Judi Dench

Dame Judi Dench

Dench at the 2007 BAFTAs.
Born Judith Olivia Dench
9 December 1934 (1934-12-09) (age 77)[1]
York, England, United Kingdom
Occupation Actress, author[2]
Years active 1957–present
Spouse Michael Williams (1971–2001; widowed)
Children Finty Williams
Film Awards
Academy Awards
1998 Best Supporting Actress
British Academy Film Awards
1997, 2001 Best Actress
1986, 1988, 1998 Best Supporting Actress
1965 Best Leading Newcomer
Golden Globe Awards
1997 Best Actress - Drama
Screen Actors Guild Awards
2000 Best Supporting Actress
1998 Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA (born 9 December 1934) is an English film, stage and television actress.

Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. She branched into film work, and won a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer; however, most of her work during this period was in theatre. Not generally known as a singer, she drew strong reviews for her leading role in the musical Cabaret in 1968.

During the next two decades, she established herself as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. In television, she achieved success during this period, in the series A Fine Romance from 1981 until 1984 and in 1992 began a continuing role in the television romantic comedy series As Time Goes By.

Her film appearances were infrequent until she was cast as M in GoldenEye (1995), a role she has played in each James Bond film since. She received several notable film awards for her role as Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown (1997), and has since been acclaimed for her work in such films as Shakespeare in Love (1998), Chocolat (2000), Iris (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) and Notes on a Scandal (2006), and the television production The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2001).

Dench has received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film and television; her awards include ten BAFTAs, seven Laurence Olivier Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. In June 2011, she received a fellowship from the British Film Institute (BFI).[3]

She was married to actor Michael Williams from 1971 until his death in 2001. They are the parents of actress Finty Williams.

Contents

Personal life

Dench was born in Heworth, York, England, the daughter of Eleanora Olave (née Jones), a native of Dublin, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor who met Judi's mother while studying medicine at Trinity College, Dublin.[4] Dench attended The Mount School, a Quaker Independent Secondary school in York, and became a Quaker.[5][6] Her brothers, one of whom is actor Jeffery Dench, were born in Tyldesley, Lancashire.[5][6] Notable relatives also include her niece, Emma Dench, a Roman historian and professor previously at Birkbeck, University of London, and currently at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[7]

In 1971, Dench married British actor Michael Williams and they had their only child, Tara Cressida Frances Williams, known professionally as Finty Williams, on 24 September 1972.

Dench and her husband starred together in several stage productions, and the Bob Larbey British television sitcom, A Fine Romance (1981–84). Michael Williams died from lung cancer in 2001, aged 65.

Career

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 forte throughout her career. She has more than once been named number one in polls for Britain's best actress.[8][9]

Early years

Through her parents, Dench had regular contact with the theatre. Her father, a physician, was also the GP for the York Theatre, and her mother was its wardrobe mistress.[10] Actors often stayed in the Dench household. During these years, Judi was involved on a non-professional basis in the first three productions of the modern revival of the York Mystery Plays in the 1950s. In 1957, in one of the last productions in which she appeared during this period, she played the role of the Virgin Mary, performed on a fixed stage in the Museum Gardens.[11] Though she initially trained as a set designer, she became interested in drama school as her brother Jeff attended the Central School of Speech and Drama.[10] She applied and was accepted, where she was a classmate of Vanessa Redgrave, graduating with a first class degree in drama and four acting prizes, one being the Gold Medal as Outstanding Student.[10]

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 the 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. That same year, she made her film debut in The Third Secret.

Prominence

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".[12] 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 for nearly twenty years, 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."[13]

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", wrote Michael Billington in The Guardian. "It will astonish me if the performance is matched by any in this actress's generation", commented J C Trewin in The Lady. The production transferred to London, opening at the Donmar Warehouse in September 1977, and was adapted for television, later released on VHS and DVD. Dench won the SWET Best Actress Award in 1977.

