DAME JUDI DENCH
Name: Judith Olivia Dench
Born: 9 December 1934 Yorkshire, England
Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born December 9, 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.
Dench was born in York, North Yorkshire, the daughter of Eleanora Olave (née
Jones), a native of Dublin, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor who met Dench's
mother while studying medicine at Trinity College. Dench was raised
a Quaker and lived in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester. Notable relatives
include actor Jeffrey Dench, her older brother, and her niece Emma Dench, a
Roman historian previously at Birkbeck, University of London, and currently
at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
When Dench was 13, she entered The Mount School, York. In 1971, Dench married
British actor Michael Williams and they had their only child, Tara Cressida
Williams (aka "Finty Williams"), on September 24, 1972, who has followed the
family's theatrical tradition to become an accomplished actress in her own right.
Dench and Williams went on to star together in several stage productions, as
well as separately, but then paired again to make television history with Bob
Larby's hit British sitcom, A Fine Romance (1981–84).
Williams died, aged 65, in 2001.
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.
Dench was awarded the OBE in 1970, became a Dame Commander of the British Empire
in 1988, and a Companion of Honour in 2005. She gained worldwide popular
fame after taking over the role of M in the James Bond film series in 1995, and
subsequently through many acclaimed film appearances. In 2000-2001 she received
an Honorary DLitt from Durham University.
Dench is a patron of The Leaveners, Friends School Saffron Walden and the
Archway Theatre, Horley, UK. She became president of Mountview Academy of
Theatre Arts in London in 2006, taking over from Sir John Mills, and is also
president of the Questors Theatre. In May 2006, she became an Honorary Fellow of
the Royal Society of Arts.
Before starting her professional career Judi Dench trained for the stage at the
Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, and was involved in the
first three productions of the modern revival of the York Mystery Plays in 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.
In September 1957 she made her first professional stage appearance with the Old
Vic Company, at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, as Ophelia in Hamlet, then
her London debut in the same production at the Old Vic. She remained a member of
the company for four seasons, 1957-1961, her roles including Katherine in Henry
V in 1958 (which was also her New York debut) and as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
in October 1960, directed and designed by Franco Zeffirelli. During this period
she toured the United States and Canada, and appeared in Yugoslavia and at the
Edinburgh Festival.
She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in December 1961 playing Anya in The
Cherry Orchard at the Aldwych Theatre in London, and made her Stratford-upon-Avon
debut in April 1962 as Isabella in Measure for Measure. She subsequently spent
seasons in repertory both with Nottingham Playhouse from January 1963 (including
a West African tour as Lady Macbeth for the British Council), and with the
Oxford Playhouse Company from April 1964.
In 1968 she was offered the role of Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret. As
Sheridan Morley later reported: "At first she thought they were joking. She had
never done a musical and she has an unusual croaky voice which sounds as if she
has a permanent cold. So frightened was she of singing in public that she
auditioned from the wings, leaving the pianists alone on stage". But when it
opened at the Palace Theatre in February 1968, Frank Marcus, reviewing for Plays
and Players, commented that: "She sings well. The title song in particular is
projected with great feeling."
After a long run in Cabaret she rejoined the RSC making 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. In the Stratford 1976 season,
and then at the Aldwych in 1977, she gave two comedy performances, first in
Trevor Nunn's musical staging of The Comedy of Errors as Adriana, then partnered
with Donald Sinden as Beatrice and Benedick in John Barton's "British Raj"
revival of Much Ado About Nothing. As Bernard Levin wrote in the Sunday Times: "...demonstrating
once more that she is a comic actress of consummate skill, perhaps the very best
we have."
But one of her most notable achievements with the RSC was her performance as
Lady Macbeth in 1976. Nunn's acclaimed production of Macbeth was first staged
with a minimalist design at The Other Place theatre in Stratford. Its small
round stage focused attention on the psychological dynamics of the characters,
and both Ian McKellen in the title role, and Dench, received exceptionally
favourable notices. "If this is not great acting I don't know what is.": Michael
Billington, The Guardian. "It will astonish me if the performance is matched by
any in this actress's generation.": J C Trewin, The Lady. The production
transferred to London, opening at the Donmar Warehouse in September 1977, was
filmed for television, and later released on VHS and finally DVD. She won the
SWET Best Actress Award in 1977.
