Known For
Acting
Birthday
June 16, 1938 (age 88)
Place of Birth
Liverpool, England, UK
Helen Ryan
Biography
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.
Known For - Movies
The Elephant Man
as Princess Alex
Old Guy
as Tory Dolinski
Clash of Loyalties
as Gertrude Bell
Confetti
as Naturist Violinist
Bertie and Elizabeth
as Queen Wilhelmina
The Hawk
as Mrs Crowther
Misunderstood
as Lucy
The Brides in the Bath
as Mrs. Farraday
Crystalstone
as Aunt
The Raisin
as Woman at Door
Known For - TV Shows
Midsomer Murders
as Mrs. Hilliard
The Crown
as Queen's Dresser
Heartbeat
as Betty Hawkins
Sherlock Holmes
as Princess of Wales
Sherlock Holmes
as Mrs McFarlane
Van der Valk
as Eva Maris
Bella Block
as Meredith Walters
The Duchess of Duke Street
as Olive Bradford
Harry
as Lady Jenvey
Edward the Seventh
as Princess Alexandra