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Judi Dench

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Judi Dench
Dench at the 2007 BAFTAs
Born
Judith Olivia Dench
Spouse(s)Michael Williams
(1971-2001) (his death)

Dame Judith Olivia Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA, (born December 9, 1934), usually known as Dame Judi Dench, is an English Academy Award-, Golden Globe-, Tony-, nine BAFTA-, and six-time Laurence Olivier Award-winning actress.

Personal life

Judi 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 Judi's mother while studying medicine at Trinity College.[1] Dench was raised a Quaker[2][3] 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,[4] 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 her husband went on to star together in several stage productions, as well as separately, but then paired again to make television history with Bob Larbey's hit British sitcom, A Fine Romance (1981–84).

Michael Williams died in 2001, aged 65.

Public life

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.[5][6]

Dench was awarded the OBE in 1970, became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1988, and a Companion of Honour in 2005.[7] 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. In 2008 it was announced that she was to receive an Honorary DLitt from the University of St Andrews.

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. She is also an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge.

Trivia

On Tuesday 24 June 2008 Dench will be honoured by the University of St Andrews. The actress will be made a Doctor of Letters (D.Litt), receiving a honorary degree at the St Andrews University's graduation ceremony. Distinguished actress to be honoured by University Research to find 'the perfect voice has indicated that Dench's voice is one of the best. [8]

Career

20th Century

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.[9]

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".[10] 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."[11]

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.

She enjoyed a romantic pairing with Jeremy Irons in 1978, in the BBC television film Langrishe, Go Down, with a screenplay by Harold Pinter, 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 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 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.[12] 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.

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 is one of the few actors from Pierce Brosnan's Bond films to remain in the rebooted franchise. She was in 2006's Casino Royale, and has been confirmed to be continuing the role in Quantum of Solace, which is scheduled to be released in November of 2008.

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.

21st Century

Dench remains one of the biggest draws on the London stage. She is often compared and contrasted with Dame Maggie Smith, another British actress of the same generation, with whom she has appeared in several movies, including the 2004 Ladies in Lavender, and on stage in David Hare's two-role play Breath of Life (Haymarket, October 2002). Dench returned to the West End stage in April 2006 in Hay Fever alongside Peter Bowles, Belinda Lang and Kim Medcalf.

She finished off a busy 2006 with the role of Mistress Quickly in the RSC's new musical The Merry Wives, a version of The Merry Wives of Windsor.[13] at Stratford-upon-Avon.

Dench's more recent film career has been extremely successful. She successfully 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).[14]

Dench, as Miss Matty Jenkins, co-stars 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 US producing partner station WGBH (PBS Boston) in spring 2008.

Dench narrated the updated Walt Disney World Epcot attraction Spaceship Earth.

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 will culminate on 21st June with a day of city centre performances in York.

She is currently also working on the 22nd Bond adventure Quantum Of Solace and is reprising her role as M.

She will return to the West End from 13 March—23 May, 2009 in Yukio Mishima's Madame De Sade, directed by Michael Grandage as part of the Donmar season at Wyndham's Theatre.

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
1964 The Third Secret Miss Humphries
1965 Four in the Morning Wife
A Study in Terror Sally
He Who Rides a Tiger Joanne
1968 A Midsummer Night's Dream Titania
1973 Luther Katherine
1974 Dead Cert Laura Davidson
1978 Langrishe, Go Down Imogen Langrishe (BBC TV film)
1985 The Angelic Conversation (narrator)
Wetherby Marcia Pilborough
A Room with a View Eleanor Lavish
1987 84 Charing Cross Road Nora Doel
1988 A Handful of Dust Mrs. Beaver
1989 Henry V Mistress Quickly
Behaving Badly Bridget Mayor Channel 4 television serial
1995 Jack and Sarah Margaret
GoldenEye M
1996 Hamlet Hecuba
1997 Mrs. Brown Queen Victoria Best Actress Oscar nomination

Best Actress BAFTA

Best Actress Drama Golden Globe

Tomorrow Never Dies M
1998 Shakespeare in Love Queen Elizabeth Best Supporting Actress Oscar
1999 Tea with Mussolini Arabella
The World Is Not Enough M
2000 Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (narrator) (documentary)
The Last of the Blonde Bombshells Elizabeth (TV)
Chocolat Armande Voizin Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination
2001 Iris Iris Murdoch Best Actress Oscar nomination