Dench made her directing debut in 1988 with the Renaissance Theatre Company's
touring season, Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road, co-produced with the
Birmingham Rep, and ending with a three month repertory programme at the Phoenix
Theatre in London. Dench's contribution was a staging of Much Ado About Nothing,
set in the Napoleonic era, which starred Kenneth Branagh and Samantha Bond as
Benedick and Beatrice. In the same season, Geraldine McEwan and Derek Jacobi
also made their directorial debuts.
She has made numerous appearances in the West End including the role of Miss
Trent in the 1974 musical version of The Good Companions at Her Majesty's
Theatre, and with the National Theatre in London where, in September 1995, she
played Desiree Armfeldt in a major revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night
Music, for which she won an Olivier Award.
In 1995 she became known to an international audience after taking over the role
of 'M' (James Bond's boss) with the James Bond franchise, starting with
GoldenEye. She remains in the role as of the latest film in the series, 2006's
Casino Royale.
She has won multiple awards for performances on the London stage, including a
record six Laurence Olivier Awards. She also won the Tony award for her 1999
Broadway performance in the role of Esme Allen in David Hare's Amy's View.
Alongside her numerous award winning performances, she has also managed to take
on the role of Director for a number of stage productions. Dench won the Academy
Award for Best Supporting Actress as Elizabeth I in the film Shakespeare in Love.
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. Judi Dench has also lent her incredible voice to many animated
characters, narrations, and various other voice work. She plays the role of "Miss
Lilly" in the children's animated series Angelina Ballerina (alongside her
daughter, Finty Williams, as the voice of Angelina), as Mrs. Calloway in the
Disney animated film Home on the Range, she has narrated various classical music
recordings (notably Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Britten's
Canticles-The Heart of the Matter), numerous BBC radio broadcasts, as well as
commercials. Her many television appearances include lead roles in the series A
Fine Romance and As Time Goes By.
Name: Judith Olivia Dench
Born: 9 December 1934 Yorkshire, England
Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born December 9, 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.
Dench was born in York, North Yorkshire, the daughter of Eleanora Olave (née
Jones), a native of Dublin, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor who met Dench's
mother while studying medicine at Trinity College. Dench was raised
a Quaker and lived in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester. Notable relatives
include actor Jeffrey Dench, her older brother, and her niece Emma Dench, a
Roman historian previously at Birkbeck, University of London, and currently
at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
When Dench was 13, she entered The Mount School, York. In 1971, Dench married
British actor Michael Williams and they had their only child, Tara Cressida
Williams (aka "Finty Williams"), on September 24, 1972, who has followed the
family's theatrical tradition to become an accomplished actress in her own right.
Dench and Williams went on to star together in several stage productions, as
well as separately, but then paired again to make television history with Bob
Larby's hit British sitcom, A Fine Romance (1981–84).
Williams died, aged 65, in 2001.
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.
Dench was awarded the OBE in 1970, became a Dame Commander of the British Empire
in 1988, and a Companion of Honour in 2005. She gained worldwide popular
fame after taking over the role of M in the James Bond film series in 1995, and
subsequently through many acclaimed film appearances. In 2000-2001 she received
an Honorary DLitt from Durham University.
Dench is a patron of The Leaveners, Friends School Saffron Walden and the
Archway Theatre, Horley, UK. She became president of Mountview Academy of
Theatre Arts in London in 2006, taking over from Sir John Mills, and is also
president of the Questors Theatre. In May 2006, she became an Honorary Fellow of
the Royal Society of Arts.
Before starting her professional career Judi Dench trained for the stage at the
Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, and was involved in the
first three productions of the modern revival of the York Mystery Plays in 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.
In September 1957 she made her first professional stage appearance with the Old
Vic Company, at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, as Ophelia in Hamlet, then
her London debut in the same production at the Old Vic. She remained a member of
the company for four seasons, 1957-1961, her roles including Katherine in Henry
V in 1958 (which was also her New York debut) and as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
in October 1960, directed and designed by Franco Zeffirelli. During this period
she toured the United States and Canada, and appeared in Yugoslavia and at the
Edinburgh Festival.
