Queen of the Stage: Dame Helen Mirren Wins Best Actress Tony

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Dame Helen Mirren Wins Best Actress Tony for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in “The Audience.”

She enjoys the elegance and popularity of the Queen without having to endure any of the drama that’s dogged the British Royal Family, and last night at the 2015 Tony Awards Dame Helen Mirren took centre stage once again for her portrayal of Her Royal Majesty.

Mirren, 69, won the Best Actress award for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience, about the monarch’s meetings with heads of state, written by playwright Peter Morgan. She won also won the Olivier Award for the same role in England in 2013. The Tony is, now, the third major award Mirren has won for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth, having also won an Oscar for best actress in 2006 for her starring role in the film The Queen.

With the award the former Zoomer cover star is just a Grammy shy of securing the showbiz grand-slam known as “EGOT” – winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. Only 12 people have done so, including Whoopi Goldberg and Mel Brooks.

Mirren is also the only person in history to have portrayed both Queen Elizabeth I and II onscreen, having played Elizabeth I in a 2005 television series of the same name.

The actress made headlines before even entering New York’s Radio City Music Hall for the ceremony, with Britain’s Daily Mail zeroing in on the fact that Mirren, on the red carpet, “kisses husband Taylor Hackford as she dons plunging white gown at the 2015 Tony Awards.”

After winning the Tony, Mirren quipped, “Your Majesty, you did it again.” Later, she told the BBC, “Certainly, right now, I’m overwhelmed and moved and overexcited but I think when I’m more calm about the whole thing I think it’s something to do with becoming a part of the tradition of American theatre in a very, very, very, very, very small way.”

For the full list of Tony winners, visit www.tonyawards.com.