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May 5, 2007
People Magazine -- May 2007

Note: Helen Mirren "rated" her own full-size page
Thanks to Connie E, USA, for
scanning and sharing this
March 18, 2007
The Times Magazine -- UK --
March 17, 2007 Issue

When I Grow Up : Childhood Dreams
Portrayed
The Children's Society
(www.thechildrenssociety.org.uk)
The Exhibition
runs from 28th March to 10th April 07
When I Grow Up , a
unique photography exhibition that lets you sneak a peak into
the childhood dreams of 20 celebrities.
We asked famous
faces from Dame Judi Dench to Eric Sykes, Chris Tarrant to
Cherie Blair - "What did you really want to be as a child?" This
is the first time any of the sitters have been asked this and
photographed in this way. Their real childhood dreams reveal a
few surprises and portrayed as what they hoped to be as
children, contrasts strongly with what they have become. This
exhibition reveals another side to the people we see in our
living rooms every day on TV and in the newspaper.
These portraits sit
alongside four images of the children the charity works with,
photographed as themselves. Photographed by award winning
photographer David Chancellor When I Grow Up shows that
regardless of background all children have the right to dream.
You can see the
exhibition at The Hospital, a funky London gallery at: 24 Endell
Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9HQ. Tel: 020 7170 9100
www.thehospital.co.uk
November 7, 2006

Time Europe -- 60 Years of Heroes
This week, TIME
Europe publishes a special issue to celebrate 60 years of TIME
magazine publishing in Europe, entitled ’60 Years of Heroes’.
"Welcome to the greatest party ever held," writes TIME Senior
Editor, Catherine Mayer. "In the 60 years that TIME has been
publishing an Atlantic edition extraordinary people have emerged
from the churn and turmoil, creativity and chaos of a period
that witnessed the aftermath of world war, the toppling of
communism in Central and Eastern Europe, the vanquishing of
apartheid in South Africa, the advance of women, the failure of
old certainties and the rise of new fears. These people are our
heroes, and in this special anniversary issue, we celebrate them
and their many achievements."
"Some forged
reputations in battles against repression and prejudice, others
tapped into the energies of the era to produce great works of
art. But the party isn’t a solemn one. We’ve also invited the
men and women who have made our world more exciting: actors,
musicians, adventurers, entrepreneurs, sports stars, together
with representatives of a younger generation, brave hearts in an
age of instability. Heroism is about taking risks—with ideas,
with conventions, sometimes with life itself. Some of our heroes
died prematurely; others lived to their full measure. All of
them changed our world for the better. We raise a glass to them
all—and to
BUSINESS &
CULTURE
1. Judi Dench,
Glenda Jackson, Helen Mirren & Vanessa Redgrave
Click here to read the entire article
Tom Cruise, Lindsay Lohan Teach Dame
Judi Dench New Tricks
By Matthew
Congdon -- Aug 29, 2006
HOLLYWOOD - Note to
Hollywood divas and divettes: those stuffy studio suits are
saying it's time to tear out a page from Emily Post, and stop
ending up on the Post's Page Six.
With movie boss
James G. Robinson's recent tell-all note about Lindsay Lohan's
after school activities and Paramount head Sumner Redstone's
claim that Tom Cruise should be reclassified an insignificant
dwarf star, it's been a high-profile power play in the halls of
Hollywood High recently.
Studios that once
looked the other way are now naming names and telling all those
A-list Goodtime Charlies that their Tom Foolery is no longer so
Jim Dandy. Time to make like Johnny B. Goode unless you want to
end up just another Joe Schmo.
The latest
lambasting lecture goes to another silver screen "It" girl who
enjoys being a dame a little too much—literally. It looks like
the jig is up for her rowdy highness Dame Judi Dench after some
unladylike antics on the set of her latest film, Notes on a
Scandal, have put her in hot tea.
Director Richard
Eyre penned his own scolding "note on a scandal" to Dame Dench
herself, which was confidentially "leaked" to the Celebratty
Chatter.
Dearest Dame Judi,
Where to begin with
the reason for this letter? How about a quick list of just some
of the numerous ways you have found to delay and disrupt this
production: mandatory change of lip gloss flavors between takes;
scolding craft services because your chai latte had only one
Splenda instead of four; making the assistant director
prank-call Helen Mirren; insisting your trailer be covered in
pink monkey fur; walking off the set because "the new Zac
Posen's arrived at Harvey Nicks"; converting the stunt crew to
your weird mystic cult, the Quakers; referring to your Oscar as
"bangers" and Golden Globe as "mash" and using them on set to
strong-arm Cate Blanchette.
I hope you realize
that if you want to get ahead in this business, it's time to
grow up and stop hiding behind excuses. And, to be frank, what
lame excuses!
"I hurt my head
falling out of a coconut tree with Keith Richards" is not a
valid reason to decamp to St. Barts for two weeks. Even if it
were true, that just speaks volumes about the entourage you've
taken up with.
Judi, it's
important to understand that you are still very impressionable
and it's easy to fall in with a bad crowd. In retrospect,
allowing your gal-pal Maggie Smith on set was faulty logic on my
part. No doubt you suffered "exhaustion" after all those
club-hopping nights that showed up in the Tattler. Another thing
you should know about your "friend" Maggie: her insistence on
finding out "what makes a best boy grip?" left us with a lawsuit
and one less key crew member.
In closing, Judi, I
urge you to take a serious look at your behaviour. If you
continue to treat cast and crew as your personal
ladies-in-waiting, you'll find, as time goes by, it'll be Mrs.
Henderson presents food stamps.
Sincerely,
Richard Eyre, or as
you so lovingly say, "Bloke what Guy Ritchie could run circles
around"
June 25, 2006
Article from a German Magazine --
titled "Everybody Loves Judi!"

Thanks to Anke B, Germany, for sharing
this
August 9, 2006
Thanks to Glenda
P, NC, USA for taking this photo while on a recent trip to
London

July 19, 2006
The best one yet ...
Thanks to Anke B, Germany, for sharing this ...

27 May 2006
EWAN
AND JUDI HAM IT UP


Click here to watch Dame Judi's lobster advert for Film Four
definitely an Oscar caliber performance from our favorite
actress ...
thanks to Glenda P, NC, for sharing this link ...
Ewan and Judi
try out roles as jobbing actors LUVVIES' BIZARRE COSTUME DRAMA
By Cameron Robertson -- Daily Record UK
MOVIE legends Ewan
McGregor and Dame Judi Dench get their teeth into cheesey roles
for a new TV advert. Star Wars hero Ewan, 35, and the
71-year-old actress, who plays M in the James Bond films, hammed
it up in giant food costumes. Under the direction of Hollywood
star Kevin Spacey, Ewan - better known for playing Obi Wan
Kenobi - was dressed as a huge tomato as he handed out leaflets
for TV channel FilmFour. And Dame Judi swapped M's stern
business suits for a giant lobster costume as she offered
promotional fliers from her snapping claws. In the advert to
promote FilmFour launching free-to-air in July, viewers will see
Dame Judi and Ewan's comic attempts to create a traditional
marketing campaign.
One onlooker of the
shoot in London's Trafalgar Square said: "It was totally weird -
but very funny. They got really into it. They looked like
unknown actors taking desperate jobs at the start of their
careers. There were a lot of double-takes from stunned
passers-by."
Ewan and Dame Judi
are just two of several big names who have agreed to take part
in the campaign. Other top stars who will appear in adverts
include Christian Slater, Ray Winstone and Gael Garcia Bernal.
Ewan McGregor Website
FilmFour Website
Horse Sense -- Saturday March 25, 2006
The Guardian
Dame Judi Dench has
ventured into racehorse ownership. The Oscar-winning actor
part-owns the two-year-old Smokey Oakey with the colt's trainer
Mark Tompkins. "Judi's chauffeur has had horses with us, but
this is her first one. She loves her racing and Smokey Oakey is
a nice horse who should give us a lot of fun," said Tompkins.
Perhaps Dame Judi's racing interest was sparked by her leading
role in the 1974 film
Dead Cert, based on
the Dick Francis novel.
Hello Magazine -- September 8, 1990

