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==Personal life== |
==Personal life== |
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Dench was born in York, North Yorkshire, [[England]], the daughter of Eleanora Olave ([[married and maiden names|née]] Jones), who was Irish and a native of [[Dublin]], and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor who met Dench's mother while studying medicine at [[Trinity College, Dublin |Trinity College]].<ref>{{cite news|title=The Importance of Dame Judi|date=[[6 September]] [[2002]]|publisher=BBC NEWS|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/newsmakers/2241129.stm}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Dame's Treat|author=Donald Clarke|url=http://www.atgbcentral.com/ithend.html|publisher=The Irish Times|date=[[November 24]], [[2005]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/judi_dench_biog.html|title=Judi Dench biography|publisher=Tiscali |accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/33/Judi-Dench.html|title=Judi Dench Biography (1934-)|work=filmreference.com|accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref> Dench was raised a [[Religious Society of Friends|Quaker]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/oscars2006/story/0,,1699880,00.html|title='Please God, not retirement'|publisher=The Guardian|date=[[September 12]], [[2005]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Judi Dench: Nothing like the Dame|publisher=The Guardian|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/Feature_Story/Guardian/0,,44053,00.html|author=Michael Billington|date=[[March 23]], [[1998]]}}</ref> and lived in [[Tyldesley]], [[Greater Manchester]]. Notable relatives include the actor [[Jeffrey Dench]], her older brother, and her niece [[Emma Dench]], a Roman historian previously at [[Birkbeck, University of London]],<ref>[http://www.bbk.ac.uk/hca/staff/emmadench Birkbeck College - staff page]{{ |
Dench was born in York, North Yorkshire, [[England]], the daughter of Eleanora Olave ([[married and maiden names|née]] Jones), who was Irish and a native of [[Dublin]], and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor who met Dench's mother while studying medicine at [[Trinity College, Dublin |Trinity College]].<ref>{{cite news|title=The Importance of Dame Judi|date=[[6 September]] [[2002]]|publisher=BBC NEWS|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/newsmakers/2241129.stm}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Dame's Treat|author=Donald Clarke|url=http://www.atgbcentral.com/ithend.html|publisher=The Irish Times|date=[[November 24]], [[2005]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/judi_dench_biog.html|title=Judi Dench biography|publisher=Tiscali |accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/33/Judi-Dench.html|title=Judi Dench Biography (1934-)|work=filmreference.com|accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref> Dench was raised a [[Religious Society of Friends|Quaker]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/oscars2006/story/0,,1699880,00.html|title='Please God, not retirement'|publisher=The Guardian|date=[[September 12]], [[2005]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Judi Dench: Nothing like the Dame|publisher=The Guardian|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/Feature_Story/Guardian/0,,44053,00.html|author=Michael Billington|date=[[March 23]], [[1998]]}}</ref> and lived in [[Tyldesley]], [[Greater Manchester]]. Notable relatives include the actor [[Jeffrey Dench]], her older brother, and her niece [[Emma Dench]], a Roman historian previously at [[Birkbeck, University of London]],<ref>[http://www.bbk.ac.uk/hca/staff/emmadench Birkbeck College - staff page]{{Dead link|date=January 2008}}</ref> and currently at [[Harvard University]], [[Cambridge, MA]]. |
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When Dench was thirteen, she entered [[The Mount School, York]]. In 1971, Dench married British [[actor]] [[Michael Williams (actor)|Michael Williams]] and they had their only child, Tara Cressida Williams (aka "[[Finty Williams]]"), on [[24 September]] [[1972]], who has followed the family's theatrical tradition to become an accomplished actress in her own right. Dench and Michael went on to star together in several stage productions, as well as separately, but then paired again to make television history with Bob Larby's hit British sitcom, ''[[A Fine Romance (TV series)|A Fine Romance]]'' (1981–84). |
When Dench was thirteen, she entered [[The Mount School, York]]. In 1971, Dench married British [[actor]] [[Michael Williams (actor)|Michael Williams]] and they had their only child, Tara Cressida Williams (aka "[[Finty Williams]]"), on [[24 September]] [[1972]], who has followed the family's theatrical tradition to become an accomplished actress in her own right. Dench and Michael went on to star together in several stage productions, as well as separately, but then paired again to make television history with Bob Larby's hit British sitcom, ''[[A Fine Romance (TV series)|A Fine Romance]]'' (1981–84). |
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Revision as of 09:28, 2 January 2008
Judi Dench | |
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File:Judi Dench.jpg | |
Born | Judith Olivia Dench |
Spouse | Michael Williams (d.2001) |
Children | Finty Williams (born 1972) |
Dame Judith Olivia Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA, (born 9 December 1934), usually known as Dame Judi Dench, is an Academy Award-, Golden Globe-, Tony-, three-time BAFTA-, and six-time Laurence Olivier Award-winning English actress.
Personal life
Dench was born in York, North Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Eleanora Olave (née Jones), who was Irish and a native of Dublin, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor who met Dench's mother while studying medicine at Trinity College.[1][2][3][4] Dench was raised a Quaker[5][6] and lived in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester. Notable relatives include the actor Jeffrey Dench, her older brother, and her niece Emma Dench, a Roman historian previously at Birkbeck, University of London,[7] and currently at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
When Dench was thirteen, 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 24 September 1972, who has followed the family's theatrical tradition to become an accomplished actress in her own right. Dench and Michael went on to star together in several stage productions, as well as separately, but then paired again to make television history with Bob Larby's hit British sitcom, A Fine Romance (1981–84).
