She had an unhappy and poverty stricken childhood. Peggy and her sister were brought up by their mother, after her father died when she was tem. She later described her mother as “not a nice woman”. She never put her arms round me or gave me a kiss. She was always telling me that I was overweight and ugly. If you’re told that often enough, you become ugly, and no matter what other people say you believe it.” To no surprise she cut off contact with her family, not speaking to her sister for over 50 years.

The TV and theatre actress became known to millions as the battleaxe in ITV sitcom The Larkins. Yet behind this public image lay a very down-to-earth woman and a versatile, talented actress whose long and successful career spanned not only television but theatre and films too.

Aged 14, Peggy left school and started work as secretary. She attended the drama society of the Wesleyan chapel, where her love of acting begun. She took private drama lessons from Phyllis Reader and appeared in various local amateur productions, gaining the nickname of the ‘Amateur Queen of Southend’. She went to the theatre as often as possible, buying ‘late doors’ tickets sold five minutes before curtain up, with 3d carefully saved from her wages. She also travelled to London for some productions, dreaming of one day seeing her own name up there in lights but never really believing it would be possible.

Miss Mount was made on Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1996.

‘She grew through amateur theatre and wartime productions and by the 1950s was appearing professionally in the West End of London. She starred in the West End for many years, winning praise for performances in ‘All Things Bright And Beautiful’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at the Old Vic. Later serious stage work includes roles in Shakespeare productions and she also acted in the film of the musical Oliver! and in Hotel Paradiso.

Best known for her television comedy roles over three decades, her first television role was The Larkins in 1958. She followed this with George and the Dragon in 1966, alongside Sid James and John le Mesurier. 1977 to 1981 she starred in You’re Only Young Twice, as the forthright Flora Petty who bullied her friend Cissie Lupin (played by Pat Coombs).

Later on her television appearances included a role in the Doctor Who story ‘The Greatest show in the Galaxy’ in 1988.

I’m not a bit like my screen image’, she once said. ‘I don’t bully. I don’t shout. And if I do have a row with somebody it makes me ill for at least a week’. People used to stop her in the street and ask her to bellow at them in the voice that was one of her trademarks – this really did horrify her. She ended her career in 1998 when she lost her sight during a performance of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya.”

Peggy Mount, aged 85, died at the Denville Hall Nursing Home for aged actors in Northwood, West London on November 13, 2001. She had recently lost her sight and had suffered a series of strokes. Shortly before her death she said ‘I’ve never married but I worked with a lot of very eligible men and I’ve had my chances’. However, she revealed that in the 1970s she unofficially adopted a teenage boy whose mother had died and whom she regarded as a son. This went some way towards healing the deep wounds of her personal family background.

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Thereafter, she went from strength to strength – performing in Theatre, TV and Film – showing her true talent to be extremely flexible to many different roles. She has won many awards – some of these include:

She starred in the musical play Teeth ‘n’ Smiles by David Hare, as the chanteuse Maggie, at the Royal Court in September 1975. It was revived at Wyndham’s Theatre in May 1976 and won her the Plays & Players award, voted by the London critics, when it was revived at Wyndham’s Theatre in May 1976.

She won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her Leading Role in Losing Chase, in 1997.

Helen Mirren won two Golden Globes for The Queen and Elizabeth I and also won two SAG awards the same year for the same roles. This makes her the third actor to win two Golden Globes in the same year, and the first ever to win for both leading roles in TV and film in the same year. She is one of only two actresses (the other is Helen Hunt) to win a Golden Globe, an Oscar and an Emmy for performances given in the same year.

Petite and blonde, Mirren exuded confidence and a sultry appeal. No one has been considered super-sexy and hugely talented for quite as long as Helen. She’s been one of the UK’s top thespians, a star of stage and screen, and a hot pin-up for over 35 years. She’s still being voted for the world’s most prestigious acting awards, and still being talked about as a sex symbol, even though she is over 60!

