![Judi Dench video Judi Dench performs "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" at a Richard Rodgers tribute clip](http://www.celebrityonlinenews.com/viewVideo.html?title=Judi Dench, 16 Going on 17&videoType=YouTube&summary=Judi Dench performs "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" at a Richard Rodgers tribute&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/iAMxZulUMaU&fs=1&hl=en&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://1.gvt0.com/vi/iAMxZulUMaU/default.jpg&celebrity=Judi Dench)
![Judi Dench video Her Olivier Award winning performance from "A Little Night Music", given here on a British talkshow as a promo spot done during the run on London ... clip](http://www.celebrityonlinenews.com/viewVideo.html?title=Judi Dench Send In the Clowns, 1996&videoType=YouTube&summary=Her Olivier Award winning performance from "A Little Night Music", given here on a British talkshow as a promo spot done during the run on London ...&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/0rEhOnd8S-8&fs=1&hl=en&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://3.gvt0.com/vi/0rEhOnd8S-8/default.jpg&celebrity=Judi Dench)
Filmgoers upset by Judi Dench swearing
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CBC - Found Jun. 27, 2009 British actress Judi Dench garners complaints every time she talks tough in a film, the British Board of Film Classification said in its annual |
Judi Dench shocks British filmgoers
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First Post - Found Jun. 25, 2009 JUNE 25, 2009 Her appearance in the poorly-received London production of Madame de Sade aside (above), Judi Dench has spent almost all of the... |
Judi Dench swear words 'always spark complaints'
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Telegraph - Found Jun. 24, 2009 Dame Judi Dench cannot use even mild swear words in films without provoking complaints, because viewers are uncomfortable with hearing Britain's most ... |
'Judi Dench factor' always sparks swearing complaints
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Malaysia Sun - Found Jun. 24, 2009 London, June 24 : When it comes to actors swearing in films, the viewers can pardon any star other than Dame Judi Dench for using foul language on |
Complaints over Dench film language
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Telegraph and Argus - Found Jun. 23, 2009 ... about bad language because of the 'Judi Dench factor', the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has said. Dame Judi prompts complaints... Judi's swearing prompts complaints - Metro.co.uk Complaints over Dench film language - Metro.co.uk Judi's swearing prompts complaints - Mirror.co.uk Complaints over Dench film language - Mirror.co.uk Explore All |
Telegraph and Argus |
BBC Says Judi Dench & Other Cast Will Return for a 2nd Mini-Series; ...
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TV Shows On DVD - Found Jun. 30, 2009 Dame Judi Dench returns, as does Francesca Annis, Imelda Staunton and other cast from the first production. |
Dame Judi Dench does the Telegraph crossword on Cranford set
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Telegraph - Found Jun. 10, 2009 Judi Dench took time out from learning her lines on the set of BBC drama serial Cranford to tackle The Daily Telegraph crossword. Dame Judi... |
Dame Judi Dench back in character for BBC drama Cranford
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Telegraph - Found Jun. 9, 2009 Judi Dench, the Bafta award-winning actress, was photographed in Lacock, Wiltshire, where she is filming the BBC drama Cranford. |
Rosamund Pike: I havent had a nose job
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Now Magazine - Found 9 hours ago Not even Botox. You look at someone like Judi Dench and you just think shes the most beautiful woman, she tells The Observer Magazine. |
That damned Dame and her dirty mouth
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Irish Times - Found Jul. 2, 2009 God, that Judi Dench is such a f**king buttmunch! Of course she isnt. |
Judi Dench Biography
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Judi Dench
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| Judi Dench | |
 at the 2007 BAFTAs |
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| Born | Judith Olivia Dench 9 December 1934 York, Yorkshire, England, UK |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1957–present |
| Spouse(s) | Michael Williams (1971–2001) (his death) |
Dame Judith Olivia Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress.
Originally trained as a set designer, Dench began her acting career in the mid 1950s in amateur productions, and 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 had been 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).
Regarded by critics as one of the greatest actresses of the post-war period, and frequently named as the leading British actress in polls, 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.
Dench was awarded the OBE in 1970, became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1988, and a Companion of Honour in 2005.
She was married to the actor Michael Williams from 1971 until his death in 2001. They are the parents of the actress Finty Williams.
Contents |
Life
Dench was born in Heworth, York, North Riding of Yorkshire, the daughter of Eleanora Olave Jones, a native of Dublin, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor who met Judi's mother while studying medicine at Trinity College.1 Dench, a Quaker, was raised a Methodist until she attended The Mount School, a Quaker Public Secondary school in York, and lived in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester.23 Notable relatives include her older brother, actor Jeffrey Dench, and her niece, Emma Dench, a Roman historian previously at Birkbeck, University of London, 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, 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.45 Research to find "the perfect voice" has indicated that Dench's voice is one of the best.6
Early years
Judi Dench trained as a set designer before taking up acting at the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art. Subsequently, she was involved on a non-professional basis 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.7
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".8 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."9
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 had a romantic role in the BBC television film Langrishe, Go Down (1978), with Jeremy Irons and 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.10 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 became known to an international audience after taking over the role of M (James Bond's boss) with the James Bond film series, starting with GoldenEye. She is the only actor from Pierce Brosnan's Bond films to remain in the franchise. She has appeared in Casino Royale (2006) and its direct sequel Quantum of Solace (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. 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 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) 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 U.S., As Time Goes By has been run repeatedly on PBS and on BBC America, and may be - along with her Bond role - the entity for which Dench is best known to American audiences.