Thanks to Connie E, USA, for scanning
and sharing this
Daily Mail -- February 3, 2006

Thanks to Diane P, UK, for scanning and
sharing this
Yours Magazine
-- February 2006

Thanks to Diane P, UK, for scanning and
sharing this
December 18, 2005
The Washington Times Book Review
HONKY TONK
PARADE
By John Lahr
Dame Judi Dench, loved and
encouraged by her family, began acting as a young girl and has
always been successful. She does not read scripts in advance;
she relies on instinct; she communicates warmth, "a palpable,
deep-seated generosity." Mr. Lahr describes her as a
"deceptively sedate, suburban figure," when in fact "she trolls
her turbulent Celtic interior, a vast tragic-comic landscape
that ranges between despair and indomitability."
Click here to read the entire Review
December 11, 2005
Camera legend O’Neill lashes
dismal digital
Richard Brooks, Arts Editor -- The Sunday
Times - Britain
ONE of Britain’s
most famous photographers has taken a swipe at the state of his
profession, blaming digital cameras for destroying much of the
art of portrait photography.
Terry O’Neill has
been capturing the world’s royals, celebrities, models and
politicians for more than 45 years. O’Neill, 67, has now decided
the time has come to sell or give away large numbers of his
pictures.
The photographer,
who used to be married to the actress Faye Dunaway, is highly
critical of the digital camera. “I refuse to use it,” he said.
“It’s going to ruin photography.
“The problem with
it is that the picture taker keeps on looking at what he’s just
done rather than look at the subject. These days the modern
technology means you also don’t have to be a real photographer.
The eye and the feel of the stills photographer have gone.”
In February more
than 100 of O’Neill’s portraits will go on sale in the Chris
Beetles gallery in Mayfair. They include well known photographs
of Sir Sean Connery, Luciano Pavarotti, Janis Joplin, David
Bowie, Jerry Hall and Orson Welles.
Others have not
been seen publicly before, among them a photo of Frank Sinatra
with a gun. “I did this when I was working with him on some
movie,” said O’Neill.
“His character
didn’t use a gun, but Sinatra had one when he took off his
jacket. He seemed absolutely at ease with it, though I never
dared ask him if he used one. He was the most extraordinary
person I’ve known. His presence in a room was remarkable.”
Another previously
unseen photo is of his former lover Martha Stewart about three
years ago, the domestic style guru described as an “Apple-pie
Middle American” before she was jailed for lying about a share
sale and obstructing justice. She is seen astride a motorcycle.
The exhibition
includes a picture of the Beatles taken in early 1963, with John
Lennon striding out in front of the group. “It’s John as he
wanted to be: the leader,” said O’Neill.
He added that he
hardly ever talked to his subjects: “You can’t work and talk at
the same time. I also try to ensure I don’t discuss their
personal lives even after the session is over.”
O’Neill, who was born in the East End
of London, said that out of the many of actresses he had
photographed, including Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot, he
had only ever met one who was happy: Dame Judi Dench.
He photographed
Kate Moss when she was 16: “I never thought then she would
develop into such a beauty.”
There is only one
person O’Neill badly wanted to take, but failed: “The last pope.
What an intriguing man.”
November 2, 2005

TV-am Good morning, Britain Interview
-- Video clip excerpt -- 1988
Real Player
Required
Dame Judi discusses
what it's like to direct
Thanks to
TV-am,
Good Morning Britain
for permission to use this clip
Thanks to Sarah
D. for sharing this
October 31, 2005
And how would you like to be
remembered?
FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo -- The Philippine Star 11/01/2005
"Show me Heaven. I
have seen hell."
That’s the epitaph
Hollywood actress Patricia Neal would like to be engraved in her
tomb.
It’s one of the
many gathered by the Larry King in his book Remember Me When I’m
Gone, "an entertaining and eloquent collection of ‘last words’
from people in the arts, in politics, in sports, and in
business, mostly still alive."
"Why would anyone
want to write his own obituary or epitaph?" King asked his good
friend and book agent Bill Adler. "It is an opportunity for
well-known people from all walks of life to let the world know
how they would like to be remembered," Adler told King. "Very
few people have that opportunity." (An atheist, King also wrote
another interesting book, The Power of Prayer, which chronicles
how famous people pray and how prayer affects their lives.)
So how do you like
to be remembered?
Here are more
samples from King’s book:
• Alan Alda: Here
Lies Anonymous – Our Greatest Author.
• Michael Caine:
See you later, no hurry. Take care of yourself!
• Ted Danson: Be
back in a minute.
• Judi Dench: She had a great sense of
humour.
• Robert Evans:
Living well is the best revenge!
• Milos Forman: I
am speechless. Trust me.
• Jack Lemmon: Jack
Lemmon. In.
• Tony Randall: See
you tomorrow.
• Debbie Reynolds:
Debbie Reynolds should be remembered for her sense of humor,
love of her family, devotion to her work on her motion picture
museum, and her love of performing.
• Arnold
Schwarzenegger: I had fun!
• Joe Frazier: I
want to be remembered as being a good guy, one who always tried
to help others in need.
• Billie Jean King:
Thank you and God Bless! I have had a great life, but I still
have so much more to do!
• Jack Nicklaus:
When I am gone, I’d like for them to say that in some small way
I contributed to society. Most important, I’d like for them to
say I was a good father, and that I certainly wasn’t a stranger
to my kids and grandkids. They knew me and I knew them.
• Stephen King: He
tried to be better than he was.
• Red Buttons: I
never got a dinner and now I don’t need one.
• Sid Caesar: At
least I made some people laugh!
• Tommy Hilfiger:
An all-American classic designer who brought class to the
masses.
• Calvin Klein:
Calvin Klein by Eternity.
• Donald Trump: A
man of great vision, who fulfilled many of his dreams, loved his
family and was loyal to his friends.
• Hugh Hefner: I’d
like to be remembered as someone who played some part in
changing our hurtful and hypocritical views on sex – and had a
lot of fun doing it.
• Maria Shriver: As
a loving mom, wife, daughter, sister and friend.
• Liz Smith: Well,
the great Dorothy Parker wanted, "Excuse My Dust!" I would have
to change mine to "Excuse My Dirt!"
• Ted Turner: I
have nothing more to say.
• Pat Boone: Pat
Boone: Christian. Address for Eternity: Heaven.
• Art Garfunkel:
Always with love, Art Garfunkel.
• Andy Williams:
"Moon River." Thank God I didn’t record "Why Don’t We Do It in
the Road."
• Yoko Ono:
Imagine!
October 26, 2005
One CD, 40 years of theatre's
greatest hits
· Live recordings
resurrect legendary RSC moments · Tapes were
previously only heard by academics
Charlotte
Higgins, arts correspondent -- The Guardian
From Peggy
Ashcroft's spleen-wrenching, chilling Queen Margaret, to the
gorgeous cadences of Laurence Olivier's Coriolanus, some of the
most remarkable performances from the Royal Shakespeare
Company's illustrious history are to be made available for the
first time on CD.
Until now, the
existence of more than 200 complete live recordings of RSC
Shakespeare productions has been known only to a few. The
British Library sound archive has been recording performances
for 40 years, but they have been available only by appointment
to academics.
From tomorrow such
legendary theatrical moments as Paul Scofield's 1964 King Lear
and Janet Suzman's Cleopatra of 1973 - performances that have
existed only in the memories of theatregoers - can be heard by
the public once more.
Gregory Doran,
associate director at the RSC, has selected 20 complete scenes
from 18 plays for the double CD ...
Judi Dench The Countess (All's Well
That Ends Well, 2002)
The danger with the
Countess is of condescending graciousness, "like royalty opening
a bazaar", as Tynan once said. Dench, however, finds infinite
variety in the big scene with the lovestruck Helena. There is a
recollected rapture in "even so it was with me when I was
young". But there is also irony, mischief and impatience ("I say
I am your mother") in her teasing of Helena. She is always
specific; which is what makes her a great actress ...
Click here to read the entire article
October 12, 2005
Photo of Dame Judi
from a new biography about Prunella Scales ...
The book is called 'Prunella' and it's by Teresa Ransom.
Published by John Murray

