Helene Vannari

Helene Vannari
Helene Vannari in 2013
Born	(1948-03-20) 20 March 1948 (age 68) Kilingi-Nõmme, Estonia
Nationality	Estonian
Other names	Helene Pillak Helene Vannari-Pillak
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1970–present
Spouse(s)	Peep Pillak (divorced)
Children	Annaliisa Pillak
Awards	Order of the White Star IV Class

Helene Vannari (born 20 March 1948) is an Estonian stage, radio, television and film actress.

Helene Vannari was born in the town of Kilingi-Nõmme in Pärnu County. Her father was a forestry teacher and her mother was an archivist. She is one of two siblings, both girls. When Vannari was three-years-old, her family moved to Tartu, where she attended schools, including studying at the Vanemuine drama studio, graduating in 1966. At age seven, her father died and she was raised by her mother. In 1970, she graduated from the Tallinn State Conservatory, Performing Arts Department (now, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre). During her studies at the Tallinn State Conservatory, she met and befriended classmate Ene Järvis. The two would become lifelong friends.

After graduation, Vannari joined the Ugala theatre in Viljandi in 1970. She would remain an actress at the theatre until 1974. Some of her most memorable stage roles at the Ugala were as Petrella Lucia in Eduardo De Filippo's The Art of Comedy (1970), Miina in August Kitzberg's Püve Peter's Tricks (1971), Valentina in Mikhail Roshchin's Valentin and Valentina (1971), and as Tom Canty in Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper (1972).

In 1976, she joined at the Tallinn City Theatre where she is still currently engaged. During her many years at the theatre, she has performed in memorable roles in works by international authors and playwrights as: Shakespeare, Molière, Guilherme Figueiredo, Eugene O'Neill, Federico García Lorca, Jean Genet, Sławomir Mrożek, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Dario Fo, Eduard Uspensky, Arthur Conan Doyle, Martin McDonagh, Alexandre Dumas, Thomas Mann, Martin McDonagh and Evelyn Waugh, among others. Memorable roles in works by Estonian authors and playwrights include those of: Rein Saluri, Paul Kuusberg, Hugo Raudsepp, Anton Hansen Tammsaare, and Jaan Tätte, among others.