Recent years
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 Tea with Mussolini (1999) and Ladies in Lavender (2004), 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.11
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).12
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 Thoroughbred 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.13
She returns 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.
Public life
Dench was awarded the OBE in 1970, became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1988, and a Companion of Honour in 2005.14
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 patron of Ovingdean Hall School, a special day and boarding school for the deaf and hard of hearing in Brighton.
Dench is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. In 2000-2001 she received an Honorary DLitt from Durham University. 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.15
Filmography
She has also lent her likeness and voice for the role of M in James Bond video games:
Theatre work
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This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. (March 2009) |
Source: "Judi Dench: With a Crack in her Voice" by John Miller
As an actress
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St Mary's Abbey
The Nottingham Playhouse Company
The Nottingham Playhouse Company
The Oxford Playhouse Company
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The Royal Shakespeare Company
No Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company
No Company
The National Theatre Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company
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No Company
The National Theatre Company
The National Theatre Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company
The National Theatre Company
No Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company
No Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company
Donmar Warehouse
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As a director
- 1988 - Much Ado About Nothing, Reneissance Theatre Company
- 1989 - Look Back in Anger - Reneissance Theatre Company
- 1989 - Macbeth - Central School of Speech and Drama
- 1991 - The Boy from Syracuse, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
- 1993 - Romeo and Juliet, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Discography
- Cabaret (1968), Original London cast album CBS (1973)
- The Good Companions (1974), Original London cast recording (1974)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1995); from Felix Mendelssohn as Recitant. Conducted by Seiji Ozawa
- A Little Night Music (1995) by Stephen Sondheim, Royal National Theatre Cast
Awards and nominations
Theatre
- Awards
- 1977: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival – Macbeth
- 1980: Evening Standard Award for Best Actress – Juno and the Paycock
- 1980: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival – Juno and the Paycock
- 1982: Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress – The Importance of Being Earnest and A Kind of Alaska
- 1982: Evening Standard Award for Best Actress – The Importance of Being Earnest and A Kind of Alaska
- 1984: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New Play – Pack of Lies
- 1987: Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress – Antony and Cleopatra
- 1987: Evening Standard Award for Best Actress – Antony and Cleopatra
- 1987: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress – Antony and Cleopatra
- 1996: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress – Absolute Hell
- 1996: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Entertainment – A Little Night Music
- 1997: Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress – Amy's View
- 1999: Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play – Amy's View
- 2004: Laurence Olivier Award: Special Award for Outstanding Contributions to British Theatre
Television
- Awards
- 1967: BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress – Talking to a Stranger16
- 2001: BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role – The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
- 2001: Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Mini-Series or TV Movie – The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
- Nominations
- 1990: BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress – Behaving Badly
- 2001: American Comedy Awards Funniest Female Performer in a TV Special – The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
- 2001: Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie – The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
- 2001: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor - TV Movie/Miniseries – The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
- 2008: Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Mini-Series – Cranford
References
- ^ 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 on 2009-02-16.
- ^ Michael Billington (12 September 2005). "Please God, not retirement". The Guardian. http://film.guardian.co.uk/oscars2006/story/0,,1699880,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-02-16.
- ^ Michael Billington (23 March 1998). "Judi Dench: Nothing like the Dame". The Guardian. http://film.guardian.co.uk/Feature_Story/Guardian/0,,44053,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-02-16.
- ^ "Hopkins and Dench named best British actors". The Guardian. 18 August 2005. http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1551503,00.html. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
- ^ "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 on 2006-12-29.
- ^ Staff writers (30 May 2008). "Formula 'secret of perfect voice'". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7426923.stm. Retrieved on 2009-02-16.
- ^ "Dame Judi speaks up for Mystery Plays". HoldTheFrontPage.co.uk. 18 September 2003. http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/CAMPAIGNS/2003/09sep/030918judi.shtml. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
- ^ Sheridan Morley (1986). The great stage stars: distinguished theatrical careers of the past and present. London: Angus & Robertson. ISBN 978-020714970-2.
- ^ Robert Tanitch (2007). London stage in the 20th century. London: Haus Publishing. ISBN 978-190495074-5.
- ^ Staff writers (15 January 2002). "Record-breaking Cats bows out". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/1761508.stm. Retrieved on 2009-02-16.
- ^ "Merry Wives – The Musical". Royal Shakespeare Company. http://www.rsc.org.uk/WhatsOn/3537.aspx. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
- ^ Philip Fisher (2007). "Reviews: Absolute Hell". British Theatre Guide. http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/DVD-jdenchabshell-rev.htm.
- ^ "Dame Judi Dench lands Brigadier Gerard Stakes with Smokey Oakey". This is London. The Evening Standard. 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 on 2009-02-16.
- ^ "Dame Judi Dench". Shakespeare Schools Festival. http://www.ssf.uk.com/aboutus/patrons/damejudidench. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
- ^ "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 on 2009-02-16.
- ^ British Theatre Guide review
Further reading
- Herbert, Ian; Christine Baxter and Robert E. Finlay (1981). Who's Who in the Theatre (17th ed.). Detroit: Gale. ISBN 0273017179.
- Billington, Michael (1993). One Night Stands: A critic's view of British theatre from 1971-1991. London: Nick Hern Books. ISBN 1854591851.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Judi Dench |
- Judi Dench Biography
- Judi Dench at the Internet Movie Database
- Judi Dench at the Internet Broadway Database
- Judi Dench at the Royal Shakespeare Company performance database
- As Time Goes By Central website
- Judi Dench on Acting Regal
- University of Bristol Theatre Collection, University of Bristol
- Judi Dench British Academy Awards, BAFTA Searchable Awards Database
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