JUDI DENCH

'Dame Judith Olivia Dench', CH, DBE, FRSA, (born 9 December 1934), usually known as 'Dame Judi Dench', is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Tony, three-time BAFTA, and six-time Laurence Olivier Award-winning English actress.
In Britain, Dench has developed a reputation as one of the greatest actresses of the post-war period, primarily through her work in theatre, which has been her main forte throughout her career. She has more than once been named number one in polls for Britain's best actress. Hopkins and Dench named best British actors Connery and Dench Top Legend Poll Furthermore, she gained worldwide popular fame through taking over the role of M in the ''James Bond'' film series in 1995, and subsequently through many acclaimed film appearances.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

Filmography

Selected discography

Selected awards and recognition

Theatre

Film and television

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Judi Dench was born in York, England to Olave (nee Jones) and Reginald Arthur Dench and was raised a Quaker. She also lived in Tyldesley,Greater Manchester. Her notable relatives include Emma Dench, eminent Roman historian previously at Birkbeck, University of London.^[1], and currently at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. When Dench was thirteen, she entered The Mount School, York.
Before starting her professional career, Judi Dench was involved in the first three productions of the modern revival of the York Mystery Plays the 1950s. Most famously, she played the role of the Virgin Mary in the 1957 production, performed on a fixed stage in the Museum Gardens. Dame Judi speaks up for Mystery Plays

Career

She received her dramatic training at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and made her professional debut as Ophelia in ''Hamlet'' in Liverpool in 1957. She subsequently spent several seasons in repertory in Oxford and Nottingham. In 1961, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and made numerous appearances with the company in Stratford and London over the next two decades, winning several best actress awards. Among her roles with the RSC, she was the Duchess in John Webster's ''The Duchess of Malfi'' in 1971.
Dench has also made numerous appearances in the West End and with the National Theatre in London. She is a multiple winner of the main awards for performances on the London stage, including a record six Laurence Olivier Awards. She has also appeared with success on Broadway in ''Amy's View'', and has occasionally directed plays.
As she enters her seventies, Dame Judi remains probably the biggest draw on the London stage. She is often compared and contrasted with Dame Maggie Smith, another British actress of the same generation, with whom she has appeared in several movies, including the 2004 ''Ladies in Lavender'', and on stage in David Hare's two-hander ''Breath of Life''. She returned to the West End stage in April 2006 in ''Hay Fever'' alongside Peter Bowles, Belinda Lang and Kim Medcalf. She has finished off a busy 2006 with the role of "Mistress Quickly" in the RSC's new musical version of "The Merry Wives", Merry Wives - The Musical at Stratford-upon-Avon. Her many television appearances include lead roles in the series ''As Time Goes By'' and ''A Fine Romance''.
Dame Judi Dench has frequently appeared with her close friend Geoffrey Palmer in the series ''As Time Goes By'' and in the films ''Mrs. Brown'' and ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', both filmed in 1997.
Dench won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Elizabeth I in the film ''Shakespeare in Love''. Dench's win was notable as her performance lasted for about eight minutes.
Dench's late-life film career has been remarkably successful. Until 1997, she had made relatively few film appearances, especially in comparison to the number she has made since then. She has racked up six Oscar nominations in nine years for ''Mrs Brown'' in 1997, her Oscar-winning turn in ''Shakespeare in Love'' in 1998, for ''Chocolat'' in 2000, for the lead role of writer Iris Murdoch in ''Iris'' in 2001 (with Kate Winslet playing her as a younger woman), for ''Mrs Henderson Presents'' in 2005, and for ''Notes on a Scandal'' in 2006.
In 2006, Dench received critical acclaim, including Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award nominations, for her fierce performance in ''Notes on a Scandal''.
She is currently filming the BBC One mini-series ''The Cranford Chronicles'', based on the Cranford books by Elizabeth Gaskell. The series co-stars Francesca Annis, Michael Gambon and Imelda Staunton. The programme will air in the autumn.

Personal life

In 1971 Judi Dench married British actor Michael Williams and they had their only child, Tara Cressida Williams (aka "Finty Williams"), on 24 September, 1972. Their daughter later became an actress like her parents. Dame Judi starred with her husband in the 1980s British sitcom, ''A Fine Romance''. Michael Williams died of lung cancer, at age 65, in 2001. She is a patron of The Leaveners, Friends School Saffron Walden and the Archway Theatre, Horley, UK.
Judi Dench was awarded the OBE in 1970, became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1988, and a Companion of Honour in 2005. Dame Judi Dench In 2000-2001 she received an Honorary ''DLitt'' from Durham University.
In 2006 Judi became president of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London, taking over from Sir John Mills; Judi is also president of the Questors Theatre.
In May 2006 she became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Filmography

