University News | January 30, 2014

Helen Mirren Honored as Woman of the Year

The Academy Award-winning actress was at the center of the annual Hasty Pudding parade.

**Dame Helen Mirren** | Photograph by Harvard Magazine/LL

sporting a fluffy white hat and red lipstick, actress Helen Mirren paraded through Harvard Square this afternoon atop a white Bentley with members of Hasty Pudding Theatricals to be honored by the cross-dressing drama group as “Woman of the Year.” Mirren, best known for her Oscar-winning portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen and Emmy-winning role in the Prime Suspect television series, waved and smiled to an animated crowd gathered along Massachusetts Avenue before entering Farkas Hall, where she accepted her Pudding Pot.

She joins the ranks of such previous winners Claire Danes, Scarlett Johansson, Halle Berry, Anne Hathaway, Katharine Hepburn, and Meryl Streep.

Watch a short video of Mirren here:

&nbsp">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVjOmh8VZ5E] 

You might also like

A crowd of protesters holding signs outside a building with columns, expressing their message.

Harvard Graduate Workers Begin Strike

In the second walkout in six months, union leaders call for better pay and benefits and a stronger grievance process.

Ornate black iron gate arch with a nameplate, surrounded by green leaves and blue sky.

Harvard College Applications Surge 15 Percent

Of 1,648 students in the class of 2030, 39 percent will pay no tuition.

A crowd of people in black shirts gathers in a park with green grass and trees.

Three Harvard Unions Move Toward Strikes

Dining employees, academic workers unions join graduate students in threatening a walkout.

Most popular

Bronze statue of a seated figure holding a book, with a campus setting in the background.

How Philosophy at Harvard Saved Itself

As humanities shrink across higher education, one department is flourishing. Is its success a fluke, or a roadmap?

Two smiling individuals pose together outdoors, surrounded by autumn foliage and a stone sign.

Harvard Law School Announces $31.4 Million Donation

The school’s largest-ever gift comes after a year of record fundraising.

A woman jogs on a path beside a boy riding a bicycle, surrounded by trees.

To Promote Healthy Habits in Patients, Start with the Doctors

Why Harvard Medical School is training physicians to think more like coaches

Explore More From Current Issue

Delicate green cocoa pods and small white flowers on a tree branch, surrounded by soft greenery.

Research

Harvard researchers investigate climate’s impact on cocoa crops, innovations in nasal vaccines, and links between pain and skull marrow.

Black and white portrait of a woman with medium-length hair, smiling softly.

Alumni

The outgoing executive director and Harvard Business School graduate went from dancing The Nutcracker to growing a ballet company.

Health & Medicine

Why Harvard Medical School is training physicians to think more like coaches