Early Life of Helen Helen Richardson was born in Burma to an Anglo-Indian father and Burmese mother on October 21, 1939. She has a brother Roger and a sister Jennifer. Her father died during the Second World War. The family migrated to Mumbai in 1943 during World War II as refugees in order to escape the Japanese invasion of Burma. Helen had to quit her schooling to support the family. Film Career of Helen Helen was introduced to Bollywood in 1953 by the famous dancer Cuckoo. She got her break in 1958 when she performed the song ‘Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo’ in the movie "Howrah Bridge". Helen rarely got roles as the lead heroine in movies because of her Oriental looks. So, she opted dancing which proved to be her fortune. Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, she danced in more than 700 movies establishing herself as a prolific dancer. She was known for wearing different colors of wigs, contact lenses and skimpy outfits in her movies. Helen also played multi ethnic characters in movies. She was an Anglo-Indian gold digger in "Gumnaam" (1965), a German Spy in "Ek Se Badhkar Ek" (1976), a Chinese night club dancer in "Howrah Bridge" (1958), an Indian fisher-woman in "Inkaar" (1977), an Italian friend of Vyjayanthimala in "Prince" (1969), a Burmese woman in "Lahu Ke Do Rang" (1979) and an African woman in "Hulchul" (1971). Helen has officially retired from movies in 1983 but then appeared in a few guest roles in movies like, "Khamoshi: The Musical" (1996), "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" (1999), "Mohabbatein" (2000) and "Humko Deewana Kar Gaye" (2006). Achievements of Helen Helen was awarded the ‘Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress’ for the movie "Lahu Ke Do Rang" in 1979 and was honoured with the ‘Filmfare Award for Lifetime Achievement’ in the year 1999. Personal Life of Helen Helen’s first marriage was in 1957 to film director Prem Narayan Arora who was 27 years older than her. She divorced him in 1974. Married Salim Khan in 1981 and became his second wife. Helen met Salim Khan in 1962 on the sets of "Kabli Khan" (1963) where she was the heroine and he was the villain in the movie. Popular Dance Numbers of Helen |