Judi Dench

PHOTO GALLERY
Date of Birth : Dec 9th 1934

Academy Award, Golden Globe, Tony, three-time BAFTA, and six-time Laurence Olivier Award-winning English actress.

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. Furthermore, she gained worldwide popular fame through taking over the role of M in the James Bond film series in 1995, and subsequently through many acclaimed film appearances.

In 2006 Dench became president of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London, taking over from Sir John Mills; she is also president of the Questors Theatre.

Judi Dench was born in in Yorkshire, England to Olave (née Jones) and Reginald Arthur Dench and was raised a Quaker. She also lived in Tyldesley,Greater Manchester. Her notable relatives include Emma Dench, eminent Roman historian previously at Birkbeck, University of London., and currently at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. When Dench was thirteen, she entered The Mount School, York.

She received her dramatic training at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and made her professional debut as Ophelia in Hamlet in Liverpool in 1957. She subsequently spent several seasons in repertory in Oxford and Nottingham. In 1961, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and made 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.