Thanks to Lisa S, UK, for scanning and
sharing this photo
Today's grans getting younger and
trendier
Excerpt from LifeStyle Extra Online Article -- Wednesday,
12th October 2005
... The survey of
2,000 women with an average age of 69 by over-50s magazine Yours
found they've had the best of both worlds - they believe it was
better to be young in the 1960's (80 per cent) but better to be
a pensioner now (79 per cent).
Their most inspirational male personality over 50 is Sir Cliff
Richard followed by Terry Wogan, Alan Titchmarsh, Sir David
Attenborough, David Dimbleby, Sir Bob Geldof, Dr Robert Winston,
Prince Charles, John Humphreys and John Simpson.
Dame Judi Dench was voted the top
female counterpart ahead of the Queen, Sheila Hancock, Gloria
Hunniford, Joanna Lumley, Felicity Kendal, Claire Rayner, Joan
Collins, Barbara Windsor and Camilla Parker-Bowles ...
Click on the link
above to read the entire article.
Thanks to Ellen G, USA, for bringing
this to my attention
October 2, 2005
Sayings of the week
The Guardian (Manchester) -- July 3,
1994
- To be perfect as
a woman does not mean to be like a man. - Pope John-Paul II.
- One cannot cancel
out Hitler through Beethoven. - Roman Herzog, new President of
Germany.
- France's ambition
and honour is to be a world power. - Edouard Balladur, French
Prime Minister.
- I do not believe
that a modern welfare state is a hindrance to the efficient
working of the market economy. - Kenneth Clarke.
- I have a filthy mind and I get
angrier and more intolerant the older I get. - Dame
Judi Dench.
Thanks to Lisa S, UK, for sharing this
Viewfinder: Judi Dench
(1965) by Lewis Morley
September 17, 2005 -- The Telegraph

Irritated or mischevous? Judi Dench
(1965)
Lucy Davies
praises Lewis Morely's volatile photographic portrait of a young
Judi Dench
A 30-year-old Judi
Dench takes a break during filming Anthony Simmons's acclaimed
kitchen-sink drama Four in the Morning. Draped across a chair,
her stockinged feet casually dangling from its arm, the actress
could almost be one of Matisse's odalisques.
But, in spite of
this languorousness, it is Dench's volatility that wins through:
with a snap of her head towards the camera, that intense
commitment to the Agatha Christie novel in her hand could turn
equally to either irritation or mischief.
The photographer is
Lewis Morley who, two years earlier, had sealed his reputation
with an unforgettable image of a naked Christine Keeler perched
astride a curvy Arne Jacobsen chair.
A distinctive
talent for portraiture and access to the cream of London's
entertainment world (his studio was on the first floor of Peter
Cook's Establishment club) earned Morley the first published
photographs of 1960s starlets Jean Shrimpton and Charlotte
Rampling.
These, among
others, form part of a new retrospective at the Photographers'
Gallery to celebrate Morley's 80th birthday. The exhibition
focuses on his shots of cultural figures, but also includes some
of his delightfully uncontrived vignettes of London life.
The power of
Morley's best images comes from his personal engagement with the
subject that allows him to get in close, taking our hand and
pulling us in there with him.
Dame Judi Dench supports
university project
REED one of U of T’s most
renowned humanities projects

Sep
16, 2005 -- by Michah Rynor -- University of Toronto Online
Article
Oscar winning actor
Dame Judi Dench has endorsed one of U of T’s most renowned
humanities projects, the Records of Early English Drama (REED).
REED’s mission is
to provide the scholarly world with uniform, accurate and
complete editions of all surviving evidence of drama, secular
music and community celebrations in Great Britain before 1642.
The project is
situated at Victoria College at the University of Toronto.
Scholars consider it a monument to scholarship in the
humanities, as evidenced by comments from professors such as
Northern Illinois University’s William Proctor Williams, who
called it “one of the remaining miracles of humanistic
scholarship.”
Dench is equally effusive.
“Like the Records of Early English
Drama project, my respect for theatre history took root with the
York plays,” Dench wrote. “When they were revived in the 1950s,
my mother was wardrobe mistress and a crowd ‘extra’; my York
physician father played Annas the High Priest and Abraham; and I
progressed from angel to resurrection angel to the Virgin Mary.
“Since then my appreciation for the
documents behind the performance has only increased. What’s past
indeed is prologue -- Henslowe’s Diary to Shakespeare in Love,
Queen of Heaven to Queen of England. Supporting REED research
until these revels are ended and the last volumes published is a
goal which can only enrich our theatre heritage.”
Professor Alexandra
Johnston, director and one of the founders of the REED project,
is delighted by Dench’s support.
“No other star of
the British stage has such extensive knowledge of early English
drama,” Johnston said. “Her interest in theatre history and her
personal generosity are well known. REED is honoured that she
has endorsed the project.”
REED commissions
highly qualified scholars as volume editors. They conduct
exhaustive archival research in the United Kingdom by sifting
through wills, diaries, letters and household accounts as well
as records of churches, towns and civil and ecclesiastical
courts.
Afterward, the
researchers transcribe references to dramatic and musical
performances creating a detailed and comprehensive historical
chronicle.
So far, more than
two dozen volumes have been published by the U of T Press; some
volumes are published in conjunction with the British Library.
The project is supported in part by the Canadian, British and
American governments, generous friends such as Father Edward
Jackman and the Jackman Foundation in Toronto, individual
benefactors, Victoria College and the University of Toronto.
Birth of a diplomat