In 1989, she was cast as Pru Forrest, the long-time silent wife of Tom Forrest, in the BBC soap opera The Archers on its 10,000th edition.[14]

She had a romantic role in the BBC television film Langrishe, Go Down (1978), with Jeremy Irons and a screenplay by Harold Pinter from the Aidan Higgins novel, directed by David Jones, in which she played one of three spinster sisters living in a fading Irish mansion in the Waterford countryside.

Dench made her debut as a director 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.

She has made numerous appearances in the West End including the role of Miss Trant in the 1974 musical version of The Good Companions at Her Majesty's Theatre. In 1981, Dench was due to play the title role of Grizabella in the original production of Cats, but was forced to pull out due to a torn Achilles tendon, leaving Elaine Paige to play the role.[15] She has acted 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.

Popular success

In 1995, she took over the role of M (James Bond's boss) with the James Bond film series, starting with GoldenEye replacing Robert Brown. She has appeared in six James Bond films, including Casino Royale (2006) and its direct sequel Quantum of Solace (2008), making her the longest-running current cast member of the series. She is currently filming her seventh Bond film, Skyfall, to be released in 2012.

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. She has taken 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. They co-starred in the series As Time Goes By, where she played Jean Pargetter, becoming Jean Hardcastle after she married Lionel Hardcastle. The program spanned nine seasons. They also worked together on the films Mrs. Brown and Tomorrow Never Dies, both filmed in 1997. Dench has also lent her distinctive 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) and 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), and has appeared in 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. In the United States, As Time Goes By has been repeated on PBS and on BBC America.

Recent years

Dench returned to the West End stage in April 2006 in Hay Fever alongside Peter Bowles, Belinda Lang and Kim Medcalf. She finished off 2006 with the role of Mistress Quickly in the RSC's new musical The Merry Wives, a version of The Merry Wives of Windsor.[16]

Dench's more recent film career has garnered six Academy Award nominations in nine years for Mrs. Brown in 1997; her Oscar-winning turn as Elizabeth I 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 (a romanticised history of the Windmill Theatre) in 2005; and for 2006's Notes on a Scandal, a film for which she received critical acclaim, including Golden Globe, Academy Award, BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild nominations.

In 2007, the BBC issued The Judi Dench Collection, DVDs of eight television dramas: Talking to a Stranger quartet (1966), Keep an Eye on Amélie (1973), The Cherry Orchard (1981), Going Gently (1981), Ghosts (with Kenneth Branagh and Michael Gambon, 1987), Make and Break (with Robert Hardy, 1987), Can You Hear Me Thinking? (co-starring with her husband, Michael Williams, 1990) and Absolute Hell (1991).[17]

Dench, as Miss Matty Jenkins, co-starred with Eileen Atkins, Michael Gambon, Imelda Staunton and Francesca Annis, in the BBC One five-part series Cranford. The series began transmission in the UK in November 2007, and on the BBC's U.S. producing partner station WGBH (PBS Boston) in spring 2008.

Dench became the voice for the narration for the updated Walt Disney World Epcot attraction Spaceship Earth in February 2008.

In February 2008, she was named as the first official patron of the York Youth Mysteries 2008, a project to allow young people to explore the York Mystery Plays through dance, film-making and circus. This culminated on 21 June with a day of city centre performances in York.

She worked on the 22nd Bond adventure Quantum of Solace and reprised her role as M.

She is interested in horse racing and in partnership with her chauffeur Bryan Agar owns a four-year-old horse, "Smokey Oakey", who won the 2008 Brigadier Gerard Stakes.[18]

She returned to the West End from 13 March – 23 May 2009, playing Madame de Merteuil in Yukio Mishima's Madame De Sade, directed by Michael Grandage as part of the Donmar season at Wyndham's Theatre. A year later, Dench renewed her collaboration with Sir Peter Hall at the Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames in A Midsummer Night's Dream which opened in February 2010, when she played Titania as Elizabeth I of England in her later years: Queen of the Forest of Arden. On 31 July 2010, Dame Judi performed Send in the Clowns at a special celebratory Promenade Concert from The Royal Albert Hall as part of the Proms Season, in honour of composer Stephen Sondheim's 80th Birthday, the entire concert in honour of his music.[19][20]