Other info…..

Ø Mirren married American director Taylor Hackford (her partner since 1986), in the Scottish Highlands on 31 December 1997, his 53rd birthday. It was her first marriage, and his second. She has lived with him, in Los Angeles since 1986. Mirren has no children and says she has “no maternal instinct whatsoever.”

Ø Her great-great-great-great-grandfather was the Russian field-marshal Mikhail Kamensky, one of the heroes of the Napoleonic wars.

Ø She was invested as a Dame Commander of the British Empire on 5th December 2003. When she received the honour, she stated that she felt wary about accepting the award and had to be persuaded by fellow comrades to accept the DBE. Previously in 1996 she had declined a CBE.

Ø Voted Britain’s sexiest female pensioner. (2006)

Ø “Well, the brutality of the system is terrifying because it is seen just as a commercial venture and actors and actresses are seen as just a commodity. That’s an accepted reality in Hollywood. That’s why I don’t work there. I can’t accept that and they can’t accept me. We don’t fit.”- Helen Mirren, on the Hollywood system.

Her acting career as at 2007:

Inkheart (2007)
Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act (TV) (2006)
The Queen (2006)
Elizabeth I (TV) (2005)
Shadowboxer (2005)
Comic Relief: Red Nose Night Live 05 (TV, as herself) (2005)
Trailer For A Remake Of Gore Vidal’s Caligula (short) (2005)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Voice) (2005)
Third Watch (TV series, one episode) (2005)
Pride (TV, voice) (2004)
Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness (TV) (2004)
Frasier (TV series, one episode, voice) (2004)
The Clearing (2004)
Raising Helen (2004)
Calendar Girls (2003)
The Roman Spring Of Mrs Stone (TV) (2003)
Georgetown (TV series) (2002)
Door To Door (TV) (2002)
No Such Thing (2002)
Gosford Park (2002)
Last Orders (2002)
The Pledge (2001)
French And Saunders Spring Special (TV) (2000)
Happy Birthday (2000)
Greenfingers (2000)
The Passion Of Ayn Rand (TV) (1999)
Helen Mirren In South Africa (TV) (1999)
French And Saunders (TV series, one episode) (1999)
Teaching Mrs Tingle (1999)
Sidoglio Smithee (as herself) (1998)
Tracey Takes On (TV series, one episode) (1998)
Prince Of Egypt (voice) (1998)
Critical Care (1997)
The Painted Lady (TV miniseries) (1997)
The Great War (TV miniseries, voice) (1996)
Prime Suspect 5: Errors Of Judgment (TV miniseries) (1996)
French And Saunders (TV series, one episode) (1996)
Losing Chase (1996)
Some Mother’s Son (1996)
Reading Rainbow (TV series, as herself, voice) (1995)
Prime Suspect 4: Scent Of Darkness (TV) (1995)
Prime Suspect 4: Inner Circles (TV) (1995)
Prime Suspect 4: The Lost Child (TV) (1995)
The Snow Queen (voice) (1995)
The Madness Of King George (1994)
Prince Of Jutland (1994)
A Friend In New Orleans (TV, as herself) (1993)
The Hawk (1993)
Prime Suspect 3 (TV miniseries) (1992)
Prime Suspect 2 (TV miniseries) (1992)
Where Angels Fear To Tread (1991)
The Hidden Room (TV series, one episode) (1991)
The Comfort Of Strangers (1990)
Prime Suspect (TV miniseries) (1990)
Dr Bethune (1990)
When The Whales Came (1989)
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover (1989)
Red King, White Knight (TV) (1989)
Pascali’s Island (1988)
People Of The Forest: The Chimps Of Gombe (TV, narrator) (1988)
Cause Celebre (TV) (1987)
Invocation: Maya Deren (voice) (1987)
The Mosquito Coast (1986)
Coming Through (1985)
The Gospel According To Vic (1985)
The Twilight Zone (TV series, one episode) (1985)
White Nights (1985)
Cal (1984)
Faerie Tale Theatre: The Little Mermaid (TV) (1984)
2010: The Year We Made Contact (1984)
Cymbeline (TV) (1983)
Play For Today: Soft Targets (TV) (1982)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (TV) (1981)
Excalibur (1981)
Priest Of Love (1981)
Mrs Reinhardt (TV) (1981)
The Fiendish Plot Of Dr Fu Manchu (1980)
Hussy (1980)
Caligula (1979)
Play For Today: Blue Remembered Hills (TV) (1979)
The Long Good Friday (1979)
The Quiz Kid (1979)
SOS Titanic (TV) (1979)
As You Like It (TV) (1978)
The Collection (TV) (1975)
Hamlet (TV) (1975)
Play Of The Month: The Little Minister (TV) (1975)
Play Of The Month: The Changeling (TV) (1975)
A Coffin For The Bride (TV) (1974)
O Lucky Man! (1973)
Savage Messiah (1972)
Miss Julie (1972)
Cousin Bette (TV miniseries) (1971)
Colpo Rovente (1969)
Age Of Consent (1969)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1968)
The Extravaganza Of Golgotha Smutts (1967)
Herostratus (1967)

