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Helen Shaver Filmography
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Helen Shaver Resources
Helen Shaver (born February 24 1951 in St. Thomas, Ontario Canada) is a Canadian actress and film and television director.
Known for making gutsy career choices, well-respected Shaver has worked with such influential directors as Sam Peckinpah,
Martin Scorsese,
Steven Spielberg and
Brian De Palma. Her most celebrated role was as a 1950s university professor who falls in love with another woman in the 1985 milestone Desert Hearts that won Shaver the prestigious Bronze Leopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival.
In 2000, Shaver wowed audiences with her hilarious and touching portrayal of a drug-addicted prostitute in the independent feature We All Fall Down. The film also earned Shaver her second Genie Award, the first being given for yet another sexually daring role in 1978's In Praise of Older Women.
With characteristic pioneering spirit, Shaver tackled a respectful, ground-breaking role as a transgendered female in the short-lived television series The Education of Max Bickford.
Shaver 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. Shaver says this allowed her to use her imagination which helps her as an actor.
Shaver has also carved out a career for herself as a director with a number of television shows and cable movies to her credit, including Judging Amy
, Joan of Arcadia
, Dead Like Me
and The OC.
Shaver made her feature-length directorial debut in 1999 with Summer's End; the film went on to win an Emmy. Most recently, Helen joined the staff of the hit CBS series
Judging Amy. In addition to directing some of this season's episodes, she is now one of the show's producers.
Shaver is married to top key grip Steve Smith (whom she met on the set of
Desert Hearts) and they have a son.
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