Public life

Dench was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1970[21] and promoted to Dame Commander of the order in 1988.[22] She was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2005.[23] In June 2011, she became a fellow of the British Film Institute (BFI).[3]

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,[24] 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. She was also patron of Ovingdean Hall School, a special day and boarding school for the deaf and hard of hearing in Brighton, which closed in 2010,[25] and Vice President of The Little Foundation.

Dench is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. In 1996, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (D.Univ) from Surrey University[26] and in 2000-2001 she received an Honorary DLitt from Durham University.[27] In July 2000, she was awarded a Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) by Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, where she actively supported their Drama School at the Gateway Theatre on Elm Row. On 24 June 2008, she was honoured by the University of St Andrews, receiving the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) at the university's graduation ceremony.[28]

Dench has worked with the non-governmental indigenous organisation, Survival International, campaigning in the defence of the tribal people, the Bushmen of Botswana and the Arhuaco of Colombia. She made a small supporting video saying the Bushmen are victims of tyranny, greed and racism.[29][30]

On 22 July 2010, Dench was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by Nottingham Trent University.[31]

Dr Hadwen Trust announced on 15 January 2011 that Dench had become a patron of the trust joining existing high profile personalities, Joanna Lumley and David Shepherd.[32]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1964 Third Secret, TheThe Third Secret Miss Humphries
1965 Four in the Morning Wife[33] BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles
1965 Study in Terror, AA Study in Terror Sally
1965 He Who Rides a Tiger Joanne
1968 Midsummer Night's Dream, AA Midsummer Night's Dream Titania
1973 Luther Katherine
1974 Dead Cert Laura Davidson
1978 Langrishe, Go Down Imogen Langrishe BBC television film
1985 Angelic Conversation, TheThe Angelic Conversation Narrator
1985 Wetherby Marcia Pilborough Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1985 Room with a View, AA Room with a View Eleanor Lavish BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1987 84 Charing Cross Road Nora Doel Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1988 Handful of Dust, AA Handful of Dust Mrs. Beaver BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1989 Henry V Mistress Quickly
1989 Behaving Badly Bridget Mayor Channel 4 television serial
Nominated — British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
1995 Jack and Sarah Margaret
1995 GoldenEye M
1996 Hamlet Hecuba
1997 Mrs. Brown Queen Victoria BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actress in a Film
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actress of the Year
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
1997 Tomorrow Never Dies M
1998 Shakespeare in Love Queen Elizabeth I Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
1999 Tea with Mussolini Arabella
1999 World Is Not Enough, TheThe World Is Not Enough M
2000 Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport Narrator Documentary
2000 Last of the Blonde Bombshells, TheThe Last of the Blonde Bombshells Elizabeth British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2000 Chocolat Armande Voizin Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
2001 Iris Iris Murdoch BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actress of the Year
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
2001 Shipping News, TheThe Shipping News Agnis Hamm Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
2002 The Importance of Being Earnest Lady Bracknell
2002 Die Another Day M
2002–05 Angelina Ballerina Miss Lilly Voice role
2003 Bugs! Narrator Short subject
2004 Home on the Range Mrs. Caloway Voice role
2004 Chronicles of Riddick, TheThe Chronicles of Riddick Aereon
2004 Ladies in Lavender Ursula Widdington
2005 Pride & Prejudice Lady Catherine de Bourgh
2005 Mrs Henderson Presents Mrs. Laura Henderson St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated — London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actress of the Year
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2006 Magic Roundabout, TheThe Magic Roundabout Narrator
2006 Casino Royale M Nominated — National Movie Award for Best Actress
2006 Notes on a Scandal Barbara Covett British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Nominated — London Film Critics' Circle for British Actress of the Year
Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
2007 Go Inside to Greet the Light Narrator
2007, 2009 Cranford Miss Matty Nominated — British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
2008 Quantum of Solace M
2009 Rage Mona Carvell
2009 Nine Liliane La Fleur Satellite Award for Best Cast – Motion Picture
Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated — Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2011 Jane Eyre Mrs. Fairfax
2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Noblewoman Cameo
2011 My Week with Marilyn Dame Sybil Thorndike
2011 J. Edgar Anna Marie
2012 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Evelyn Filming
2012 Skyfall M Filming