Williams died, aged 65, in 2001.
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.[8][9]
Dench was awarded the OBE in 1970, became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1988, and a Companion of Honour in 2005.[10] 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.
Dame Judi 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.
Career
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.[11]
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".[12] 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 outstanding 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."[13]
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" in Stratford. The small round stage focused attention on the psychological dynamics of the characters, and both Ian McKellen in the title role, and Judi 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 gained the SWET Best Actress Award (1977).
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 lively 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 directing debuts.
She has made numerous appearances in the West End including the role of Miss Trent in the 1974 musical version of The Good Companions at Her Majesty's Theatre, and 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 films. It could be argued that she helped reinvigorate the franchise with her fresh, sharp, and unexpected interpretation of the role.
She has won multiple awards for performances on the London stage, including a record six Laurence Olivier Awards. She also won the American 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 "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
As she enters her seventies, Dame Judi 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). Judi 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.[14] at Stratford-upon-Avon.
Dench's more recent film career has been extremely successful. She successfully garnered six Oscar nominations in nine years for Mrs Brown in 1997; her Oscar-winning turn 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 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).[15]
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 of 2008.
Dench narrates the updated Walt Disney World Epcot attraction Spaceship Earth.
In 2009 she will star in Madame De Sade in the West End.[16]
Filmography
Year | Film | Role | 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 Movie) | |
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 | ||
1995 | Jack and Sarah | Margaret | ||
GoldenEye | M | |||
1996 | Hamlet | Hecuba | ||
1997 | Mrs. Brown | Queen Victoria | Best Actress Oscar nomination | |
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 | |
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 | ||
2008 | Bond 22 | M | (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
- Cabaret (1968), Original London cast album CBS (1973)
- 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
Selected awards and recognition
Theatre
- 1999 - Tony Award for Best Actress for Amy's View
- 1997 - Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress for Amy's View
- 1996 - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for Absolute Hell
- 1996 - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Entertainment for A Little Night Music
- 1987 - Laurence Olivier Award, Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress for Antony and Cleopatra
- 1984 - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New Play for Pack of Lies
- 1982 - Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress for The Importance of Being Earnest and A Kind of Alaska
- 1982 - Evening Standard Award for Best Actress for The Importance of Being Earnest and A Kind of Alaska
- 1980 - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival for Juno and the Paycock
- 1977 - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival for Macbeth
Film and television
- As of 2006, Judi Dench has been nominated for Academy Awards 6 times, winning once
- 2006 - Nominated Academy Award for Best Actress for Notes on a Scandal
- 2006 - Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama for Notes on a Scandal
- 2005 - Nominated Academy Award for Best Actress for Mrs Henderson Presents
- 2005 - Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Mrs Henderson Presents
- 2002 - Nominated Academy Award for Best Actress for Iris
- 2001 - Nominated Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Chocolat
- 2001 - Won BAFTA Award for Best Actress for The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
- 2001 - Won Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
- 2001 - Nominated Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
- 2001 - Nominated Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
- 2001 - Nominated American Comedy Awards Funniest Female Performer in a TV Special for The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
- 1999 - Won Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Shakespeare in Love
- 1998 - Nominated Academy Award for Best Actress and won Golden Globe for Mrs. Brown
- 1987 - Won BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for A Room with a View
- 1967 - Won BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress for Talking to a Stranger
- 1966 - Won BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Four in the Morning
Further reading
- Ian Herbert (1981). Who's who in the theatre. Detroit: Gale. ISBN 978-081030235-8.
{{cite book}}
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - 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
References
- ^ "The Importance of Dame Judi". BBC NEWS. 6 September 2002.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ Donald Clarke (November 24, 2005). "Dame's Treat". The Irish Times.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Judi Dench biography". Tiscali. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
- ^ "Judi Dench Biography (1934-)". filmreference.com. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
- ^ "'Please God, not retirement'". The Guardian. September 12, 2005.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Michael Billington (March 23, 1998). "Judi Dench: Nothing like the Dame". The Guardian.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Birkbeck College - staff page[dead link]
- ^ "Hopkins and Dench named best British actors". The Guardian. August 18, 2005. Retrieved 2006-12-29.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Connery and Dench Top Legend Poll". Time Out Group. February 25, 2005. Retrieved 2006-12-29.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Dame Judi Dench". Shakespeare Schools Festival. Retrieved 2006-12-29.
- ^ "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) - ^ 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.
- ^ "Merry Wives– The Musical". Royal Shakespeare Company. Retrieved 2006-12-29.
- ^ Philip Fisher (2007). "Reviews: Absolute Hell". britishtheatreguide.info.
- ^ "Dench confirmed in Donmar De Sade". Official London Theatre Guide. 2 November 2007.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help)
External links
- Judi Dench Biography
- Judi Dench at IMDb
- Judi Dench at the Internet Broadway Database
- As Time Goes By Central website
- engl.Maggie Smith & Judi Dench Forum
- Judi Dench on Acting Regal
- University of Bristol Theatre Collection, University of Bristol
DEFAULTSORT:Dench, Judi