Thanks to Diane P, UK, for scanning and
sending this article
The Times of London -- May 21,
2005
DAME JUDI DENCH has
played Queen Victoria, Elizabeth I, Dame Iris Murdoch and Bond’s
irascible boss M. But at the opening night of Arthur Miller’s
Death of a Salesman at the Lyric Theatre Dame Judi was happy to
play a minor role. La Dench led the standing ovation for the
commanding performance by Brian Dennehy, who has won four awards
in the United States for the role of Willy Loman, and by Clare
Higgins, who plays his long-suffering wife. At the swish
after-show party at the Atlantic Bar in Piccadilly Dench,
flanked by her actress daughter Finty Williams, revealed that
she is returning to the West End stage.
“I have one more
day filming Mrs Henderson Presents, which has been great fun,”
she said. The film, which is based around the Windmill Theatre
in Soho, marks the acting debut of Pop Idol singer Will Young.
“He was lovely,” said the dame. Ever the diplomat, she would not
be drawn on Young’s nude scene.
Thanks to Ellen G for bringing this to
my attention
New York Post -- Liz Smith --
April 24, 2005
I HAD lunch with
two smart dames named Judi and Maggie this week down at The
Ritz-Carlton in Battery Park. You know, as in — Dame Judi Dench
and Dame Maggie Smith — as you might have guessed. The three of
us sat staring out of the large picture windows on a part of
Manhattan none of us had seen before; at least, not as it has
become. We wondered where all the pastel-colored glass comes
from that goes into building our latest skyscrapers.
We sat in
upholstered chairs around a table just a little too high for
comfort, unless you are extremely long in the waist. We giggled
as we joked about how we all felt like tiny tots at the table.
Both dames ordered crabcakes, which they liked so much they
ordered them all over again. It's not often you get to lunch
with two divinely talented actresses who eat the same lunch
twice in the space of an hour.
Just why these
dames are in town becomes obvious when the handsome British
actor Charles Dance passed by giving both ladies fond pats. Mr.
Dance has written and directed his first film, "Ladies in
Lavender," and you guessed it — Judi and Maggie are the stars,
and the film is part of the current Tribeca Film Festival.
These great dames
play two elderly sisters in a quiet coastal town outside the
English coast of Cornwall before World War II. The only news the
townspeople care about is the weather and how the fish are
running. After a wild storm, the sisters find the body of a
young man washed up on the beach. He's alive, but speaks no
English, only Polish and German. They nurse him back to health,
and so begins this warm and wonderful tale of hidden emotions
and feelings, both happy and sad, that the sisters had long ago
abandoned or forgotten. A divinely handsome Daniel Bruhl, of
"Goodbye Lenin" fame, plays the young man.
Over coffee, Maggie
smiles at Judi and says, "It's great working with Judi again. We
have done a lot of stage and screen together. And here we are in
the same period of history as the last play we did. It seems we
never get out of the '30s." I remember I so thoroughly enjoyed
them both in the darkly divine drama "Breath of Life" on
London's West End.
They had to
scramble as their schedule was formidable. Judi was going to
"Wicked" that night, and Maggie wanted to see, well, "just
everything I can fit in over the weekend." There's nothing like
a dame!
Two of Dame Judi's Stage Roles
Voted 2nd and 3rd Greatest Shakespeare Performance
Telegraph.co.uk -- August 22, 2004

In a unique poll of members
of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the veteran stage and screen actor's
legendary portrayal of the King has been acclaimed as the best ever,
writes Roya Nikkhah.
It is the greatest accolade
an actor could hope for. In a poll of actors and actresses of the Royal
Shakespeare Company, Paul Scofield, the 82-year-old veteran of stage and
cinema, has been acclaimed for giving the greatest performance in a
Shakespeare play for his legendary portrayal of King Lear.
Scofield, whose depiction of
Lear in a 1962 production at Stratford was later made into a successful
film, achieved his victory in a poll voted on by luminaries including Sir
Ian McKellen, Donald Sinden, Janet Suzman, Ian Richardson, Sir Antony Sher
and Corin Redgrave.
Judi
Dench took second place for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth in Trevor Nunn's
1976 production of Macbeth, and also shared third place with Sir Robert
Stephens's King Lear of 1993 for her performance as the lead in Antony and
Cleopatra in 1987.
Read the entire article ...
Sunday's Telegraph Online

Dame Judi Voted Favourite British
Actress
By Chris
Hastings and Fiona Govan -- 15/08/2004
David Lean's
Oscar-winning epic Lawrence of Arabia has been named the best
British film of all time in a poll of the country's most
acclaimed film-makers.
The 1962 film,
which starred Peter O'Toole as the enigmatic T E Lawrence, was
one of four Lean classics to make it into the top 10 in the poll
conducted by The Sunday Telegraph.
Brief Encounter,
the director's bitter-sweet tale of a doomed romance that
starred Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard, was named runner-up
ahead of his adaptation of Great Expectations, which came
fourth, and his war-time epic, The Bridge On The River Kwai,
which tied in seventh place.
Lady Lean, the
director's widow, last night welcomed the results describing her
late husband as "a dreamer who knew how to put his dreams on
screen".
She added: "In
private David would describe himself as a near miss. He didn't
think he was great so he set himself enormously high standards.
I think the films endure because people understand that they are
about the stuff of life. They are about flawed characters,
complex relationships and they all deal with those very fears we
have to deal with in our own lives.
"He worked best
when he could relate to the characters on the screen, when they
were a mirror image of him. David was Peter O'Toole in Lawrence
of Arabia. He was Alec Guinness in Bridge On The River Kwai and
he certainly was Trevor Howard in Brief Encounter."
The final list of
top 10 films reflects British cinema's long fixation with such
genres as kitchen-sink realism, irreverent social satire and
classic literary adaptation.
Carol Reed's 1949
thriller, The Third Man, made it to third place ahead of The
Ladykillers, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Kes, Alfred Hitchcock's
The Thirty-Nine Steps, A Matter of Life and Death and Four
Weddings and A Funeral.
Just over 230
actors, technicians, writers and directors took part in the
poll, which was organised by The Sunday Telegraph to celebrate
British film and British film talent. Each voted for their 10
favourite British films and their five top actors and actress in
several categories.
Contemporary
film-makers, including Julian Fellowes, the Oscar-winning writer
of Gosford Park, Sir David Hare, and Ismail Merchant, the
producer of Howards End and Remains of the Day, cast their votes
alongside veterans including Ken Russell, Michael Winner and
Jack Cardiff, the double Oscar-winning cinematographer.
The results seem to
confirm the view that the heyday of British cinema is over. Four
Weddings and A Funeral, which celebrates its 10th birthday this
year, and Trainspotting, released in 1996, were the only two
relatively recent releases to make it into the top 20.
By contrast, the
list of the 10 films voted the worst British films of all time
is dominated by a string of new releases, including Sex Lives of
the Potato Men and Love Actually, both of which came out last
year, and Spiceworld, The Movie from 1997.
The prize for the
ultimate stinker eventually went to the lamentable Carry On
Columbus, released in 1992, a doomed attempt to relaunch the
once-popular Carry On series.
The impression of
decline is confirmed by results in other categories. Dr No, Sean
Connery's first outing as 007, easily took the prize of best
Bond film, while Brief Encounter was the overwhelming favourite
for the most romantic British film.
The irreverent
Monty Python film, Life of Brian, which will celebrate its 25th
birthday this year, was voted Best British Comedy - ahead of the
original Ealing version of The Ladykillers.
The most surprising
results came in the categories for individual talent. While Lean
comfortably won the category for Best Director, he had to settle
for third place in the race for the most influential Briton in
world cinema. Alfred Hitchock, who began his career in Britain
before moving to Hollywood in the 1940s, took the top prize
ahead of Charlie Chaplin - another Briton who made his name on
the other side of the Atlantic.
Some of the acting categories also
threw up surprises. Dame Judi Dench, a relative newcomer to
international cinema and perhaps best known for her role as M in
the Bond films, was named favourite actress ahead of veterans
such as Maggie Smith, Margaret Rutherford, Vanessa Redgrave and
Vivien Leigh, although she was named the actress who made the
most impact on world cinema.
Sir Alec Guinness
narrowly beat Lord Olivier and the Bristol-born Cary Grant to be
named the most influential British actor in world cinema.
Cleopatra Tidbits ...
From the
Independent (4/06/04)
DAME JUDI Dench,
currently appearing in All's Well that Ends Well (left) at
London's Gielgud Theatre, can't be having as much fun as she and
Anthony Hopkins did in their 1987 production of Antony and
Cleopatra. Dench told the Cheltenham Spring Festival of
Literature at the weekend that Hopkins could hardly wait for
Antony to fall on his sword. "As he died in my arms," she said,
"Tony would look up at me and say, I'm going off for a lovely
cup of tea, now.'" But Dench also had her fun. As she and her
maids hid in Cleopatra's monument, they would discuss food.
Dench only had to mention a craving for dressed crab and
champagne, and the next night it was there. Hidden from the
audience, they gorged themselves while Hopkins lay dying
outside.
Thanks to Sandy C, USA, for sharing
this
Dame Judi in "Cabaret"
In a recent newletter from lastminute.com:
John Kander is the
musical half of the show-writing team Kander and Ebb. Between
them they have produced a string of hit musicals, of which the
best-know are Cabaret, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spider Woman. We
met Mr Kander at his house in New York's Upper West Side... Have
you been to London recently to catch up with the production of
Chicago? "Not for a while - I miss the second floor of the
Covent Garden hotel, which is where I like to stay when I'm in
London. I also miss the fact that Sam (Mendes) isn't round the
corner from there, at the Donmar, any more! The
original London production of Cabaret starred a young Judi Dench
as Sally Bowles. Is there any chance of your working with her
again? "I'd love to! She was wonderful to work with on Cabaret.
I remember we went over one song again and again, trying to get
her to do it just right, and she stopped, looked at me, and in
that wonderful voice of hers [he imitates her] said, very
solemnly, `Tell me what you want, what you really want" and I
did and she did it!"
Thanks to Connie E, USA, for sharing this
March 28,
2004
PBS Insider -- March 2004 -- Volume 5, Issue 3
Moira Booker and Philip Bretherton and the PBS
Pledge Breaks

