Helen

Born: October 21, 1939, Burma
Occupation: actor, dancer
Spouse: Salim Khan

Helen Richardson born in Burma to Indian parents 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, but her mother's salary as a nurse was not enough, and she had to quit her schooling to support the family.

She got her break when a family friend, an actress known as Cukoo, helped her find jobs as a chorus dancer in the films Shabistan and Awaara (1951). She was soon working regularly and was featured as a solo dancer in films such as Alif Laila (1952), Hoor-e-Arab (1953), and number "Mr. John O Baba Khan" in the film Baarish.

In 1958, she performed in the song "Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu" in Shakti Samanta's film, Howrah Bridge, which was sung by Geeta Dutt. The Bollywood playback singer Asha Bhosle frequently sang for Helen, particularly during the 60s. During her initial career Geeta Dutt sang many songs for her.She won nomination for the best supporting actress in 1965 for the movie Gumnaam. She played dramatic roles such as the rape victim in Shakti Samanta's Pagla Kahin Ka (1970).

Writer Salim Khan helped her get roles in some of the movies he was co-scripting with Javed Akhtar: Imaam Dharam, Don, Dostana, and Sholay. This was followed by a role in Mahesh Bhatt's film Lahu Ke Do Rang (1979), for which she won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award.

She retired from the screen for a number of years, but made a few guest roles in 1999 and 2000. In Mohabbatein, she plays the prim and proper head of a girls' school who is pulled out onto a dance floor and surprises everyone with her lively dancing. She also made a special appearance as Salman Khan's mother in the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. She was selected for the Padma Shri awards of 2009 along with Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar.

She also performed numerous stage shows in London, Paris, and Hong Kong.

In 1973, "Helen, Queen of the Nautch Girls" a 30-minute documentary film from Merchant Ivory Films was released. Anthony Korner directed and narrated the film A book about Helen was published by Jerry Pinto in 2006, titled The Life and Times of an H-Bomb, which went on to win the National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema in 2007.
 
She married to Salim Khan, and become his second wife, in 1980. They adopted a girl, Arpita. Indian film actor Salman Khan is her step son and she has acted as his mother in film Hum dil de Chuke Sanam and as his grandmother in film Marigold.