Judi Dench was born on 9 December 1934 in York, England. She attended Mount School in York,
and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She made her professional stage debut
as Ophelia in 1957 in the Old Vic's Liverpool production of Hamlet. Her stage career has
been prolific and she has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the
National Theatre.
Her career in film began in 1964 with a supporting role in The Third Secret and in 1965 she
won a BAFTA for Most Promising Newcomer for Four in the Morning.
However, despite a healthy and highly acclaimed stage career, and regular film appearances,
it wasn't until the eighties that Dench's name became widely known to international
audiences.
Starting with her performance as a meddling romance author in Room with a View
she has had a series of roles which have won her many fans and widespread critical acclaim
-- particularly for her portrayals of the two most famous British Queens -- Elizabeth I in
Shakespeare in Love, and Victoria in Mrs Brown. Taking over the role of "M", James Bond's boss
(in deference to the fact that MI6 is now run by Stella Rimmington, one assumes) has given her
a more mainstream audience than ever before.
Dench has done little TV, but the series she has appeared in have been well received. She won a BAFTA
for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for A Fine Romance (1981) in which she starred with
her husband, Michael Williams. As Time Goes By with Geoffrey Palmer was hugely popular,
and she received an ACE award for her performance in Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill in 1985.
She was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1970, and was created Dame of the British
Empire in 1988.
Judi Dench Filmography
- Therese Raquin (2000)
- Tea With Mussolini (1999)
- The World is Not Enough (1999)
- Shakespeare in Love (1998)(Oscar Best Supporting Actress)
- Mrs. Brown (1997)
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
- Hamlet (1996)
- GoldenEye (1995)
- Jack and Sarah (1995)
- Henry V (1989)
- Look Back in Anger (1989)
- A Handful of Dust (1988)(BAFTA Best Supporting Actress)
- Behaving Badly (1988)
- 84 Charing Cross Road (1986)
- A Room with a View (1986)(BAFTA Best Supporting Actress)
- The Angelic Conversation (1985)
- Wetherby (1985)
- Saigon -Year Of The Cat (1983)
- Macbeth (1978)
- Dead Cert (1974)
- Luther (1974)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968)
- A Study in Terror (1966)
- He Who Rides a Tiger (1966)
- Four in the Morning (1965)
- The Third Secret (1964)