She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in December 1961 playing Anya in The
Cherry Orchard at the Aldwych Theatre in London, and made her Stratford-upon-Avon
debut in April 1962 as Isabella in Measure for Measure. She subsequently spent
seasons in repertory both with Nottingham Playhouse from January 1963 (including
a West African tour as Lady Macbeth for the British Council), and with the
Oxford Playhouse Company from April 1964.
In 1968 she was offered the role of Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret. As
Sheridan Morley later reported: "At first she thought they were joking. She had
never done a musical and she has an unusual croaky voice which sounds as if she
has a permanent cold. So frightened was she of singing in public that she
auditioned from the wings, leaving the pianists alone on stage". But when it
opened at the Palace Theatre in February 1968, Frank Marcus, reviewing for Plays
and Players, commented that: "She sings well. The title song in particular is
projected with great feeling."
After a long run in Cabaret she rejoined the RSC making 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. In the Stratford 1976 season,
and then at the Aldwych in 1977, she gave two comedy performances, first in
Trevor Nunn's musical staging of The Comedy of Errors as Adriana, then partnered
with Donald Sinden as Beatrice and Benedick in John Barton's "British Raj"
revival of Much Ado About Nothing. As Bernard Levin wrote in the Sunday Times: "...demonstrating
once more that she is a comic actress of consummate skill, perhaps the very best
we have."
But one of her most notable achievements with the RSC was her performance as
Lady Macbeth in 1976. Nunn's acclaimed production of Macbeth was first staged
with a minimalist design at The Other Place theatre in Stratford. Its small
round stage focused attention on the psychological dynamics of the characters,
and both Ian McKellen in the title role, and Dench, received exceptionally
favourable notices. "If this is not great acting I don't know what is.": Michael
Billington, The Guardian. "It will astonish me if the performance is matched by
any in this actress's generation.": J C Trewin, The Lady. The production
transferred to London, opening at the Donmar Warehouse in September 1977, was
filmed for television, and later released on VHS and finally DVD. She won the
SWET Best Actress Award in 1977.
Dench made her directing debut in 1988 with the Renaissance Theatre Company's
touring season, Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road, co-produced with the
Birmingham Rep, and ending with a three month repertory programme at the Phoenix
Theatre in London. Dench's contribution was a staging of Much Ado About Nothing,
set in the Napoleonic era, which starred Kenneth Branagh and Samantha Bond as
Benedick and Beatrice. In the same season, Geraldine McEwan and Derek Jacobi
also made their directorial debuts.
She has made numerous appearances in the West End including the role of Miss
Trent in the 1974 musical version of The Good Companions at Her Majesty's
Theatre, and with the National Theatre in London where, in September 1995, she
played Desiree Armfeldt in a major revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night
Music, for which she won an Olivier Award.
In 1995 she became known to an international audience after taking over the role
of 'M' (James Bond's boss) with the James Bond franchise, starting with
GoldenEye. She remains in the role as of the latest film in the series, 2006's
Casino Royale.
She has won multiple awards for performances on the London stage, including a
record six Laurence Olivier Awards. She also won the Tony award for her 1999
Broadway performance in the role of Esme Allen in David Hare's Amy's View.
Alongside her numerous award winning performances, she has also managed to take
on the role of Director for a number of stage productions. Dench won the Academy
Award for Best Supporting Actress as Elizabeth I in the film Shakespeare in Love.
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. Judi Dench has also lent her incredible voice to many animated
characters, narrations, and various other voice work. She plays the role of "Miss
Lilly" in the children's animated series Angelina Ballerina (alongside her
daughter, Finty Williams, as the voice of Angelina), as Mrs. Calloway in the
Disney animated film Home on the Range, she has narrated various classical music
recordings (notably Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Britten's
Canticles-The Heart of the Matter), numerous BBC radio broadcasts, as well as
commercials. Her many television appearances include lead roles in the series A
Fine Romance and As Time Goes By.