Judi Dench Biography

In a nutshell

She came to Hollywood prominence playing the first female 'M' in the James Bond franchise, but was an accomplished actress decades before she portrayed the steely-eyed M16 boss. To prove it Dame Judy Dench (OBE) has amassed more stage, film and TV awards than you've had hot dinners and reigns supreme as one of Britain's national treasures.
As a young actress she worked mainly in theatre, joining the RSC in 1961 and has famously played virtually every female Shakespearian role. She once revealed that as a fledgling actress a director once told her she didn't have the face for film, which is why she made theatre her forte. Was said director holding a white stick and a dog, we wonder?
Dame Judi soon proved this to be utter nonsense, albeit later on in her career than most film starlets. You usually find Hollywood actresses bemoaning the lack of decent roles over forty but Dame Judi has seemingly single-handedly reversed this trend with an impressive film catalogue that only really began in her middle years. Other high-profile roles followed her steely-eyed turn as the MI6 chief such as a grieving Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown (1997) and an Oscar-winning performance as Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1998). Her latter role was all the more impressive considering she was only in four scenes of the film, a grand total of eight minutes of screen time!
She didn't just excel in regal roles though; her moving turn as a writer with dementia in Iris (2001) won her much acclaim as did her performance as a decidedly unnerving stalker in 2006's Notes on a Scandal (a role which garnered her award nominations across the board).
Stage in evidently still her first love and she returned to the West End in 2009 in a production of Madame de Sade at the Wyndham Theatre. Daily Telegraph critic Charles Spender recently revealed that, upon giving her a less than effusive opening night review, he received a less than effusive correspondence back from Dame Judi herself. The lady was not amused!
Her success is all the more impressive considering her own personal tragedy in 2001 when her husband of 30 years, fellow actor Michael Williams, died of cancer. They have one daughter, also an actor.
In Spring 2010 Dame Judi returned to her thespian routes playing Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Kingston's Rose Theatre. She is also due to reprise her role as the tough-talking M in the next Bond film. Judi Dench - Biography from (http://www.talktalk.co.uk/celebrity/biography/person/judi-dench/258)

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Sunday, September 25, 2011