Helen Shaver

Infobox actor


caption =
birthdate = Birth date and age|1951|2|24|mf=y/1952
birthplace = St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada

Helen Shaver (born February 24, 1951 or 1952 [ [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800017467/bio] Shaver's bio @ yahoo.com] ) is a Canadian actress and film and television director.

Biography

Personal life

Shaver was born in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, and grew up in a small town near Toronto, Ontario with her five sisters. As a child, she suffered from rheumatic fever and was forced to spend six months of each year in bed. She dated screenplay writer Stephen C. Peters. Shaver is now married to top key grip Steve Smith (whom she met on the set of "Desert Hearts"); they have a son.

Career

Shaver has worked with such directors as Sam Peckinpah, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Brian De Palma. In 1978, she won a Canadian Film Award for her role as "Ann MacDonald" in the film "In Praise of Older Women".

In 1985, she appeared in the film "Desert Hearts" as a 1950s university professor who falls in love with another woman, for which she won the Bronze Leopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival. Shaver's performance, as well as realistic love scenes with co-star Patricia Charbonneau, drew critical praise.

Her most prominent film appearance came in 1986 as the love interest opposite Paul Newman in his Oscar-winning portrayal of "Fast Eddie Felson" in "The Color of Money", a sequel to 1961's "The Hustler". In 1990, she guested as the murderer in "". She also appeared on television programs such as "Hill Street Blues", "T. J. Hooker" and as the title character of the short-lived series, "Jessica Novak".

In 2000, she won a Genie Award for her portrayal of a drug-addicted prostitute in the independent feature "We All Fall Down". In 2003, she won a Gemini award for best direction in a dramatic series for the "Just Cause" television series. In 2004, she was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. [ [http://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/04_helen_shaver.xml.htm] Canada Walk of Fame induction]

Shaver has also directed a number of television shows and cable movies, including "The Outer Limits", "Judging Amy", "Joan of Arcadia", "Medium", "The OC", "", "The L Word", "Jericho", "Journeyman", and Private Practice. She made her feature-length directorial debut in 1999 with "Summer's End"; the film went on to win an Emmy.

Filmography

*"Starship Invasions" (1977)
*"High-Ballin'" (1978)
*"In Praise of Older Women" (1978)
*"Desert Hearts" (1985)
*"The Color of Money" (1986)
*"The Land Before Time" (1988)
*"" (1990)
*"We All Fall Down" (2000)

References

External links

* [http://www.filmreferencelibrary.ca/index.asp?layid=46&csid1=786&navid=87 Canadian Film Encyclopedia: A publication of The Film Reference Library/a division of the Toronto International Film Festival Group]
*imdb name|id=0001726|name=Helen Shaver
*tvtome person|id=16596|name=Helen Shaver