She has also lent her likeness and voice for the role of M in James Bond video games:

Theatre work

Source: "Judi Dench: With a Crack in her Voice" by John Miller

As an actress

St Mary's Abbey

  • 1957
York Mystery Plays - Virgin Mary

Old Vic Company

  • 1957
Hamlet - Ophelia
Measure for Measure - Juliet
A Midsummer Night's Dream - First Fairy
  • 1958
Twelfth Night - Maria (also USA tour)
Henry V - Katharine (also USA tour)
  • 1959
The Double Dealer - Cynthia
As You Like It - Phebe
The Importance of Being Earnest - Cecily
The Merry Wives of Windsor - Anne Page
  • 1960
Richard II - Queen
Romeo and Juliet - Juliet (also Venice Festival)
She Stoops to Conquer - Kate Hardcastle
A Midsummer Night's Dream - Hermia
Also walk-on roles in King Lear and Henry VI (Parts 1 and 2)

Royal Shakespeare Company RSC

  • 1961
The Cherry Orchard - Anya, Aldwych Theatre
  • 1962
Measure for Measure - Isabella, Stratford
A Midsummer Night's Dream - Titania, Stratford
A Penny for a Song - Dorcas Bellboys, Aldwych

Nottingham Playhouse Company

  • 1963
Macbeth - Lady Macbeth (also West Africa tour)
Twelfth Night - Viola (also West Africa tour)
A Shot in the Dark - Josefa Lautenay, Lyric Theatre

The Oxford Playhouse Company

  • 1964
Three Sisters - Irina
The Twelfth Hour - Anna
  • 1965
The Alchemist - Dol Common
Romeo and Jeannette - Jeannette
The Firescreen - Jacqueline

Nottingham Playhouse Company

  • 1965
Measure for Measure - Isabella
Private Lives - Amanda
  • 1966
The Country Wife - Margery Pinchwife
The Astrakhan Coat - Barbara
St Joan - Joan

Oxford Playhouse Company

  • 1966
The Promise - Lika
The Rules of the Game - Silia
  • 1967
The Promise - Lika, Fortune Theatre

Palace Theatre

  • 1968
Cabaret - Sally Bowles

RSC

  • 1969
The Winter's Tale - Hermione and Perdita, Stratford
Women Beware Women - Bianca, Stratford
Twelfth Night - Viola, Stratford
  • 1970
London Assurance - Grace Harkaway, Aldwych
Major Barbara - Barbara Undershaft, Aldwych
  • 1971
The Merchant of Venice - Portia, Stratford
The Duchess of Malfi - Duchess, Stratford
Toad of Toad Hall - Fielfmouse, Stoat and Mother Rabbit, Stratford

No Company

  • 1973
Context to Whisper - Aurelia, Royal, York
Fanfare - Royal Opera House (with Laurence Olivier)
The Wolf - Vilma, Oxford Playhouse (also at Apollo, Queen's & New London)

West End

  • 1974
The Good Companions - Miss Trant, Her Majesty's
  • 1975
The Gay Lord Quex - Sophy Fullgarney, Albery

RSC

  • 1975
Too True to Be Good - Sweetie Simpkins, Aldwych
  • 1976
Much Ado About Nothing - Beatrice, Stratford
Macbeth - Lady Macbeth, Stratford (also Donmar Warehouse and Young Vic)
The Comedy of Errors - Adriana, Stratford
King Lear - Regan, Stratford
  • 1977
Pillars of the Community - Lona Hessel, Aldwych
  • 1978
The Way of the World - Millamant, Aldwych
  • 1979
Cymbeline - Imogen, Stratford
  • 1980
Juno and the Paycock - Juno Boyle, Aldwych

