam Neill and Miranda Richardson in Merlin. Earlier television appearances include Michael Mann's Miami Vice as Don Johnson's junkie fiancée, and as a stripper who wins Rik Mayall's heart in Dancing Queen.

Helena has also appeared on stage in productions of Trelawney of the Wells, The Barber of Seville, House of Bernarda Alba, The Chalk Garden, and Woman in White.

Trade Mark

Often works with director Tim Burton.

Often plays eccentric characters

Trivia

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.

Is close friends with Johnny Depp, who often works with her fiancé, Tim Burton. In fact, Depp is the godfather of her child with Burton, Billy Ray.

Was cast as Bellatrix Lestrange after Helen McCrory became pregnant, and would have been nearly full-term when her scenes were shot. She returned to the role for one scene in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2008), opposite McCrory as her sister Narcissa Malfoy. Ironically, Carter was able to be in this scene because it was scheduled to be filmed after she gave birth to her own child.

She gave birth to her second child, a girl, on December 15th, 2007. She was 41, and her fiancé was 49.

Ranked #99 on the 2008 Telegraph's list "the 100 most powerful people in British culture".

Personal Quotes

I hate this image of me as a prim Edwardian. I want to shock everyone.

I should get a few ribs taken out, because I'll be in a corset for the rest of my life.

[On breast-feeding her baby]: People say, "You're still breast-feeding, that's so generous". Generous, no! It gives me boobs and it takes my thighs away! It's sort of like natural liposuction. I'd carry on breast-feeding for the rest of my life if I could.

He's very cool. Whatever Johnny does, there's something cool about it. He's very hip. It's emotional and vulnerable, too, which makes it touching. - on her friend and colleague Johnny Depp.

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