Helen Ann Richardson was born on 21 November 1938 in Rangoon, Burma to an Anglo-Indian father and a Burmese mother.

Helen told Filmfare during an interview in 1964: ...we trekked alternately through wilderness and hundreds of villages, surviving on the generosity of people, for we were penniless, with no food and few clothes.

Occasionally, we met British soldiers who provided us with transport, found us refuge and treated our blistered feet and bruised bodies and fed us.

[7] In a documentary called Queen of the Nautch girls, Helen said she was 19 years old in 1958 when she got her first big break in Howrah Bridge.

Helen was introduced to Bollywood (Hindi cinema) when a family friend, an actress known as Cuckoo, helped her find jobs as a group dancer in the films Shabistan (1951) and Awaara (1951).

She played dramatic roles in films like China Town and Sachaai (1969) starring Shammi Kapoor which went on to be very successful at the box office.

Writer Salim Khan helped her get roles in some of the films he was co-scripting with Javed Akhtar: Immaan 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 the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She also made a special appearance as the mother of real-life step-son Salman Khan's character in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

Helen's first marriage was in 1957 to film director Prem Narayan Arora of Dil Daulat Duniya fame, who was 27 years older than her.

[citation needed] In 1981, Helen married Salim Khan, a prominent Bollywood screenplay writer.