By Sarah Begley
Few actors can boast a resume as impressive as Helen Mirren’s. The London-born dame has played a detective (Prime Suspect, two Emmy awards), Ayn Rand (Emmy win), prominent wives (in Hitchcock, about the director, and The Last Station, about Tolstoy) and several British queens: Charlotte in The Madness of King George (Oscar nomination), the title role in Elizabeth I (Golden Globe win) and Elizabeth II in The Queen (Oscar win).
Mirren, who turns 70 on Sunday, has a total nomination count of four Academy Awards, 13 Golden Globes and 11 Emmys. Here are 13 of her best film and television roles over the course of a fruitful (and, thankfully, ongoing) career. All hail the queen.
![Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/caligula-penthouse.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![EXCALIBUR Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/excalibur-warner-bros.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Helen Mirren Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/cal-warner-bros.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01/01/1901. Dame Helen Mirren Archive Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/prime-suspect-granada-television.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/madness-of-king-george-samuel-goldwyn-company.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/gosford-park-focus-features.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/calendar-girls-touchstone-pictures.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/elizabeth-i-hbo.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/the-queen-granada-productions.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/the-last-station-sony-pictures.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![DSC_7988.NEF Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hitchcock-the-montecito-picture-company.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/the-hundred-foot-journey-touchstone-pictures.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![WOMAN IN GOLD Helen Mirren best roles](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/woman-in-gold-bbc-films.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
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