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Judith
Olivia Dench (Judi) was born in York, England on December
9, 1934.
Her parents, Dr. Reginald and Olave Dench, were both
enthusiastic amateur
actors, and her siblings Peter and Jeffery also acted in local
productions.
Her parents first took Judi to see a performance when she was
four years old
and she laughed so hard they feared she would make herself ill
so they left
early. (Apparently convinced they had over-reacted they
brought her back the
next night.) A year later she made her drama debut,
playing the role of a
snail.
A spirited child, Judi drew on the walls of her bedroom,
dressed the
family cats in doll clothes and wreaked such havoc playing in
the yard her
father's partner had to ask her to stop -- she was disturbing
the patients.
At 13 Judi entered The Mount school, a private Quaker school
in York. She
later said she was attracted chiefly by the school's uniforms,
but whatever
her reasons, the choice proved to be a congenial one.
She appeared in
several school productions, including Shakespeare's "A
Midsummer Night's
Dream" and "Richard II." Because The
Mount discouraged competitiveness
Judi alternated her role as Queen in the latter play with that
of lady-in-waiting.
She credits her lifelong distaste for competitiveness to
The Mount, but it
is likely that the Mount's Quaker tenets simply reinforced a
selfless spirit
that was already present.
Judi has always dated her professional debut from 1957, when
the city of York
revived medieval mystery plays. She played the Virgin
Mary.
Her brother Jeffery, six years her senior, attended The
Central School of
Speech and Drama in London and his enthusiasm helped fire
Judi's interest in
a drama career. She did not want to act, however -- she
wanted to be a
designer. After leaving The Mount she studied theatre
design for a few
months, then saw a production of "King Lear" whose
spare, stunning design
convinced her she lacked the necessary imagination.
Rather half-heartedly,
by her account, she applied to The Central School and was
accepted.
Though she loved being in London, seeing as many plays
as she could and
enjoying the company of classmates, Judi did not see in
herself the potential
her teachers did. Only after she performed a mime on the
spur of the moment
(she had forgotten to prepare the assignment) and received
glowing praise
from the instructor did she begin to think she might have the
talent for a
career in acting.
It is likely that her instructors recognized her potential
much sooner. In
her early days at Central she had a small speaking voice.
Rather than
suggest she try another field, two faculty members worked with
her for a year
to develop her voice. They -- and she -- succeeded.
Her voice has been
called many things since then, but never "small."
When Judi graduated from Central her awards and prizes
included the Gold
Medal and the prize for outstanding student of the year.
Michael Benthall of
the Old Vic immediately cast her as Ophelia in his production
of "Hamlet."
Her performance received less than rave reviews and when the
Old Vic went
on tour to the U.S. Benthall took her along, but not as
Ophelia.
She survived this blow, enjoyed the tour, observed other
actors from the
wings and learned. Upon returning to England she began
the succession of
stage roles that amazes with its size, range, and difficulty.
Always delighted by the prospect of an especially
demanding role, Judi
tackled not only most of Shakespeare (including playing -- to
enthusiastic
reviews -- the roles of both mother and daughter in "The
Winter's Tale"), but
Ibsen, Chekhov, Shaw, Wilde, Wycherley, and dozens of other
playwrights.
In the 1960's she twice visited Africa, taking Shakespeare to
places where
his plays had never been seen. In 1969-70 she toured
Japan and Australia
with the Royal Shakespeare Co.
In 1969 Judi found herself in a Stratford pub chatting
companionably with RSC
colleague Michael
Williams. What had been a casual
friendship quickly
deepened. When Judi and others from the RSC went to
Japan and then
Australia on tour, Michael flew from England to Australia to
see her and the
courtship continued. Overcoming her reservations about
combining career and
family Judi married Michael in Feb. 1971. Their daughter
Tara Cressida Frances,
known as Finty, was born in Sept. 1972.
