Biography of the popular Movie Actress Judi Dench

actress Judi Dench at Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year awards 2011 in London 3

Judi Dench born as Judith Olivia Dench on December 9th, 1934 in York, North Yorkshire, England is one of the finest refined English actresses who became a screen legend in her own right in the business of acting. The number of awards and number of titles she won stand testimony to her acting talents.


Judi Dench received a whopping 82 awards nominations of which she won 28. Judi Dench received 6 Oscar nominations of which she bagged one; received 23 BAFTA nominations winning 10 of them; she also won two Golden Globes from 7 nominations. She also won 6 six Laurence Olivier Awards besides multiple of other awards. Judi Dench was honored with Fellowship at the Royal Society of Arts in 2006. She was conferred OBE in 1970 and later the title of Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1988. In 2005 Judi was made a Companion of Honor. She was thus known as Dame Judi Dench, DBE, and FRSA.


Judi Dench was born to Eleanora Olave nee Jones, a native of Dublin and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor from Trinity College. Judi Dench has an older brother and actor Jeffrey Dench. Judi studied at The Mount School, York. Taking up the family tradition of theatrical acting, Judi Dench enrolled herself at the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art.


Judi Dench made her professional stage debut with a role of 'Ophelia' in Shakespeare's "Hamlet" staged by Old Vic Production Company at the Royal Court Theater in Liverpool. She spent four years with Old Vic productions from 957-1961. Judi Dench later moved to several stage production houses such as Royal Shakespeare Company in December of 1961, Nottingham Playhouse in 1963, and Oxford Playhouse Company in April of 1964. Her wonderful stage performances took her to United States, Canada, and Yugoslavia and to Edinburgh Festival. Judi Dench appeared in a countless number of plays over the decades winning several awards. Her mere presence in plays drew large number of crowds to theaters.


Since her first role on the stage, Judi's heart always lay on the on-screen career and so began auditioning whenever she could. Finally, her tenacious efforts paid off in 1959. The versatile actress Judi Dench made her on-screen debut with a BBC made-for-television movie "Hilda Lessways". That was the beginning of her glorious career that spanned five decades of amazing performances on screen; and at 73, Judi Dench is still going strong with a couple of upcoming movies lying on the anvil at post-production level.


BAFTA winning movies like "Four in the Morning" {1965}, "Talking to a Stranger" {1966}, "A Fine Romance" {26 episodes: 1981-1984}, "A Room with a View" {1985}; Oscar winning film "Shakespeare in Love" {1998}, and Oscar nominated movies like "Mrs Brown" {1997}, "Chocolat" {2000}, "Iris" {2001}, "Mrs Henderson Presents" {2005}, and "Notes on a Scandal" {2006} are a few of the movies that speaks volumes for her acting skills. But it was in 1995 that Judi Dench became known throughout the world as the boss 'M' of James Bond 007. She first appeared as 'M' in "Golden Eye" in which Pierce Brosnan starred as James Bond. She has since played the role of 'M' - the head of the Foreign Intelligence wing of Her Majesty's Secret Service MI6 in a series of Bond movies like "Tomorrow Never Dies" {1997}, "The World Is Not Enough" {1999}, "Die Another Day" {2002} all Pierce Brosnan starrers, and Daniel Craig starrer "Casino Royale" {2006}, and "Quantum of Solace" {2008}. Judi Dench put up an impressive performance in the role of 'M' who is always at loggerheads with James Bond for his maverick ways.


Judi has also lent her voice for animated characters for video games and other narration works on screen.


Judi Dench married British actor Michael Williams on February 5th, 1971. After thirty years of happy marriage, Judi's husband Michael Williams left for heavenly abode on January 11th, 2001. They together have a daughter named Finty Williams


As a tribute to her great acting talents, BBC in 2007 released 'The Judi Dench Collection', DVDs of eight television dramas. Judi Dench has patronized several theaters such as 'Friends School Saffron Walden', 'The Leaveners', and Archway Theatre.

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