Known for making gutsy career choices, well-respected actor/director Helen Shaver has worked with such influential directors as Sam Peckinpah, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Brian Depalma. Her most celebrated role as a 1950's university professor who falls in love with another woman in the 1985 milestone DESERT HEARTS won Shaver the prestigious Bronze Leopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival. In 2000, she wowed audiences with her wild and touching portrayal of a drug-addicted prostitute in the independent feature WE ALL FALL DOWN. The film also earned Shaver her second
… More Genie Award, the first being received for yet another sexually daring role in 1978's IN PRAISE OF OLDER WOMEN. And in 2001, with characteristic pioneering spirit, Shaver tackled the dignified, ground-breaking role of a transgendered female in the short-lived television series THE EDUCATION OF MAX BICKFORD.
Helen 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.
Helen has also carved out a distinguished career for herself as a director with a number of television shows and cable movies to her credit, including THE OUTER LIMITS and THE OC. She made her feature-length directorial debut in 1999 with SUMMER'S END and the film went on to win an Emmy. Most recently, in addition to directing several episodes of JUDGING AMY, she was also one of the show's producers.
Helen Shaver is married to top key grip Steve Smith (whom she met on the set of DESERT HEARTS) and they have a son.
