Helena Bonham Carter

**Helena Bonham Carter** CBE (born 26 May 1966) is an Oscar-nominated British actress. She is famous for her appearances in blockbuster movies and period dramas. Bonham Carter is also known for appearing in many movies alongside Tim Burton (her ex-partner) and Johnny Depp.

She made her first appearance on screen in the K.M. Peyton movie, _A Pattern of Roses_, before appearing in her first starring role in _Lady Jane_. Some of her most famous roles include: Marla Singer in the movie _Fight Club_, Bellatrix Lestrange in four _Harry Potter_ movies, Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in _The King's Speech_, the Red Queen in _Alice in Wonderland_ and Princess Margaret in _The Crown_.

She was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to drama.

## Early life

Bonham Carter was born on 26 May 1966 in Golders Green, London, England.

Her mother, Elena, is a psychotherapist. Her father, Raymond Bonham Carter, was a banker and his maternal grandfather was H. H. Asquith, a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Helena Bonham Carter's maternal grandfather, Eduardo Propper de Callejón, was half Spanish and half Jewish. Carter has two brothers: Edward and Thomas. She is a distant cousin of fellow actor, Crispin Bonham-Carter, who played Mr. Bingley in the BBC's production of Pride and Prejudice in 1995. Carter is related to Jane Bonham Carter, the Baroness of Yarnbury.

Carter attended the South Hampstead High School, a girls' school, in Hampstead, London. She later went to Westminster School near the Palace of Westminster. She was rejected from King's College, Cambridge University because they feared she would leave mid-year to follow her acting career. After the rejection, Carter decided to fully concentrate on acting instead of going to school. Carter speaks French fluently.

When Carter was five years old, her mother had a serious mental breakdown, which took her three years to recover from. After recovery, Carter's mother decided to become a psychotherapist. Carter now pays her mother to read scripts and provide her opinion of the characters' psychological motivations.  A few years after her mother's recovery, Carter's father became deaf in one ear while on holiday in Greece. He was diagnosed with acoustic neuroma, and underwent an operation to remove a benign tumor. However, the surgery went very wrong; after 9 hours in surgery, Raymond, at 50 years of age, had a stroke that left him half-paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. With Carter's two older brothers away at college, she alone was left to help her mother deal with issues.

## Career

Bonham Carter has not received any formal training in acting. In 1979 she won a national writing contest and used the prize money to pay for her entry into the actors directory 'Spotlight'. She made her first appearance at the age of 16 in a television commercial. She also had a minor part in a TV movie, _A Pattern of Roses_ in 1983. Her first starring role was in _Lady Jane_ in 1984, which received mix reviews. She played the Queen of England when she was cast as Anne Boleyn in the ITV1 mini-series, _Henry VIII_. She was restricted in acting since she was pregnant with her first child at the time of filming.

Her breakthrough performance was in _A Room with a View_ in 1985, when she played Lucy Honeychurch. Carter also appeared in episodes of _Miami Vice_ as Don Johnson's love interest during the 1986-87 season. She auditioned for the role of Nancy Spungen in _Sid and Nancy_ in 1986, but lost the role to Chloe Webb. These early roles led her to be typecast as a "corset queen", and "English rose." She expanded her acting range in more recent movies like _Fight Club_, _Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit_, and in Tim Burton's _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_, _Corpse Bride_, _Big Fish_, and _Sweeney Todd_.

Bonham Carter played Bellatrix Lestrange in _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_, _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_, and _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_ parts 1 and 2. She received good reviews as Lestrange, as she was described as a "shining but underused talent."  She then played Mrs. Lovett in _Sweeney Todd_, which was also released in 2007.

In May 2006, Bonham Carter launched her own fashion line called, "The Pantaloonies," with swimwear designer Samantha Sage. The first collection is called "Bloomin' Bloomers" and is a Victorian style selection of camisoles, mop caps and bloomers. The two are now working on Pantaloonies customized jeans which Carter describes as "a kind of scrapbook on the bum."

Carter plans to return to the West End with an appearance in "Rubenstein's Kiss." However, the play was delayed because of her busy schedule. The production was set to open in November 2004 but was postponed. In September 2008, _Wild Target_ director, Johnathan Lynn, confirmed that Carter had dropped out of his movie due to filming difficulties. He then went on to say that she had joined the cast of Tim Burton's 2010 movie, _Alice in Wonderland_, where she portrayed the Red Queen. In that movie, she starred with actors Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Christopher Lee, and Alan Rickman (who also co-starred in the _Harry Potter_ films with her). Bonham Carter and Hathaway played two dueling sisters, the Red and White Queens.

In early 2009, Bonham Carter was named on of The Times newspaper's top 10 British Actresses of all-time. She appeared on the list with fellow British actresses Julie Andrews, Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, and Audrey Hepburn.

Bonham Carter played well-known author Enid Blyton in the BBC4 TV biography movie, _Enid_, showing the author's life. This movie aired on 16 November 2009. Carter starred with Matthew Macfadyen and Denis Lawson.