Thanks to Cindy Lou F. for sharing this
February 16,
2004
Yesterday evening
the Wolf Events chat room held a live chat with the actress
Teryl Rothery. Teryl is best known for her portrayal of Dr Janet
Fraiser on the MGM series "Stargate SG1". A couple of the
questions asked, prompted Judi related responses!
"From Rosemary56:
Hi Teryl. Hope you have recovered from SG7. My Husband was so
chuffed to chat to you on the phone I wondered If you were
standing in your kitchen phoning hubby and a surprise Celebrity
came on the phone who - apart from Patrick Stewart - would you
like it to be, and what would you say?
TerylR_2: I can
honestly say, I would love to have a surprise phone call from
Judi Dench. I would probably ask her if she was appearing in any
theatre nearby as I would love the opportunity to see her
work...live. "
"TAGGART: hi teryl
......what sort of work would you like to appear in with Judi
Dench and do you have a favourite English actress
TerylR_2: taggart...I
would work with Ms. Dench in whatever capacity...be it film, tv
or theatre. Just to be able to work with her, would be a dream
come true."
I already knew that
Teryl was a big Judi fan as we'd talked about her in the past
(she pretended to be cross with me as I was going to see DJD for
the first time in 'Breath of Life') and it just gives me a kick
to know that another actress I admire is as big a Judi fan as we
are :)
If you want to know
more about Teryl her official website is:
http://www.terylrothery.com
Thanks to Shirl at
the Wolf Events chat room for letting me post the chat snippets.
Thanks to Lisa S, UK for sharing this
with us
January 14,
2004
Email message
and Press Release I received today from the
Curator of the Hat Works Museum in Stockport, Chesire, UK ...
I thought fans of
Dame Judi ought to know that the hat worn by her in the
penultimate episode of As Time Goes By to Judith's wedding is in
an exciting new exhibition at Hat Works. We are the UK's only
museum devoted to hats, and we're based in Stockport, Cheshire.
Dame Judi's hat, a lovely pale purple straw and cinamay number,
decorated with silk roses, is an eye-catching feature of the
show and will surely be of interest to her devoted fans. Dame
Judi kindly donated the hat to the museum especially for this
exhibition. Please find a press release attached.
Yours, Hannah
NEWS RELEASE
CELEBRITY
HATS EXHIBITION AT HAT WORKS
A star-studded line up of bonnets and brims will premiere the
2004 exhibition programme at Hat Works, the UK’s only museum of
hats and the hatting industry. This exclusive collection of 27
hats belonging to some of the UK’s best loved celebrities is
guaranteed to leave visitors at least a little star struck!
On display from the 2nd January
– 31st March 2004
will be hats that have once crowned the head of World Famous
Singers, Actors from the Silver Screen, Sporting Heroes as well
as Television Personalities and many, many more.
Hannah Spooner, Collections Access Officer,
said: “When curating this exhibition I was amazed with
how many celebrities actually wear hats in this post-hat era. I
think the reason is that a hat really gets you noticed, really
shows you have Star Quality!”
Detective Inspector Jack Frost, AKA David
Jason, in ITV’s A Touch of Frost, would not be quite the same
without his Tweed Trilby, nor would Norman Clegg, played by
Peter Sallis, in the BBC’s Last of the Summer Wine, be without
his Yorkshireman’s Cap. It is also really good fun to be able to
take a sneaky look at what kind of hat Robson Green or Prunella
Scales buys when on holiday, or what kind of head gear completes
a stage outfit for pop star Dannii Minogue!
The celebrity hats on display range from the traditional to the
eccentric. They form an interesting exhibition theme which has
been devised to show how celebrities can take an ordinary hat
and make it something quite special!
Thanks to Hannah Spooner for sharing this information.
January 11,
2004
The
BBC revealed their top 100-11 Sitcoms last night.
A Fine Romance
placed at 56 and
As Time Goes By
at 29. The full list can be found here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sitcom/top11to100.shtml
Here's more info from the BBC Online TV Section
Thanks to Lisa S, UK, for sharing this information
December 11, 2003
In
yesterday's "Daily Mail" (10th December) in the UK was the
following small
article ...
"OSCAR-WINNING actress Dame Judi Dench took her place in the
audience at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, on Sunday
afternoon for a masterclass held by director John Barton on
Shakespeare's sonnets.
While 12 actors read aloud and students scribbled away, Dame
Judi's attempt to remain incognito was shattered when her mobile
phone rang... she covered her face theatrically in
embarrassment."
For
those who aren't familiar ... one of Dame Judi's biggest pet
peeves is
the ringing of cell phones during one of her performances.
She's been
known to say that she'll stop the performance and wait for the
ringing to
stop ...
Thanks to Sandra P. from the UK for sending this to me
September 26, 2003

Thanks to Diane P. for sending this

From "Now" Magazine
Thanks to Ludovic H. from France for sharing this
September
19, 2003 What's On Stage Online Article
20 Questions With...Kevin Colson
(played
Cliff in the 1968 Play "Cabaret")
Australian actor
Kevin Colson, who plays Joey Bishop in Rat Pack Confidential
which reopens the West End's Whitehall Theatre this week,
reveals why Noel Coward is better than the Queen & the truth
about
Dame Judi's admirers in the wings.
Favourite
co-stars
Judi Dench, a
lovely person. She wasn't married when I met her, and she had a
gaggle of admirers she'd be trying to get rid of. They'd wait in
the wings - some of them quite famous - handing her notes on
stage! Sometimes she'd exit into the same wing as me when
normally she went off the other side. I'd look at her
questioningly, and she'd whisper, "Have you seen who is waiting
for me in the other wing?". We've stayed in touch ...
Click Here to Read the Entire Article
Thanks to Lisa
S. from the UK for sending this link
September 13, 2003 A Trivia Question to
test your knowledge ...