No Company

  • 1981
A Village Wooing - Young Woman, New End

National Theatre

  • 1982
The Importance of Being Earnest - Lady Bracknell, Lyttelton
A Kind of Alaska - Deborah, Cottesloe
  • 1983
Pack of Lies - Barbara Jackson, Lyric

RSC

  • 1984
Mother Courage - Mother Courage, Barbican
Waste Amy O'Connell, Barbican and Lyric

West End

  • 1986
Mr and Mrs Nobody - Carrie Pooter, Garrick

National Theatre

  • 1987
Antony and Cleopatra - Cleopatra, Olivier
Entertaining Strangers - Sarah Eldridge, Cottesloe
  • 1989
Hamlet - Gertrude, Olivier

RSC

The Cherry Orchard - Ranevskaya, Aldwych
  • 1991
The Plough and the Stars - Bessie Burgess, Young Vic

National Theatre

  • 1991
The Sea - Mrs Rafi, Lyttelton
  • 1992
Coriolanus - Volumnia, Chichester

Royal Shakespeare Company

  • 1992
The Gift of the Gorgon - Helen Damson, Barbican and Wyndham's

National Theatre

  • 1994
The Seagull - Arkadina, Olivier
  • 1995
Absolute Hell - Christine Foskett, Lyttelton
A Little Night Music - Desirée Armfeldt, Olivier
  • 1997
Amy's View - Esmé, Lyttelton
  • 1998
Amy's View - Esmé, Aldwych

West End and Broadway

  • 1998
Filumena - Filumena, Piccadilly
  • 1999
Amy's View - Esmé, Barrymore, New York
  • 2001
The Royal Family - Fanny Cavendish, Theatre Royal Haymarket
  • 2002
The Breath of Life - Frances, Theatre Royal Haymarket

