PLAYING THE QUEEN
It was a bit of movie trickery to give the impression that Queen Elizabeth II was actually parachuting out of a helicopter to mark the start of the Olympic Games. And it got AP movie critic Christy Lemire thinking about how many times the queen's been portrayed in major films.
Here's what she came up with.
? "The Queen" (2006): Helen Mirren was positively withering in a performance that earned her a well-deserved Academy Award for best actress.
? "The King's Speech" (2010): The winner of four Oscars including best picture features Queen Elizabeth II as a little girl, when she was still a princess and went by the nickname Lilibet.
? "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!" (1988): Queen Elizabeth II is a crucial figure in this first film in the "Naked Gun" series of spoofs. Played by Jeannette Charles, the queen is the target of an assassination attempt and even throws out the first pitch at a baseball game.
? "Austin Powers in Goldmember" (2002): The third and final "Austin Powers" movie ? the one in which Austin travels back to 1975 and meets up with old flame Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles). To reward Austin for finally nabbing Dr. Evil and Mini-Me, the queen makes him a knight.
? "National Lampoon's European Vacation" (1985): The Griswolds are, naturally, the ugly Americans wherever they go. But Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) imagines greater things for the family during a dream sequence in which a bored, yawning queen suddenly brightens up when she sees her and Clark (Chevy Chase) in a reception line. It's hugs and air kisses all around ? then she wakes up.
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Can you think of other examples? Share them with Christy at: http://twitter.com/christylemire.
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EDITOR'S NOTE ? "Eyes on London" shows you the Olympics through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across the 2012 Olympic city and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.
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