Thanks to Pam G. for the Recipe
Note: This is an
"exclusive" with this Website.
Click here to read more
Now that
you have the Recipe to make a "Gooseberry Fool" ....
can you tell us in what DJD production a
"Gooseberry Fool" is mentioned ?
(Note: See below for one of the answers)
The Winner will receive a Lifetime supply
of fresh Gooseberries !!!!!
Just
teasing about the Prize ;-) Actually, there isn't a Prize.
But I will post the
answer once I know what it is.
So this is your chance to prove how
knowledgeable you are about Dame
Judi's Career !
Here's one answer (there might be more than
one)
As Time Goes By --
Season Two, Episode Four, Scene Two

Jean demonstrates Alistair's "Hey-Hey
Ho-Ho" Strategy to Lionel
This is also a good chance to see the rarely
seen kitchen window !
RPS
Video Clip -- 1:34 Minutes
Thanks to Sudie Sue, Chris N, Kathe C
and Sandra P
for the answer
Alternate Method of Viewing Video -- for
those who have trouble.
RealOne Player is required
Right click on the link below and select
"Save Target As ..."
then Select a Location on your own PC to save the file then
click "Save".
Download time will depend on your Internet Connection Speed.
atgbs2e4gb03.rm
Once it's been saved to your own PC, you can
watch it anytime you want.
Note: Video Files are very large and will take up a lot of
space on your PC.
September 3, 2003
Dame Fine -- Daily Record Online News
Dame Judi Dench has been voted the most fabulous over50 female
film star. UCI Cinemas surveyed more than 2000 filmgoers to mark
the launch of Calendar Girls.
Now tell us something we didn't already know !
August 23, 2003 100
Greatest TV Stars Ever ...
Dame Judi is # 16 on the list for her roles as
Laura in A Fine
Romance
and Jean in
As
Time Goes By

Thanks to Diane P from the UK for sending
this
August 20, 2003
What a Really Cool Dude ... I mean,
Jude ...
Dame Judi named Coolest Woman over 50 in recent poll ...
A survey of 18-30 year-olds in Britain named Prime Minister Tony
Blair as the coolest politician, while actor Sean Connery and
actress Dame Judi Dench were the coolest over-50s. In the
female list, Dame Judi Dench won ahead of respondents' nans or
mothers, Joan Collins, The Queen and Honor Blackman.
There
were several articles published about this survey today.
Here's one from the This is London Website
And another one from Reuter's
Thanks to Beth G. from the USA for bringing this to my
attention.
August 3, 2003
Hello Magazine, Spring 2003

Note: As it turned out, Dame Judi did
not take either of these roles
Thanks to Diane P. from the UK for scanning
and sending this
August 3, 2003


Thanks to Diane P. from the UK for scanning
and sending this
July 3, 2003
The Lovely-Judi-Dench

Thanks to Cidy from The Netherlands for
sending this
July 3, 2003

Thanks to Cidy from The Netherlands for
sending this
June 14,
2003
Judi Dench was the cleverest
actress I'd ever watched working. While she wasn't 'getting'
the part, she remained calm and cheerful and good humored and
then, after about three weeks, she came in and declared that
finally, after puzzling and puzzling, she'd got hold of the
end of a string and, with any luck, if she pulled on it -- that
would be the solution. And it was! More than anyone I'd known
she had a formidable, a huge, actor's intelligence and the solid
good sense to get her through the vicissitudes of production
week. When she came on at dress parade in her specially
designed dressing gown, Gielgud shrieked, 'Oh God, you look like
Richard III.' Many leading ladies would have been put out
(Peggy Ashcroft would certainly have locked herself in the
dressing room, weeping), Judi -- secure in her performance --
probably consoled the unfortunate designer who had to make
another costume in a hurry."
From Sian Phillips' autobiography, "Public Places."
Thanks to Delda W. for sharing this
May 29, 2003
In the June 2003
issue of "Theatregoer" magazine there is an interview
with Harriet Walter. One of the questions: "Judi Dench is well
known for
her practical jokes. Was it fun working with her in The Royal
Family last
year?" Answer: "We were a giggly bunch and hard pushed to get
through an act without a group collapse. Judi creates a lovely
atmosphere of hooliganism." Thanks to
Connie E. for this little Snippet.
May 26,
2003 Judi Dench Rose

Click Here to Learn more
Locate this Rose by Clicking on "Roses" in the Left Margin
then Click Here for A-Z List of Roses then locate by the letter
"J"
This is ALL the info that I have.
If anyone has any info about where / how to buy this Rose in the
US,
let me know and I'll add it to this page. Until then --
this is it, folks.
April 23,
2003
Dame Judi's Recipe for "Bread and Butter Pudding"

Thanks to Christine L. -- Canada -- for
sharing this with us.
April 22,
2003
Poem written by Website Visitor, Kathe C.
My latest
pathetic attempt to gain attention from Dame Judi Dench
On listings of actors who've been in
the trenches,
No name appears oftener than Dame Judi Dench's.
She can turn on a shilling from laughter to tears -
She's an overnight star (in a mere 40 years)!
Letters of praise now fill up the mail
Of an actress who began her career as a snail.
In England, theatre-goers have loved her for years
As all the great heroines, especially Shakespeare's.
To her fans in the States she was first known as Jean.
Fame grew as she played the occasional Queen.
We were overjoyed on this side of the "pond"
To see her cavort with the likes of James Bond.
We're quite sure the scoundrel has fallen from grace
Who once said, "Look, everything's wrong with your face"!
And whether we're watching on big screen or small
We want her to know that we think she looks TALL!
When she came back to Broadway, we got in the queue
To snatch up the tickets to see "Amy's View".
Poor Yankee Doodle had to ride that old pony,
But Jude went home to London with Oscar and Tony.
Judi loves taking risks. Other actors would dread it,
But she'll star in a play without having read it!
She's sometimes surprised - "Why didn't they say
Mother Courage was on stage throughout the whole play?"
Even though Kevin Spacey says she
cheats playing pool,
Fellow actors agree that Judi's a jewel.
She's adored, almost worshiped - some might call her "St. Jude"
-
Yet she embroiders pillows with phrases quite rude!
She's versatile, flexible - she can wear many hats.
She's happy in Surrey with Sam, Finty and cats.
But Judi loves working, and her fans gladly sigh,
"We'll be seeing you often as time goes by."
Note:
Kathe did send this poem to Dame Judi -- and it made her laugh.
Thanks for sharing this and for making us laugh as well, Kathe.
Sunday
Mirror Supplement, March 16th
The article was about actress Celia Imrie (who to me will
always be Miss
Babs of Acorn Antiques!) and was all about her 'favourite things'