Best Actress BAFTA

The Shipping News Agnis Hamm
2002 The Importance of Being Earnest Lady Augusta Bracknell
Die Another Day M
2003 Bugs! (narrator) (short subject)
2004 Home on the Range Mrs. Caloway (voice)
The Chronicles of Riddick Aereon
Ladies in Lavender Ursula
2005 Pride & Prejudice Lady Catherine de Bourg
Mrs Henderson Presents Mrs. Laura Henderson Best Actress Oscar nomination
2006 Doogal (narrator)
Casino Royale M
Notes on a Scandal Barbara Covett Best Actress Oscar nomination
2007 Go Inside to Greet the Light (narrator)
2008 Quantum of Solace M Filming
2009 Nine unknown Pre-Production

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

Selected discography

Selected awards and recognition

Theatre

Film and television

  • As of 2006, Judi Dench has been nominated for Academy Awards 6 times, winning once

Styles and Honours

  • Judi Dench (1934-1970)
  • Judi Dench OBE (1970-1988)
  • Dame Judi Dench DBE (1988-2005)
  • Dame Judi Dench CH DBE (2005-2007)
  • Dame Judi Dench CH DBE FRSA (2007-)

References

  • Ian Herbert, Christine Baxter and Robert E. Finlay, ed. (1981), Who's Who in the Theatre (17th ed.), Detroit: Gale, ISBN 978-081030234-1
  • Michael Billington (1993). One Night Stands: A critic's view of British theatre from 1971–1991. London: Nick Hern Books. ISBN 978-185459185-2.
  • Theatre Record and its annual Indexes
  • British Theatre Guide for reviews of Judi Dench DVDs
  1. ^ "The Importance of Dame Judi". 6 September 2002. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  2. ^ "'Please God, not retirement'". The Guardian. September 12, 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Michael Billington (March 23, 1998). "Judi Dench: Nothing like the Dame". The Guardian. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Birkbeck College - staff page[dead link‍]
  5. ^ "Hopkins and Dench named best British actors". The Guardian. August 18, 2005. Retrieved 2006-12-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Connery and Dench Top Legend Poll". Time Out Group. February 25, 2005. Retrieved 2006-12-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Dame Judi Dench". Shakespeare Schools Festival. Retrieved 2006-12-29.
  8. ^ BBC News, 2008. Formula 'secret of perfect voice'.
  9. ^ "Dame Judi speaks up for Mystery Plays". HoldTheFrontPage.co.uk. 18 September 2003. Retrieved 2006-12-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Sheridan Morley (1986). The great stage stars: distinguished theatrical careers of the past and present. London: Angus & Robertson. ISBN 978-020714970-2.
  11. ^ Robert Tanitch (2007). London stage in the 20th century. London: Haus Publishing. ISBN 978-190495074-5.
  12. ^ Record-breaking Cats bows out. BBC News, 2002-01-15. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  13. ^ "Merry Wives– The Musical". Royal Shakespeare Company. Retrieved 2006-12-29.
  14. ^ Philip Fisher (2007). "Reviews: Absolute Hell". britishtheatreguide.info.
  15. ^ British Theatre Guide review [1]
Template:S-awards
Preceded by Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress
1977
for Macbeth 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress
1980
for Juno and the Paycock 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Best TV Actress
1982
for A Fine Romance 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress
1983
for Pack of Lies 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress
1987
for Antony and Cleopatra 		Succeeded by
Preceded by BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1986
for A Room with a View 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress
1996
for Absolute Hell 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical
1996
for A Little Night Music 		Succeeded by
Preceded by BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1997
for Mrs. Brown 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
1998
for Mrs. Brown 		Succeeded by
Preceded by BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1998
for Shakespeare in Love 		Succeeded by
Preceded by BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1968
for Talking to a Stranger 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Best TV Actress
2001
for The Last of the Blonde Bombshells 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Laurence Olivier Society Special Award
2004 		Succeeded by

Template:Persondata

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