Helen Ryan
Birthday: Born in 1938-06-16 in Liverpool, England, UK
Deathday: Alive
Helen Ryan (born June 16, 1938, in Liverpool, Lancashire) is a British actress, who is notable for playing several royal roles. The Liverpool native played Princess and then Queen Alexandra in the British television series Edward the Seventh, for which she received a BAFTA nomination in 1975. She also played Princess Alexandra in the 1980 movie The Elephant Man and the Sherlock Holmes story "The Mazarin Stone". She played another royal, 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), Mrs. McFarlane in the Sherlock Holmes story "The Norwood Builder", and films such as Clash of Loyalties (1983), Misunderstood (1984) and The Hawk (1993). More recently, Ryan has appeared as Peggy Roath, a personal aide to Queen Elizabeth II, in the fifth season of The Crown in 2022. In 2023, she appeared in the BBC soap opera Doctors as Thelma Scott. She was formerly married to the theatre director Guy Slater, with whom she had a daughter, Rebecca, and a son, Daniel.
TV Credits
Sherlock Holmes
Character: Princess of Wales
Sherlock Holmes uses his abilities to take on cases by private clients and those that the Scotland Yard are unable to solve, along with his friend Dr. Watson....
Bella Block
Character: Meredith Walters
Bella Block is a long-running German detective television series starring Hannelore Hoger, first broadcast in 1994 on ZDF. In 2010 the 30th series was produced....
Van der Valk
Character: Eva Maris
Van der Valk is a British television series that was produced by Thames Television for the ITV network. It starred Barry Foster in the title role as Dutch detective Commissaris "Piet" van der Valk. Based on the characters and atmosphere of the novels of Nicolas Freeling, the first series was shown in 1972....
Sherlock Holmes
Character: Mrs McFarlane
Sherlock Holmes uses his abilities to take on cases by private clients and those that the Scotland Yard are unable to solve, along with his friend Dr. Watson....
The Crown
Character: Queen's Dresser
The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain's post-war destiny. The Crown tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Two houses, two courts, one Crown....
Persuasion
Character: Mrs. Harville
Living with her snobby family on the brink of bankruptcy, Anne Elliot is an unconforming woman with modern sensibilities. When Frederick Wentworth – the dashing one she once sent away – crashes back into her life, Anne must choose between putting the past behind her or listening to her heart when it comes to second chances....
Heartbeat
Character: Betty Hawkins
Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines....
Fallen Angel
Character: Angel's Neighbor
Fallen Angel is an ITV series broadcast on 11–13 March 2007 based on the Roth Trilogy of novels by Andrew Taylor. It tells the story of Rosie Byfield, a clergyman's daughter, who grows up to be a psychopathic killer. It has a unique narrative that moves backwards in time as it uncovers the layers of Rosie's past....
My Brother Jonathan
Character: Lavinia Dakers
Chronicles the lives of brothers Jonathan and Harold Dakers, in the Black Country, focusing on their close bond and the challenges they face, particularly during World War I....
Midsomer Murders
Character: Mrs. Hilliard
The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty. ...
Edward the Seventh
Character: Princess Alexandra
Edward the Seventh is a 1975 television drama miniseries produced by ATV. Based on the biography of Edward VII by Philip Magnus, the series features depictions of a vast number of historical figures including, but not limited to, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Arthur Balfour, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Edward VII, George V, Napoleon III, Nicholas II of Russia, Queen Victoria, Wilhelm I, Wilhelm II, Winston Churchill, Henry John Temple, and Otto von Bismarck....
Edward the Seventh
Character: Queen Alexandra
Edward the Seventh is a 1975 television drama miniseries produced by ATV. Based on the biography of Edward VII by Philip Magnus, the series features depictions of a vast number of historical figures including, but not limited to, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Arthur Balfour, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Edward VII, George V, Napoleon III, Nicholas II of Russia, Queen Victoria, Wilhelm I, Wilhelm II, Winston Churchill, Henry John Temple, and Otto von Bismarck....
The Duchess of Duke Street
Character: Olive Bradford
In Victorian London, Louisa Leyton works her way up from servant to renowned cook to proprietress of the upper-class Bentinck Hotel in Duke Street, St James's....
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Character: Princess of Wales
In this thrilling final series starring Jeremy Brett as the famous 'consulting detective' Sherlock Holmes, six of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories are adapted: The Three Gables, The Dying Detective, The Golden Pince-Nez, The Red Circle, The Mazarin Stone, and The Cardboard Box....
Movie Credits
The Elephant Man
Character: Princess Alex
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London....
Confetti
Character: Naturist Violinist
A mockumentary that follows three couples as they battle it out to win the coveted title of 'Most Original Wedding of the Year'....
Misunderstood
Character: Lucy
A workaholic father becomes sole parent to his two young sons, and finds it hard to relate to them, consumed as he is with his own grief....
The Raisin
Character: Woman at Door
A short film about a raisin....
The Brides in the Bath
Character: Mrs. Farraday
Dramatisation of the real-life case of George Joseph Smith who was hanged in 1915 for the murder of his three wives, each of whom he killed in turn by drowning them in the bath while trying to make the deaths look like accidents....
Bertie and Elizabeth
Character: Queen Wilhelmina
The life of England’s George VI, who was forced to become King following the abdication of his brother, and his relationship with his wife, Elizabeth....
Saddam Goes to Hollywood
Character:
The extraordinary true story of Saddam Hussein's farcical venture into the movie business: a story involving Oliver Reed, big budgets, war, debauchery and a film lost in a Surrey garage for 35 years...
Clash of Loyalties
Character: Gertrude Bell
During the British colonial period in Iraq, Sheikh Dhari and his tribe openly reject colonization and employ peaceful resistance against the British occupation. In response, the English forces resort to violence, targeting Sheikh Dhari's locations in their confrontation with Laghman. When he is captured, they accuse him of blocking the road, revealing the schemes orchestrated by Britain in Iraq....
Crystalstone
Character: Aunt
Deserted by their father and with their mother dead, nine-year-old Pablo and his little sister Maria refuse to be separated from each other by their caretaker aunt. With a cross as their guide, they embark on a perilous, but ultimately rewarding adventure in search of a mystical gem that holds the key to happiness. They escape the fearsome metal hook of a pirate and are helped by a delightfully drunken Captain in their quest for the magic stone....
The Hawk
Character: Mrs Crowther
Housewife Annie Marsh suspects her husband might be The Hawk, a brutal serial killer. Complicating matters is the fact that she once was incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital. When she discovers she does not have the happy marriage she always believed and begins to piece together the times and dates of her husband's frequent absences, her fears begin to take hold, and her sanity deteriorates....
Old Guy
Character: Tory Dolinski
Stuck at a dead end but vying for the love of spunky club manager Anata, aging contract killer Danny Dolinski is thrilled when The Company pulls him back in the field, but only to train Gen Z newcomer Wihlborg, a prodigy assassin with an attitude....