Helena Bonham Carter was born on May 26, 1966 in Golders Green, London. She is the Great-great granddaughter of H.H. Asquith, a British Prime Minister from 1908-1916. Her father was severely paralyzed by a botched brain surgery operation in the 80s. A small dark beauty, she is a leading actress in England, who can also speak french fluently. You would never suspect that this small lady has strength and passion often seen in her high profile period movies. She lived with Kenneth Branagh from September 1994 to 1999 after his breakup with Emma Thompson. The couple starred together in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which Branagh directed in 1994. She is the cousin of Crispin Bonham Carter who co-starred in the A&E production of Pride and Prejudice.
Carter is more famous for her roles in period dramas, always seen in a corset and an aristrocrat. The public often mistakes her for a very ladylike, cultured woman, when all she wants to do is drink Diet Coke and belch a lot. Admitting to have used the f word a lot and arm wrestling. Her better known movies are Room With a View, the Tudor Lady Jane, E. M. Forster adaptations: Where Angels Fear to Tread, the near-perfect Howard's End, and Wings of the Dove.
She recently co-starred as Marla in Fight Club with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Look forward to seeing her in the greatly anticipated Planet of the Apes. If you do get a movie of hers, you should rent Twelfth Night, I greatly recommend it, she acts wonderfully in the movie and it is hilarious!
Filmography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database:
Till Human Voices Wake Us (2001)
Novocaine (2001)
Planet of the Apes (2001) .... Ari
Carnivale (1999) .... Milly
... aka Carnivale (1999) (France)
Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything, The (1999) (TV) .... Herself
Women Talking Dirty (1999)
Fight Club (1999) .... Marla Singer
Theory of Flight, The (1998) .... Jane Hatchard
Revengers' Comedies, The (1998) .... Karen Knightly
... aka Amour, vengeance et trahison (1999) (France)
... aka Sweet Revenge (2000) (USA: cable TV title)
Merlin (1998/II) (TV) .... Morgan Le Fey
Petticoat Expeditions, The (1997) .... Narrator
Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997) .... Rosemary
... aka Comstock and Rosemary (1997)
... aka Merry War, A (1998) (USA)
Wings of the Dove, The (1997) .... Kate Croy
"Great War, The" (1996/I) (mini) TV Series (voice) .... Vera Brittain
... aka "Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century, The" (1996) (mini)
Portraits chinois (1996) .... Ada
... aka Shadow Play (1996)
Twelfth Night: Or What You Will (1996) .... Olivia
... aka Twelfth Night (1996)
Margaret's Museum (1995) .... Margaret MacNeil
Mighty Aphrodite (1995) .... Armanda Weinrib
Butter (1994) (TV)
Dark Adapted Eye, A (1994) (TV) .... Faith (adult)
Frankenstein (1994) .... Elizabeth
... aka Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)
Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald (1993) (TV) .... Marina Oswald
... aka Marina's Story (1993) (TV)
Dancing Queen (1993) (TV) .... Pandora/Julie
... aka Rik Mayall Presents Dancing Queen (1993) (TV)
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
... aka Franziskus (1989) (West Germany)
... aka St. Francis of Assisi (1989)
Maschera, La (1988) .... Iris
... aka Mask, The (1988)
Maurice (1987) (uncredited) .... Lady at Cricket Match
Vision, The (1987) .... Jo Marriner
Hazard of Hearts, A (1987) (TV) .... Serena Staverley
Room with a View, A (1986) (as Helena Bonham-Carter) .... Lucy Honeychurch
Lady Jane (1986) .... Lady Jane Grey
Pattern of Roses, A (1983) (TV) .... Netty
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