IN STEP WITH: ® HELENA BONHAM

HATEVER YOUR theories on just who killed JFK—a Born: May 26, 1966, in nut called Lee Har- London, England. Mtvey Oswald, working alone, or an Oli- ver Stone-style conspiracy of power- Films: ful officials—next month we'll be Include Lady offered yet another take, this one via Jane,1985; A Room NBC television. The TV movie, Fatal With a View, Deception, 1986; Maurice, is seen from the point of 1987; The Mask, view of Oswald's Russian wife, Mari- 1988; Francesco, na, who was a 22-year-old with a cou- 1989; Getting it ple of kids at the time of the assassina- Right, 1989; tion, a foreigner in a hostile land. Hamlet, 1990; The lead role is played by an extraor- Where Angels Fear To Tread, dinary and quite beautiful British actress 1991; Howards named Helena Bonham Carter, whom End, 1992. you may remember from those splendid films A Room With a View and Howards Television: End. When we talked, Helena was just Includes A winding up a play that had run on Lon- Pattern of Roses, don's West End and then had gone on 1983; A Hazard of Hearts. 1987; tour, ending in the lovely old town of Arms and the Bath. Playing opposite her, I noticed, Man, 1989; Brady's Bits was an actor named Jason Connery. Fatal Deception: "Yes, he's Sean's son with Diane Mrs. Lee Harvey Atter winding up Oswald, 1993. her stage work in Cilento," she said. "He's about 30, Bath, England— blond and blue-eyed. Doesn't look at "the most all like his father." beautiful city As for the Marina Oswald film, He- ever," she said— lena said, "It starts off two days later Helena was due to [after JFK's death]. You know, he and get one week off and then start a Oswald were buried the same day. romantic comedy Then we follow through her experi- for Granada ence. She testified for six months, there Television with were threats—by officials as well as just Rik Mayall. "I play people. 'We'll deport your children un- a strip-o-gram," less you testify,' she was told. Later on, she said. "but it's not salacious at and after carrying considerable per- all. She's really sonal guilt, she begins to rethink what very innocent." happened and doesn't believe Oswald I confessed necessarily did it or acted alone." astonishment. Most of the story was filmed on lo- The great- granddaughter of cation in Dallas. Except for Ms. Bon- a British prime ham Carter, the cast is American, with minister gets Frank Whaley playing Oswald in sent out as a flashbacks. They also worked for ID greeting card days in Russia, shooting the scenes of who strips on Marina meeting the young American cueP "People get mixed up between Marine who would change history. of f screen reality The film was shown at this year's and onscreen Monte Carlo Film Festival. "People image," Helena were pretty well stunned," Helena said. 'Even though said. "It made a big emotional impact." I've done mostly The Bonham Carter family itself has upper middle class, I don't go brushed—rather substantially—against around in a history. Helena's great-grandfather, corset, you know." Herbert Asquith, was British prime

CARTER

minister at the outset of World War and eventually was ousted by Lloyd George. Her grandmother, Violet Bon- ham Carter. was for years a leader of Britain's Liberal Party. Helena was educated at the West- n yet another minster School (where the majority of I students were boys) and made her screen debut in 1985 playing Lady reading of the JFK Jane Grey, the 15-year-old who be- came Queen of England in 1553, only assassination theory, to be beheaded soon after. Ms. Bonham Carter still lives at Helena Bonham home with her parents in north Lon- don—which shows just how un- Hollywood an actress she is. "How's Carter tells Marina that working out?" I inquired. "Fine for me," she said. "I don't Oswald's story know about them." 1110

PAGE 26 • OCTOBER 24.1993 • PARADE MAGAZINE