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Nazi Barbie Turned Mirren Off Cocaine

Oscar Winner Also Says She Was Date Raped in a Revealing Interview

posted: 303 DAYS 16 HOURS AGO

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filed under: Movie News, Troublemakers, WTF?

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LONDON (Sept. 2) - Oscar-winning British actress Helen Mirren said she used to love cocaine, but stopped taking the drug after learning that a Nazi war criminal profited from the trade, according to a magazine.

The 63-year-old, who won an Academy Award for her role in "The Queen," was quoted by British GQ magazine as saying she used to dabble in marijuana and cocaine when she was younger.

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Helen Mirren tells GQ that she used to dabble in cocaine, but was turned off to the drug after reading about how Nazi criminal Klaus Barbie was living in South America off of the riches he made as a coke baron.

"I loved coke. I never did a lot, just a little bit at parties," Mirren was quoted as telling the magazine in an interview, which was made available to the media Monday. "But what ended it for me was when they caught (Nazi war criminal) Klaus Barbie, the Butcher of Lyon, in the early 80s. He was hiding in South America and living off the proceeds of being a cocaine baron.

"And I read that in the paper, and all the cards fell into place, and I saw how my little sniff of cocaine at a party had an absolute direct route to this ... horrible man in South America," she was quoted as saying.

Mirren wasn't holding back during her interview, saying she was date-raped "a couple of times" when she was younger but kept it private. "You couldn't do that in those days," she said of her decision to stay quiet.

Her past history gave her an unusual perspective on date rape, and she tells GQ that a woman who was intimate with a man but said no to sex at the last second most likely couldn't "have that man into court."

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British Home Office Minister Tony McNulty shot back criticism, saying "No means no, means no, and that needs to be the message as clearly as we can in terms of rape."

During the interview, Mirren said she used to steal during what she described as a "very poor" youth.

"I needed to shoplift for food," she reportedly said, adding that while she enjoyed "the accoutrements of movie star life" she still had frugal instincts, cutting her own hair and wearing dollar-store glasses.

Mirren said she was not a royalist but had become a fan of Queen Elizabeth II since playing her in "The Queen."

"It's a miracle she's never gone mad," Mirren was quoted as saying. "She is a remarkable person, who has achieved an amazing thing with a life she neither chose for herself, nor particularly wanted."

Mirren's interview is carried in the British edition of GQ, which goes on sale Thursday.

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2008-09-02 07:37:40

Dan Steinberg, AP

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yr00000008721261

08:25 AMSep 03 2008

Thank you for your candor, Helen. It is very refreshing in this day and age.

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Sdave7596

06:20 PMSep 02 2008

Big deal - not sure why Helen Mirren felt the need to get so personal though. But she is of that generation that tried drugs - she is hardly unique. And APOCALYP - get a life. How judgemental - after all she is just few years older than George Bush, correct? Like I said, people of that generation......

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FatherDJohnson

02:15 PMSep 02 2008

Gee, I have always been an admirer of Helen Mirren but this comment about her professed reason for quitting cocaine amounts to a phony claim for virtue on her part. I guess it did not cause her conscience any pangs as long as the psychopathic murderers who have always made up the drug cartels were furnishing her with product, but if an ex-Nazi gets a share of the profit, then she 86's that habit. What a bunch of crap!

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Reimb53

01:59 PMSep 02 2008

So if someone other than Klaus/ or another Nazi would not have been the seller that would've made the her use of cocaine ok, and she would've continued using this illegal drug? I've heard of lame excuses but this one takes it all. It would be like me saying that I will quit watching Rugby because I hate the English. True, I don't care for them much, but I still watch Rugby.

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Mdwrecker6

01:30 PMSep 02 2008

funny how she predicted everybody's response on this board just by her comment about not being able to come forward after being raped.what a bunch of imbeciles.

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salutmanu

01:17 PMSep 02 2008

Why is it that Americans mix up every situations? Wether it is Al Qaeda and Sadam Hussein or rape and drugs??!! GET EDUCATED PLEASE!

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