Helen Shaver Movies and Career Information

Helen Shaver (born February 24, 1951) is a Canadian actress and film and television director. Shaver was born and raised in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, a small city located near London, Ontario, with five sisters. As a child she suffered from chronic rheumatic fever and between the ages of five and 12 was forced to spend six months of each year in bed or in hospitals, which she has said fostered her introspective side. She later attended the Banff School of Fine Arts (as a teenager) and studied acting at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. After roles in such Canadian features as Outrageous! (1977), Starship Invasions (1977), Who Has Seen the Wind (1977) and High Ballin’ (1978), Shaver won a Canadian Film Award as Best Lead Actress opposite Tom Berenger (for her performance as "Ann MacDonald") in In Praise of Older Women (1978). In 1985, Shaver appeared in the film Desert Hearts as a 1950s university professor who falls in love with another woman. Her performance, with co-star Patricia Charbonneau, drew critical praise and Shaver won the Bronze Leopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival. Another prominent film performance during that time came in 1986 as