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When she was a youngster, she appeared in the chorus of ‘Les Miserables, and she trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School. Initially, her stage name was Denise Douglas.

In her teenage years, she has small parts on a few television dramas – one of which was ‘Kappatoo. Later on, in 1996, became a weather and travel reporter for Channel 4′s ‘The Big Breakfast’, and in 1997 she became co-presenter, with funny man, Johnny Vaughan. Denise was able to utilize her sex appeal and cheeky Essex Girl personality and they worked well together, so the show became a big hit, until she left the set in 1998 for a break. She did, however, return to the show in 2000 for one year, to regain the waining audience figures.

1998/1999 brought appearances in episodes of ‘The Bill’, ‘The Young Person’s Guide To Becoming A Rockstar’ and in the sitcom ‘Babes in the Wood’. She also played the role as Jill in a TV version of the children’s pantomime ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and a further increase in her popularity came in 1999, when she won ‘Rear of the Year’.

April 2001 saw Denise first play Roxie Hart of the hit West End show, ‘Chicago’ at the Adelphi Theatre. She did a 20 week run and the show was a sellout – Denise very much suited the sexy show and was a hit. She then played the part over in Broadway for 5 weeks in 2002 and received excellent reviews.

She then returned to the show and later on, in 2003, she became a huge success acting in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s one-woman show ‘Tell me on a Sunday’ at the Gielgud Theatre. The show was even re-written for her and it ran for just under a year, followed by a 10-month tour in the UK in 2004.

Denise returned to TV, co-presenting ITV1′s ‘This Morning’ (with Richard Bacon) over the Summer of 2004. She then played a lead character for one series only, in ‘Where the Heart is’ and hosted one show of the ‘Friday Night Project’.

Van Outen then decided to seek fame in America and has recently been on the panel for the show, ‘Any Dream will do’, presented an American show, ‘Grease: You’re the One that I want!’ and was a guest on Channel 4′s the ‘Charlotte Church Show’ she was also one of the judges at ‘Miss World’ in Poland.

Other info……

Denise has a colourful history of dating – having had relationships with Gary Glitter (early 1990′s), ‘Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay (late 1990′s) and a 3 year relationship with lap dance club owner, Richard Traviss, in 2003.

As an update to this page, Denise has now married Lee Mead in a beautiful secret ceremony.  good on them for keeping it private – it should be a special day for two people, not the whole of the World!   Best of luck Denise.

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“She brought the Oscar with her. When I told her I was from Essex, she said: Oh, I’m an Essex girl and I have brought this home’.” Jamie said that she was ‘lovely’.

March 2007

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