Helen Ryan

Acting

Helen Ryan

Born 1938-06-16 · Liverpool, England, UK

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.

Acting credits

The Elephant Man poster
8.1

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.

The Elephant Man

1980

Old Guy poster
5.6

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.

Old Guy

2024

Confetti poster
5.4

A mockumentary that follows three couples as they battle it out to win the coveted title of 'Most Original Wedding of the Year'.

Confetti

2006

The Hawk poster
6.1

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.

The Hawk

1993

Misunderstood poster
6.5

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.

Misunderstood

1983

No artwork available
8.0

An ambitious young Englishman has affairs with the two daughters of a millionaire, but dissatisfied, leaves them.

The Lift

1965

Bertie and Elizabeth poster
6.7

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.

Bertie and Elizabeth

2002

Crystalstone poster
6.7

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.

Crystalstone

1987

Saddam Goes to Hollywood poster
8.0

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

Saddam Goes to Hollywood

2016

Clash of Loyalties poster
7.5

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.

Clash of Loyalties

1983

The Raisin poster
5.0

A short film about a raisin.

The Raisin

2017

The Brides in the Bath poster
5.7

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.

The Brides in the Bath

2003

No artwork available
9.0

A dying woman recalls the happier days of her past.

The Christmas Tree

1986

Jenny Can't Work Any Faster poster
NR

Jenny is an autistic teenager. Her father is concerned about her being withdrawn and hopes that employing her in his own business will bring her out of her shell. He also employs a new young assistant called Brian.

Jenny Can't Work Any Faster

1975