## Personal life

In October 2001, Bonham Carter began her current relationship with director Tim Burton. She met Burton while he was engaged to and living with actress Lisa Marie. Bonham Carter and Burton met while filming _Planet of the Apes_. Burton tends to cast Bonham Carter in many of his movies. The couple lives in Belsize Park, London, England, in next-door houses with a hallway connecting the two homes. Each house is decorated to fit their own tastes and personality, because they felt the could not live 'together' but did not want to live apart.

They purchased the house when Bonham Carter became pregnant with the couple's first child, a son named Billy Ray Burton, who was born on 4 October 2003. The couple maintain a close relationship with actor Johnny Depp, who also regularly appears in Burton's movies. Depp is Billy Ray's godfather. At the age of 41, Bonham Carter gave birth to the couple's second child, a daughter named Nell Burton, who was born on 15 December 2007 in Central London. Bonham Carter says she named her daughter Nell after all the "Helens" in her family's past.

In 2008, four of her relatives were killed in a safari bus crash in South Africa. She was given indefinite leave from filming _Terminator Salvation_, and returned later to complete the rest of the filming. Also in 2008, Carter and Burton both put up their American apartments for sale. The apartments are located in the Greenwich Village in New York City. The apartments were sold for $8.75 million.

In October 2008, it was released that Bonham Carter had become a patron of the charity, "Action Duchenne" the national charity established to support parents and sufferers of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. She released the statement:

In December 2008, Bonham Carter used her voice in a MTV domestic violence public service announcement (PSA), reciting a passage about love from the book of Corinthians in the Bible. The 60-second commercial features a troubled couple in a domestic environment. The commercial is silent except for Carter's voice and accompanying music. She recorded her voice in a single take for the ad, which aired on 2 December 2008 on MTV in the UK and Europe as a part of MTV's Staying Alive campaign. MTV will also make the ad available online, and is considering playing it in movie theaters.

In early 2009, Bonham Carter joined fellow actors Ewan McGregor, Kate Winslet, Liam Neeson, Helen Mirren and others, in leaving an imprint of her lips on a card and signing it. The kiss prints, which were featured in the window of Newcastle's Fenwick store, will be auctioned off for a charity.

In 2019, Bonham Carter began dating academic Rye Dag Holmboe

### Movies

|Year|Title|Role|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|_A Pattern of Roses_|Netty|||
|_A Room with a View_|Lucy Honeychurch|||
|_Lady Jane_|Lady Jane Grey|||
|_Maurice_|Lady at Cricket Match|Cameo||
|_A Hazard of Hearts_|Serena Staverley|||
|_The Mask_|Iris|||
|_Six Minutes with Ludwig_|The Star|||
|_Francesco_|Chiara Offreduccio|||
|_Getting It Right_|Lady Minerva Munday|||
|_Hamlet_|Ophelia|||
|_The Early Life of Beatrix Potter_|Beatrix Potter|||
|_Where Angels Fear to Tread_|Caroline Abbott|||
|_Brown Bear's Wedding_|White Bear (voice)|||
|_Howards End_|Helen Schlegel|||
|_Mary Shelley's Frankenstein_|Elizabeth Frankenstein|||
|_Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald_|Marina Oswald|||
|_Butter_|Dorothy|Short film||
|_Mighty Aphrodite_|Amanda Weinrib|||
|_Margaret's Museum_|Margaret MacNeil|||
|_Jeremy Hardy Gives Good Sex_|Herself (voice)|||
|_Twelfth Night: Or What You Will_|Olivia|||
|_Portraits chinois_|Ada|French-language role||
|_The Wings of the Dove_|Kate Croy|||
|_Keep the Aspidistra Flying_|Rosemary|||
|_The Petticoat Expeditions_|Narrator (voice)|||
|_Sweet Revenge_|Karen Knightly|Also known as _The Revengers' Comedies_||
|_The Theory of Flight_|Jane Thatchard|||
|_Carnivale_|Milly (voice)|||
|_Fight Club_|Marla Singer|||
|_Women Talking Dirty_|Cora|||
|_The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything_|Lily|||
|_Planet of the Apes_|Ari|||
|_Novocaine_|Susan Ivey|||
|_Football_|Mum|Short film||
|_The Heart of Me_|Dinah|||
|_Till Human Voices Wake Us_|Ruby|||
|_Big Fish_|Jennifer Hill / The Witch|||
|_Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events_|Beatrice Baudelaire|Uncredited cameo||
|_Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_|Mrs. Bucket|||
|_Conversations with Other Women_|Woman|||
|_Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit_|Lady Tottington (voice)|||
|_Corpse Bride_|Emily, the Corpse Bride (voice)|||
|_Sixty Six_|Esther Reubens|||
|_Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street_|Mrs. Lovett|||
|_Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_|Bellatrix Lestrange|||
|_Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_|Bellatrix Lestrange|||
|_Terminator Salvation_|Dr. Serena Kogan / Skynet|||
|_The Gruffalo_|Mother Squirrel (voice)|Short film||
|_Alice in Wonderland_|Red Queen / Iracebeth of Crims|||
|_The King's Speech_|Queen Elizabeth|||
|_Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1_|Bellatrix Lestrange|||
|_Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2_|Bellatrix Lestrange|||
|_The Gruffalo's Child_|Mother Squirrel (voice)|Short film||
|_Dark Shadows_|Dr. Julia Hoffman|||
|_A Therapy_|Patient|Short film||
|_Great Expectations_|Miss Havisham|||
|_Les Misérables_|Mme. Thénardier|||
|_The Lone Ranger_|Red Harrington|||
|_The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet_|Dr. Clair|||
|_Night Will Fall_|Narrator|Documentary film||
|_Cinderella_|The Fairy Godmother|||
|_Suffragette_|Edith Ellyn|||
|_Alice Through the Looking Glass_|Red Queen / Iracebeth of Crims|||
|_Poles Apart_|Nanuk (voice)|Short film||
|_55 Steps_|Eleanor Riese|||
|_Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero_|Margaret Conroy (voice)|||
|_Ocean's 8_|Rose Weil|||
|_Dragonheart: Vengeance_|Siveth (voice)|Direct-to-video||
|_Tintoretto: A Rebel in Venice_|Narrator|Documentary film||
|_Enola Holmes_|Eudoria Holmes|||
|_The House_|Jen (voice)|||
|_Enola Holmes 2_|Eudoria Holmes|||
|_Three Minutes: A Lengthening_|Narrator|||

