Bollywood has been a place where we hear many stories of artists who struggled to make money during their early days. Some became instantly famous and others were forgotten in no time. Today we will talk about a Bollywood actress whose life was no less than a film. This actress faced many hardships during her early days. However after making her name in the industry she went on to feature in over 1000 films. Can you name this actress? Meet actress who took shelter in India became a popular actress in Bollywood Today we are talking about the legendary actress Helen. Many may not know that Helen was a resident of Burma and her journey to India was full of obstacles. However Helen managed to reach India and made her name in Bollywood. We will tell you lesser-known details about the actress which you too might be unaware of. Bollywood actress Helen Ann Richardson is a famous actress of her time. She holds the record for starring in over 1000 films. In a career spanning 70 years Helen has received two Filmfare Awards. She is often remembered as the best dancer of her time. In 2009 the Government of India awarded Helen the Padma Shri. Helen has often spoken about her struggles in life. While appearing on The Kapil Sharma Show Helen revealed shocking details about her journey to India. She was born on 21 November 1938 in Rangoon Burma (Myanmar) to an Anglo-Indian father and a Burmese mother. Her fathers name was George Desmier and her mothers name was Marlene. Helens tragic life in Burma For the unversed Helens father died during World War II. Her family was shifted to Dibrugarh in Assam to escape the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1943. According to media reports Helen told Filmfare in an interview in 1964 We travelled alternately through jungles and hundreds of villages surviving on the generosity of people as we had no money (sic). She added We had neither food to eat nor clothes to wear. Sometimes we met British soldiers who provided us transport services sheltered us and treated our blistered feet and injured bodies and also fed us (sic). Helen further revealed shocking details about her journey to India during the Japanese-Burma war. She said By the time we reached Dibrugarh in Assam our group had reduced to half. Some had fallen ill and were left behind some had died of hunger and disease. My mother had a miscarriage on the way. The survivours were admitted to Dibrugarh Hospital for treatment. Mother and I had almost become skeletons and my brother was in critical condition. We spent two months in the hospital. When we recovered we moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata) and sadly my brother died there due to smallpox (sic). According to media reports Helen travelled for over a month to reach India. She even left her academics to financially support her family. Since her mother was a nurse there was not sufficient money to run the family of four. It was in 1958 that Helen made her debut in Bollywood. At 19 Helen worked in multiple films as a background dancer. Helens married life Helen was first married to film director of Prem Narayan Arora in 1957. Many may not even know that Prem was 27 years older than her. Later she divorced him in 1974. In 1981 Helen married for the second time with Bollywood writer Salim Khan. Salim Khan was already married and was the father of four children. Helen Khan joined the family and played a big role in keeping the family together. All of Helens stepchildren are very close to her and in public Helen is accompanied by Salims first wife Salma Khan. They adopted a daughter Arpita Khan.