Born in York, England. Dame Judi Dench is arguably Britain's most respected
and versatile actress with roles encompassing stage, screen, and television.
After attending art school, she studied acting at the Central School
of Speech and Drama in London. After graduating she made her stage debut
in 1957 as Ophelia in the Liverpool Old Vic's production of Hamlet.
A prolific stage career followed, after joining with the Royal Shakespeare
Company in 1961 she spent many seasons touring, then latterly with the
National Theatre. Dench made her film debut with a supporting role in
The Third
Secret (1964). In 1970 Judi was awarded the Order of the British
Empire. The following year she married Michael Williams, an actor whom
she'd met while with the RSC.
It was not until the 1980s that Judi began to make gain recognition
with international film audiences. In 1986, she had a memorable turn
as a meddlesome author Miss Lavish in A
Room with a View. In 1988, she became Dame Judi Dench, honouring
her contributions to stage and screen. After a supporting role as Mistress
Quickly in Kenneth Branagh's acclaimed
1989 adaptation of Henry
V, Dench exchanged the past for the present with her thoroughly
modern feminist role as M in GoldenEye
(1995), the first during Pierce Brosnan's tenure as James Bond. In 1997
she earned further international recognition, as well as an Academy
Award nomination for her portrayal of Queen Victoria in Mrs.
Brown. The following year, Dench did win the Oscar, garnering Best
Supporting Actress honours for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in the
acclaimed Shakespeare
in Love. Judi became a Dame of the British Empire in 1988.
Her supporting role in Chocolat (2000), earned Dench another Academy
Award nomination. Despite a career in the theatre spanning more than
40 years, she's made numerous television appearances including the BBC's
hugely popular comedy series As Time Goes By with Geoffrey Palmer, and
A Fine Romance, in which she starred opposite her husband. Judi's husband
of almost 30 years, Michael, sadly died of lung cancer on January 11,
2001. During the same year she turned in two more acclaimed performances:
a supporting role opposite Kevin Spacey in The Shipping News, and a
latter day portrayal of celebrated author Iris Murdoch in the biopic
Iris.
