Helen Ryan was born on the 16th of June 1938 in Liverpool and although she grew up there says she lost her accent when she went to boarding school in Germany. Acting was something she had always wanted to do since she was seven when she went to see a production of Charles Dicken’s 'Great Expectations' with her mum. Although she was encouraged to apply for RADA after leaving school she spent two months training as a mental nurse in Berlin – until she herself became ill. Telling her doctor she really wanted to be an actor and not a nurse, it resulted in him giving her two months sick leave and instructed her to "do something about it." She made her film debut in 1965 in 'The Lift' and her other films include 'Misunderstood' (1984) and 'The Hawk' (1993). With a penchant for portraying royalty, she is notable for playing several royal roles and gave a brilliant performance as Princess Alexandra in the television series 'Edward the Seventh' in 1975, for which she received a Bafta nomination. In the same year she received the Pye Color Television Award (U.K.) as 'Female Personality of the Year'. Another career highlight was performing in Peter Hall’s 'The Cherry Orchard' (1978) at The National Theatre with Albert Finney, Ben Kingsley, Dorothy Tutin, Susan Fleetwood and Ralph Richardson. She says, " I played Charlotta who never stops playing tricks. I was taught by the great magician Ali Bongo. What I love about acting is the challenge, the people, you meet, the directors and the wonderful text." She also said filming 'Clash Of Loyalties' (1983) with Oliver Reed and James Bolam in Baghdad was "extraordinary" and one of the actors she has most enjoyed working with was Sir Ian McKellen. "He's great and has the most wicked sense of humour."
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| In 'The Elephant Man' |
She also played Princess Alexandra in the 1980 movie 'The Elephant Man', and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in the 2002 television drama 'Bertie and Elizabeth'. Her other credits include Madame Balzac in the TV series 'Prometheus: The Life of Balzac' (1975) and the film 'Clash of Loyalties' (1983),. Helen also played the part of Mrs McFarlane in the Sherlock Holmes story 'The Norwood Builder' (1985).
In 2003 she toured with the RSC. Again she says, " I did an extraordinary 'Comedy of Errors' tour. I played the Abbess. We went to Hong Kong, Perth in Australia and Taiwan. The icing on the cake is some of the trips.” In 2003-04, she appeared - to excellent reviews - as Madame Armfeldt in the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre production of Stephen Sondheim's 'A Little Night Music'.
She was formerly married to the theatre director Guy Slater with whom she had a daughter Rebecca and a son Daniel. Calling herself the 'queen of take-overs' she says, "The Christmas when I was 72 I had to learn a part in three days for 'Old Money' with Maureen Lipman at Hampstead Theatre. They rang me and after another actress was unable to do the part said: 'Can you come in tomorrow?' This was the seventh time it has happened to me. Five or six years before I was just finishing a run of the Scottish play and a great friend rang and said 'Helen – can you start rehearsals on Monday?’ I am so glad at my age my memory is still working.” In 2011, she was back at The Royal National Theatre in Mike Bartlett’s play '13' which looked at climate change and ecological breakdown, and is about politics and the part we play or don’t play in decision. At 73 she learnt to play the piano, sit in a box on stage and sing a very racy Rihanna song.
At the age of 78 Helen was still in demand performing as Lady Florence Bell in 'Letters from Baghdad' (2016).
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/10/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-ken.html
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