With Finty's birth Judi suggested that she retire from acting,
but Michael
encouraged her to continue. She tailored her schedule so
she was able to
spend ample time with Finty. Always family-oriented,
Judi suggested that she
and Michael make a home for her mother (her father had died)
and Michael's
parents, and this they did for twelve years.
Though the stage has always been her first love, Judi began
television work
early in her career and she won BAFTA's
"Most Promising Newcomer" Award
for her appearance in "Four in the Morning" (1965).
She received BAFTA's
"Best Actress Award" for her portrayal of a
troubled daughter in the four-part
drama, "Talking to a Stranger" (1966).
Though she was a much-respected actress, she became widely
known only when
she and Michael played opposite each other in the sitcom
"A Fine Romance"
(1980-84). Michael reflected that the audience, said to
number 14 million
people, greatly outnumbered any they could have reached with
stage
performances. Her performances continued to impress and
dazzle her audiences throughout the Eighties. In 1988,
she became Dame Judi Dench,
DBE in honor
of her contributions to the arts.
In 1991 Dame Judi joined veteran actor Geoffrey Palmer and
"A Fine Romance" writer Bob Larbey to make six
episodes of what was to be a one-season sitcom,
"As
Time Goes By." The series was received with
such enthusiasm seven more
seasons were filmed and a ninth was filmed in late Spring,
2002.
That will be the series' final season.
During the Nineties, Dame Judi also performed more and more on
audio tape and many of these are now available.
Productions included drama, poetry and novels. Her stage
performances included 1995's "Absolute Hell" and
"A Little Night
Music" for which she was the first person to receive
two Olivier Best Actress Awards in
the same year.
Her film career started slowly. Put off in her early
20's by one director's
assessment at an audition: "Miss Dench, you have
every single thing wrong
with your face," Dame Judi made few films (with
small roles) until she burst onto
the international scene with her stunning portrayal of Queen
Victoria in
"Mrs.
Brown." Her Oscar
nomination for Best Actress brought her attention,
soon followed by an Oscar
for Best Supporting Actress as Queen Elizabeth the
First in "Shakespeare
in Love." She was nominated for an Oscar the
next year
for her role in "Chocolat." By that time she
had played M in the three latest
James
Bond films, with Pierce Brosnan's James Bond getting the
rough edge of
her character's tongue.
In the summer of 1999 Dame Judi took the David Hare play
"Amy's View" from
a successful run in London's West End to a successful 16-week
run on Broadway.
Smitten Americans stopped her on the streets, applauded her in
restaurants,
packed cinema plexes where her films appeared and, in city
after city, voted
"As
Time Goes By" their favorite Britcom. She
received the 1999 Best Actress
Tony Award for her emotional performance as Esme Allen.
When Michael Williams
died of cancer in January 2001, Dame Judi had been at home for
several months caring for him. Finding that, for her,
grief produced
energy, she threw herself into three films, making them almost
simultaneously
-- "The Shipping News,"
"Iris" and "The
Importance of Being Earnest." In the
fall of 2001 she returned to the stage in a revival of the
Ferber-Kaufman
play "The Royal Family",
and as that play's run drew to a close she
sandwiched in filming sessions on the newest Bond film, "Die
Another Day".
As
early 2002 saw the release of these new films, Dame
Judi's most recent performances were already receiving praise
from critics as well as the public.
She won the BAFTA Film Best
Actress Award for IRIS and was again nominated for
Oscar's
Best Actress, also for IRIS. Along with Dame Maggie
Smith, she
began a sell-out run in David Hare's new play
"The Breath of Life" in the
Fall of
2002.
One thing is for sure, the future will be a busy one for Dame
Judi -- and a most enjoyable one for all of her admirers all
around the world as we continue to reap
the benefits of her incomparable and inspiring talent. To
quote BAFTA Fellowship
Tribute host, Stephen Fry, we are truly "Denched in
glory" and we thank her
for this ...
Compiled
by: Delda W. with Chris
M.
February 6, 2002
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