Thanks to Lisa -- UK
By
MEL GUSSOW
Excerpt from an article that
includes Stephen Sondheim's memories of
Dame Judi's Desiree in
"A Little Night
Music -- 1995"
...
... Of the many
productions Mr. Sondheim has seen, one that remains especially
vivid is Sean Mathias's 1995 revival at the Royal National
Theater in London, starring Judi Dench as Desirée. The
production was on the vast, open Olivier stage.
"He had Judi Dench
entering way upstage," he said. "She looked about the size of
the Pillsbury doughboy. But she had on this very fancy hat. What
you saw was a hat come onstage." As she moved forward, the
audience realized, "It's a person, and it's Judi Dench!" He
added quickly, "She was wonderful." Because she loved her role,
she stayed in the show for a year.
Since the musical
is "a chamber piece about people closed in," he said, it works
best on a proscenium stage. As with Dame Judi and now with Ms.
Stevenson and Mr. Irons, "Night Music" has generally been cast
with actors who can sing rather than with singers who can act.
"It's a little more unusual in the case of `Night Music,' " he
said, "because it verges dangerously on the edge of operetta."
...
Big names back Theatre Royal's bid
East Anglian
Daily Times
BY LIZ HEARNSHAW
March 5, 2003 06:50
A SELECTION of the
country's most loved and well-respected thespians have lent
their support to an ambitious £6million plan to restore
Suffolk's only working Regency playhouse to its former glory.
Sir Derek Jacobi,
Sir Ian McKellen and Bafta award
winning actress Dame Judi Dench will act as patrons
steering the project designed to return the Theatre Royal in
Bury St Edmunds to its full Georgian splendour.
Officials at the
playhouse now hope the famous names backing the scheme – all of
whom have performed on the theatre's stage – will add weight to
a £2.5m Heritage Lottery Fund bid, due for submission to the
authority next month.
They hope statutory
bodies, such as local councils and the arts funding system, will
provide a further £2m towards the restoration, and have set a
public fundraising target of £1.7m to meet the estimated cost of
£6m.
"The stars have at
this stage given us their name to use in support of the appeal,
and have promised some input at appropriate fundraising events
further down the line," said Judith Shallow, chairman of the
Theatre Royal board of management.
"It is a theatre
they hold in huge affection, and having their names in support
shows our commitment to this. It is a measure of how successful
we intend to be."
Click on the
link above to read the whole story
The New York Times,
March 2nd
Matt Wolf
IN 1969, the English actress Clare Higgins, then an
adolescent, made her first trip to Stratford, where she saw
Judi Dench doubling as Hermione and Perdita in a
now-legendary production of Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale"
directed by Trevor Nunn. More than 30 years later, Ms.
Higgins can still recall details of Dame Judi's
performance: "When she came on as Perdita, she wasn't human.
She came on as spring."
And so a budding
performer was born? Ms. Higgins laughed: "Judi's my role model.
It's all her fault." Perhaps the two Olivier awards
that Ms. Higgins has won can also be "blamed" on Dame Judi.
As for Dame Judi
and Ms. Higgins, there may be more than simple admiration (and
the fact that both are from Yorkshire) linking the two women.
Sir Richard has worked with Ms. Higgins in numerous plays since
1986, including Tennessee Williams's "Sweet Bird of Youth" in
1994, for which she won her first Olivier as best actress in a
play. And as the director who guided Dame Judi to her best
actress Tony for "Amy's View" on Broadway four years ago, he is
prepared to make a comparison. "I think Judi and Clare have
exactly the same relationship to telling the truth," he said
recently, "to being honest about their feelings onstage, so that
it's not a contrivance, not a management of emotion."
Congratulations to Robert
Spooner,
Chairman of
"The Story of Christmas" Appeal
2003 Recipient of an MBE, the Queen's New Year Honours
HM The Queen was graciously pleased to appoint Robert
Spooner a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British
Empire for charitable services, especially to the Story of
Christmas appeal.
Note: This is the same Order that Dame Judi
received her honour for.
BBC
Online Coverage:
Robert Spooner.
For Charitable Services, especially to the Story of Christmas
Appeal. (London, W1A)
Guide to
the Honors
Dec 31, 2002
Judi Dench Seeks
Opportunities
By Roger Friedman / FOX NEWS
Believe it or not, Dame
Judi Dench
has no movie out in time for this year's
Oscars. And as of right now, she's still free for 2003. How
could this be?
The
Oscar winner for Shakespeare in Love and four-time nominee (also
for Mrs.Brown, Chocolat, and Iris) is in London's West End, currently
starring in David Hare's The Breath of Life through March 1.
About a month ago I had the pleasure of visiting Dame
Judi
backstage at the
Royal Haymarket Theatre after seeing her and another Dame,
Maggie Smith,
perform this two-character play. If you can get to London
between now and March 1, this pair should not be missed, even
though the play is perhaps not as
perfect as it could be. The two women, it turns out, have shared
the same man
(one of them was married to him), and now that he's gone they
reminisce about
him. It's standard fare, but in their hands the material comes
alive and the
Royal Haymarket fairly well glows with excitement.
Up seven little flights and turns (there's no elevator) Dame
Judi is
ensconced
in the same dressing room she had last year when she starred in
The Royal
Family. On most nights after the show she welcomes guests for a
glass of
Champagne and a chat. Her daughter, Finty Williams, an actress,
stops by from time to time with her toddler son, Sammy, who is
also the apple of Judi's eye. Her best friend and
understudy, Penny, who could also be her twin, is never far
away. And often conversation turns to Judi's late husband,
Michael Williams, who passed away in 2000 after a bout with
cancer.
Dench misses
him terribly.
But fame has been fun, too. "The most amazing thing happened the
other day,
Roger, and you mustn't write about it," she said. "I fell asleep
between the
matinee and the evening show. And all of a sudden the phone rang
and it was
Elton John!"
"What did he want?" I asked.
"I'm not telling you!" she laughed. "But it was extraordinary."
Besides her Oscar nominations and theatre raves, Dame
Judi
also likes to make money. So she's not unhappy that Die
Another Day, her third James Bond movie, as M, has been a
worldwide hit. And she's ready for more. So bring it on!
Dec 28, 2002
Where to buy Dame Judi's Pewter
Birthday Gift Pin

Comedy / Tragedy Theatre Masks Pin
I purchased the Pewter Pin at a Hallmark Store. The Pin is part of their
"A Gift Today,
A Treasure Tomorrow"
Spoontiques Pin Art Collection.
The thumbnail image above is about the actual size.
Not all Hallmarks stores carry this pin collection.
Here's a link to the Spoontiques Online Store:
http://grapevinenetworks.com/Jewelry/pinart.html
Note: The Pin on this link is slightly different than the one
above
Thanks to Emma for tracking this information down
Dec 18, 2002
Royal Shakespeare Company
Website

Now even bigger and better -- includes many photos of Dame
Judi's
Performances. Be sure to check it out.
Thanks to Marla for sending me this link.
Dec 13,
2002 A Few
Interesting links to BBC Online Webpages
STARRING
JUDI DENCH -- Sunday 22 Dec - Friday 27 Dec
BBC Four celebrates the film and TV
career of Judi Dench with a season of her finest
performances.
JUDI
DENCH: PROFILE
With nearly 50
years experience as an actress, Dame Judi Dench has given an
astonishing range of performances. As well as her Oscars and
knighthood, she was the first person to win two Olivier
awards and her marriage to Michael Williams was one of the
most successful in showbusiness. Moreover she has brought
grace, warmth and frequently a fascinating coldness to an
extraordinary mixture of roles.
Profile
3 - June 1981 - Radio 4 - Judi Dench talks to Sonia
Beesley
Four RealPlayer
Audio Clips
There's also a
"Judi Dench" Quiz Link to test your knowledge
Thanks to
Paula and Jan M for sending this link
November 29, 2002
Messages of Hope.
Leading women of the world
share their special Christmas messages
of peace and goodwill.