### TV shows

|Year|Show|Role|Other notes||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1987|_Miami Vice_|Dr. Theresa Lyons|Two Episodes — Theresa & Savage||
|1991|_Jackanory_|Reader|Five Episodes — The Way to Sattin Shore (1–5)||
|1994|_Absolutely Fabulous_|Dream Saffron|One Episode — Hospital||
|1996|_The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century_|Vera Brittain|Unknown Episodes||
|align="center"|2011|_Life's Too Short_|Herself|Cameo|
|2016|Love Nina|Georgia|5 episodes||
|2019|The Crown|Margaret|||
|2021|The Cleaner|Sheila|1 Episode||
|2022|Harry Potter 20th Anniversary|Herself|Documentary||

### Stage productions and radio shows

|Year|Production|Role|Other notes||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1985|_The Reluctant Debutante_|Unknown|Performed on BBC Radio 4||
|1987|_The Tempest_|Unknown|Performed at Oxford Playhouse||
|1988|_The Woman in White_|Laura Fairlie|Performed at Greenwich Theatre, London||
|rowspan="2"|1989|_The Happiest of All Princesses_|Unknown|Performed on BBC Radio 4|
|_The Chalk Garden_|Unknown|Performed at Windsor/Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford|||
|1991|_The House of Bernarda Alba_|Magdalena|Performed at Nottingham Playhouse||
|rowspan="2"|1992|_The Barber of Seville_|Rosina|Performed at Palace Theatre, Watford|
|_Trelawney of the Wells_|Imogen Parrot|Performed at Comedy Theatre, London|||
|rowspan="2"|1993|_The Secret Garden_|Narrator|by Frances Burnett|
|_The Whales' Song_|Narrator|by Dyan Sheldon|||
|rowspan="3"|1994|_The Seagull_|Nina Mikhailovna Zarechnaya|Performed on BBC Radio 4|
|_A Dog So Small_|Narrator|by Philippa Pearce|||
|_The Way to Sattin Shore_|Narrator|by Philippa Pearce|||
|rowspan="2"|1995|_Song of Love_|Unknown|Performed on BBC Radio 4|
|_Remember Me_|Narrator||||
|1996|_I Capture the Castle_|Rose|Performed on BBC Radio 4||
|rowspan="2"|1997|_A House by the Sea_|Unknown|Performed on BBC Radio 4|
|_The Diary of Anne Frank_|Narrator||||
|1998|_Lantern Slides_|Violet Bonham Carter|Performed on BBC Radio 4||
|2000|_As You Like It_|Rosalind|Performed on BBC Radio 4||
|2004|_The Rubenstein Kiss_|Unknown|Postponed||
|align="center"|2010|_Private Lives_|Amanda|Performed on BBC Radio 4|

### Video games

|Year|Game|Role|Other notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2005|_Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit_|Lady Campanula Tottington||
|2008|_Fable II_|Daphne / Kamilla||

## Infobox (person)

- **honorific suffix**: Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE
- **image**: MerchantIvoryCurzMayfair201124 (9 of 28) (54154554480) (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Bonham Carter in 2024
- **birth name**: Helena Samantha Bonham Carter
- **birth place**: Islington, London, England
- **yearsactive**: 1986–present
- **occupation**: Actress
- **nationality**: British people, British
- **partner**: Kenneth Branagh
(1994–1999)
Tim Burton (2001–2014)
- **family**: Bonham Carter
- **children**: 2 (with Burton)
- **parents**: Raymond Bonham Carter
Elena Propper de Callejón