RSC

  • 2003
All's Well That Ends Well - The Countess, Stratford and Gielgud

West End

  • 2006
Hay Fever - Judith Bliss, Theatre Royal Haymarket

RSC

  • 2006
The Merry Wives - The Musical - Mistress Quickly, Stratford

Donmar Warehouse

  • 2009
Madame de Sade - Madame de Montreuil, Donmar at Wyndham's

Rose Theatre, Kingston

Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park

  • 2010 Into The Woods - Stephen Sondheim - Voice of The Giant

As a director

Discography

Awards and nominations

Theatre

Awards

Television

Awards
Nominations

References

  1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1839300.stm
  2. ^ "'And Furthermore' Description" at WHSmith web site
  3. ^ a b "Dame Judi Dench receives BFI fellowship" 23 June 2011, BBC News
  4. ^ Staff writers (6 September 2002). "The Importance of Dame Judi". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/newsmakers/2241129.stm. Retrieved 2009-02-16. 
  5. ^ a b Michael Billington (12 September 2005). "Please God, not retirement". The Guardian (UK). http://film.guardian.co.uk/oscars2006/story/0,,1699880,00.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16. 
  6. ^ a b Michael Billington (23 March 1998). "Judi Dench: Nothing like the Dame". The Guardian (UK). http://film.guardian.co.uk/Feature_Story/Guardian/0,,44053,00.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16. 
  7. ^ "Emma Dench". Harvard Magazine. March–April 2010. http://harvardmagazine.com/2010/03/emma-dench. Retrieved 11 September 2010. 
  8. ^ "Hopkins and Dench named best British actors". The Guardian (UK). 18 August 2005. http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1551503,00.html. Retrieved 2006-12-29. 
  9. ^ "Connery and Dench Top Legend Poll". Time Out Group. 25 February 2005. http://www.timeout.com/film/news/303/connery-and-dench-top-legend-poll.html. Retrieved 2006-12-29. 
  10. ^ a b c "Judy Dench bio at TalkTalk.com". http://www.talktalk.co.uk/entertainment/film/biography/artist/judi-dench/biography/61?page=1. 
  11. ^ "Dame Judi speaks up for Mystery Plays". HoldTheFrontPage.co.uk. 18 September 2003. http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/CAMPAIGNS/2003/09sep/030918judi.shtml. Retrieved 2006-12-29. 
  12. ^ Sheridan Morley (1986). The great stage stars: distinguished theatrical careers of the past and present. London: Angus & Robertson. ISBN 978-020714970-2. 
  13. ^ Robert Tanitch (2007). London stage in the 20th century. London: Haus Publishing. ISBN 978-190495074-5. 
  14. ^ "The Archers Backstage". BBC Online. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers/backstage/14000.shtml. Retrieved 6 August 2010. 
  15. ^ Staff writers (15 January 2002). "Record-breaking Cats bows out". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/1761508.stm. Retrieved 2009-02-16. 
  16. ^ "Merry Wives – The Musical". Royal Shakespeare Company. http://www.rsc.org.uk/WhatsOn/3537.aspx. Retrieved 2006-12-29. 
  17. ^ Philip Fisher (2007). "Reviews: Absolute Hell". British Theatre Guide. http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/DVD-jdenchabshell-rev.htm. 
  18. ^ "Dame Judi Dench lands Brigadier Gerard Stakes with Smokey Oakey". The Evening Standard. UK. 29 May 2008. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/article-23488432-details/Dame+Judi+Dench+lands+Brigadier+Gerard+Stakes+with+Smokey+Oakey/article.do. Retrieved 2009-02-16. 
  19. ^ White, Lesley (2010-02-14). "Peter and Judi play a Tug of Love". The Sunday Times (UK). http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article7021949.ece. 
  20. ^ "About the Rose". The Rose Theatre. http://www.rosetheatrekingston.org/about-us. Retrieved 2009-10-22. 
  21. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45117. p. 6374. 5 June 1970.
  22. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 51171. p. 7. 31 December 1987.
  23. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 57665. p. 4. 11 June 2005.
  24. ^ "Dench is appointed Mountview president". The Stage (London): p. 6. 2006-03-30. ISSN 0038-9099. 
  25. ^ http://www.ovingdeanhallschool.org.uk/
  26. ^ "Doctor of the University". http://portal.surrey.ac.uk/calendar/hongrads/01doctor.jsp. Retrieved 2010-01-01. 
  27. ^ "MINUTES of UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM SENATE, 15 May 2001", dur.ac.uk, 15 May 2001. Accessed 27 July 2011
  28. ^ "Distinguished actress to be honoured by University". University of St Andrews. 21 May 2008. http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/Title,21556,en.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16. 
  29. ^ "Journalists need to leave the Stone Age". The Independent (UK). 2006-01-23. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/journalists-need-to-leave-the-stone-age-524213.html. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  30. ^ "News & Media". Survival International. http://www.survival-international.org/news/video. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  31. ^ "Stars of stage and screen among honorary graduates of Nottingham Trent University". Ntu.ac.uk. http://www.ntu.ac.uk/apps/news/98814-15/Stars_of_stage_and_screen_among_honorary_graduates_of_Nottingham_Trent_University.aspx. Retrieved 4 September 2011. 
  32. ^ ""Dame Judi Dench announced as Patron of the Dr Hadwen Trust"". Drhadwentrust.org. 15 January 2011. http://www.drhadwentrust.org/smartweb/latest-news/news-and-views/post/26-dame-judi-dench-announced-as-patron-of-the-dr-hadwen-trust. Retrieved 4 September 2011. 
  33. ^ Called Judy by her husband in the film, but imdb refers to the character by this name.
  34. ^ British Theatre Guide review
  35. ^ Dame Judi Dench Emmy Nominated

Further reading

External links