National Treasure: Dame Judi Dench

Dame Judith Olivia “Judi” Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA (9 December 1934) is one of the nation’s best loved film, stage and television actresses.

Dench’s professional career started in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. She played roles in several Shakespeare plays, including Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth before branching into film, and winning a BAFTA as Most Promising Newcomer.

Over the next 20 years, Dench’s established a career as one of the UK’s most significant actresses, working for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Companies, and playing parts in TV series A Fine Romance and As Time Goes By.

In 1995 Dench was cast as M in the Bond film GoldenEye in 1995, a role she has reprised in all subsequent Bond films. From here, her film career blossomed and she has received critical acclaim for her roles in Mrs Brown, Shakespeare in Love, Chocolat, Iris, Mrs Henderson Presents and Notes on a Scandal.

Dench has received many award nominations including ten BAFTAs, seven Laurence Olivier Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. In June 2011, she received a fellowship from the British Film Institute (BFI).

Image credit: Siebbi