★ ''The Third Secret'' (1964)

★ ''Four in the Morning'' (1965)

★ ''A Study in Terror'' (1965)

★ ''He Who Rides a Tiger'' (1965)

★ ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1968)

★ ''Luther'' (1973)

★ ''Dead Cert'' (1974)

★ ''Langrishe, Go Down'' (1978)

★ ''The Angelic Conversation'' (1985) (narrator)

★ ''Wetherby'' (1985)

★ ''A Room with a View'' (1985)

★ ''84 Charing Cross Road'' (1987)

★ ''A Handful of Dust'' (1988)

★ ''Henry V'' (1989)

★ ''Jack and Sarah'' (1995)

★ ''GoldenEye'' (1995)

★ ''Hamlet'' (1996)

★ ''Mrs. Brown'' (1997)

★ ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' (1997)

★ ''Shakespeare in Love'' (1998)

★ ''Tea with Mussolini'' (1999)

★ ''The World Is Not Enough'' (1999)

★ '' (2000) (documentary) (narrator)

★ ''The Last of the Blonde Bombshells''

★ ''Chocolat'' (2000)

★ ''Iris'' (2001)

★ ''The Shipping News'' (2001)

★ ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (2002)

★ ''Die Another Day'' (2002)

★ ''Bugs!'' (2003) (short subject) (narrator)

★ ''Home on the Range'' (2004) (voice)

★ ''The Chronicles of Riddick'' (2004)

★ ''Ladies in Lavender'' (2004)

★ ''Pride & Prejudice'' (2005)

★ ''Mrs Henderson Presents'' (2005)

★ ''Doogal'' (2006) (narrator)

★ ''Casino Royale'' (2006)

★ ''Notes on a Scandal'' (2006)

★ ''Bond 22'' (2008)
She has also lent her likeness, and sometimes her voice, for the role of M in four James Bond video games:

★ ''Agent Under Fire'' (likeness, not voice)

★ ''Nightfire'' (likeness, not voice)

★ ''Everything or Nothing''

★ ''

Selected discography

★ ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1995); from ''Felix Mendelssohn'' as Recitant. Conducted by Seiji Ozawa

★ ''A Little Night Music'' (1995) by Stephen Sondheim, Royal National Theatre Cast

Selected awards and recognition

Theatre

★ 1999 - Tony Award for Best Actress for ''Amy's View''

★ 1997 - Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress for ''Amy's View''

★ 1996 - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for ''Absolute Hell''

★ 1996 - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Entertainment for ''A Little Night Music''

★ 1987 - Laurence Olivier Award, Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress for ''Antony and Cleopatra''

★ 1984 - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New Play for ''Pack of Lies''

★ 1982 - Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress for ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' and ''A Kind of Alaska''

★ 1982 - Evening Standard Award for Best Actress for ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' and ''A Kind of Alaska''

★ 1980 - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival for ''Juno and the Paycock''

★ 1977 - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival for ''Macbeth''

Film and television

★ As of 2006, Judi Dench has been nominated for Academy Awards 6 times, winning once

★ 2006 - Nominated Academy Award for Best Actress for ''Notes on a Scandal''

★ 2006 - Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama for ''Notes on a Scandal''

★ 2005 - Nominated Academy Award for Best Actress for ''Mrs Henderson Presents''

★ 2005 - Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for ''Mrs Henderson Presents''

★ 2002 - Nominated Academy Award for Best Actress for ''Iris''

★ 2001 - Nominated Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''Chocolat''

★ 2001 - Won BAFTA Award for Best Actress for ''The Last of the Blonde Bombshells

★ 2001 - Won Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for ''The Last of the Blonde Bombshells

★ 2001 - Nominated Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for ''The Last of the Blonde Bombshells

★ 2001 - Nominated Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for ''The Last of the Blonde Bombshells

★ 2001 - Nominated American Comedy Awards Funniest Female Performer in a TV Special for ''The Last of the Blonde Bombshells

★ 1999 - Won Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''Shakespeare in Love''

★ 1998 - Nominated Academy Award for Best Actress and won Golden Globe for ''Mrs. Brown''

★ 1987 - Won BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''A Room with a View''

★ 1967 - Won BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress for ''Talking to a Stranger''

★ 1966 - Won BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for ''Four in the Morning''

References

1. Birkbeck College - staff page accessed 10 Mar 2007

External links

★ Judi Dench Biography

★ As Time Goes By Central website

★ ''engl.Maggie Smith & Judi Dench Forum''

★

★

★ Judi Dench on Acting Regal

★ University of Bristol Theatre Collection, University of Bristol