Thanks to Jan M,
Sydney for sending this
October 11, 2002
The sister of Cheryl N, one of my Website Visitors from
Maine, is a very
talented artist who has painted a beautiful portrait of Dame
Judi as a gift
for Cheryl.
If you're
interested in seeing this portrait and finding out more about
Judi Lavoie, Artist -- Galeri de la Souer, here is her
website address:
http://users.adelphia.net/~byb1/galeri/page2.htm
Funding 'joy' as city backs the
Bard
Yorkshire Post -- September 2, 2002
AN ambitious
community drama project to stage all Shakespeare's plays in York
over the next 20 years has been awarded a £6,000 grant from the
city's Challenge Fund.
The York
Shakespeare Project is staging its inaugural production, Richard
III, in October and plans to complete the Shakespearean cycle
over the next two decades
The project's
chairman Alan Lyons said: "This shows the faith the city has in
our project. It is now up to us to make the best use of this
incredibly generous grant as well as other funding we have had."
Lee Maloney,
producer of Richard III, added: "My reaction to this news is one
of utter joy. It makes all the hard work we have put into this
venture worthwhile. We now have the funds to pursue the
long-term aims of the project."
The Challenge Fund
was established using contributions from private sector
sponsors, the public sector and individual benefactors to
support community projects in the city.
As well as
performing all the Bard's plays in the city over the next 20
years, the project, whose patron is
Dame Judi Dench, will set up an educational and
community outreach programme of workshops.
Rehearsals are well
under way for Richard III under the direction of John White. It
will be performed from October 30 to November 2 at the Joseph
Rowntree Theatre in Haxby Road.

Watercolour Notecard by Artist, Peter Dench
(Dame Judi's oldest brother)
Sold to aid "York Against Cancer" Organization
Christmas cards are now available on their
site:
http://www.yorkagainstcancer.co.uk/store/index.php
View another Notecard of "York Minster"
Thanks to Delda W. for sending this
A
snippet from Harold Hobson, "Theatre in Britain: A Personal
View"
1984 p. 161:
"The stage cannot be separated from life. At a reception at the
French
Embassy Mlle Ducaux carried herself like one who, even in
private life, was
conscious of belonging to an institution of royal lineage. In
great
ballooned skirts she descended a wide staircase, cutting a
corridor of lofty
solitude as she swept by. It is of such stuff as this that the
entrances of
Millamant [in Congreve's play "Way of the World"] are made.
'Here she comes, i'faith, full sail, with her fan spread and her
streamers out.' The only British actress I have seen walk with
such regality is Judi Dench, at the royal opening of the
Barbican."
Thanks to Delda W. for sending this
The following is from a chapter in
the book Celebration: Twenty Five Years of British Theatre.
The chapter is "Too Loud, Said Sir Malcolm" by Michael Owen. It
was published in 1980:
'The musical "Cabaret," based on Isherwood's "I Am a Camera"
reflections of pre-war Berlin, opened with a central performance
that in any year was quite outstanding. Judi Dench had donned
the black stockings and suspenders of Sally Bowles and
registered every nuance and facet of that curious "faux-naive."
A few years later, not even Liza Minnelli could erase the memory
of Miss Dench's creation.'
Thanks to Delda W. for sending this
Excerpts from the book
Performing 'Classical' Brecht by Margaret Eddershaw, 1996:
[This is in a section about the Brecht play "Mother Courage"]
Shortly before tackling Mother Courage, Dench had
had considerable success with a television comedy series, "A
Fine Romance," teamed with her actor-husband, Michael
Williams.... This had confirmed with the public her comic
lightness of touch and had shown off to perfection her
impeccable timing in the handling of comic material. Her
studiedly 'non-intellectual' approach to performance is borne
out by her claim to have avoided all pre-rehearsal preparation
for the Brecht production: -- 'I didn't read "Mother Courage"
until the day before rehearsals' -- and she was pleased to share
virginal naivety about the play with the production team:
'director, designer and translator all gratefully acknowledged
they had never seen a production of the play.'
Dench's visual appearance contributed towards the
creation of empathy with the character. She appeared as a
diminutive, chirpy figure with a startling shock of red hair,
striding about in heavy boots and a huge, oversize greatcoat.
She used a gritty, Cockney-accented voice and she delivered the
songs with considerable assertiveness. This caused her to have
some problems with her voice during the first few weeks of
performances and she had to rest several hours a day in order to
overcome vocal strain, as the part made more demands of her than
she had anticipated. Physically, though, Dench managed to
convey a relaxed strength in Courage, planting her feet firmly
apart and deploying frequent shrugs of the shoulders. But the
toughness was only physical, not emotional. This Courage was a
warm and amusing human being, lacking the temperamental
toughness, even harshness, usually associated with her.
According to [Director Howard] Davies, Dench enjoyed
finding practical rather than intellectual solutions to
theatrical problems encountered in rehearsal....
Thanks to Delda W. for sending this
Passages about Judi Dench in
Richard Eyre's autobiography, Utopia and Other Places
(1994) ...
"Judi Dench is an actress who works almost entirely on her
instincts. Someone once told me that John Williams, the
guitarist, never needed to practise, his technique is
effortless. Like him Judi has technique to burn -- she can turn
a line on a fragment of a syllable, a scene on the twist of a
finger. She doesn't study a part but works through a
process of osmosis, soaking up the details with a sometimes
disconcerting randomness. She'll ask questions that seem hardly
to bear on the character and, as if she'd disturbed you while
reading a book, leave you as soon as you answer it, afraid that
more talking would muddy the instinct. When I directed her in
The Cherry Orchard for TV, she beckoned to me
thoughtfully just before we went for a take; it was a long scene
in which Ranyevskya talks about her life with her lover in
France. 'She's a terrible old tart, isn't she?' she said, with
a mixture of charity and envy.
"I wasn't at the Nottingham matinee during which Judi Dench
played one of the soldiers, dressed from top to toe in
chain-mail, and the whole company, but for John Neville,
shuddered hopelessly with contagious frenzy. If I'd been in the
audience I'd have demanded my money back, but if I'd been
onstage I'd have shamelessly joined in the caper."
(p. 142)
Thanks to Delda W. for sending this
Excerpt from a book called
Quakers and The Arts by David Sox,
published in 2000.
"Judi Dench -- Dame Judi Dench to be exact -- was born in
1934 in York and educated at a Quaker school, the Mount in
York. Recently Dench credited one of the Mount School's
teachers, Miss Macdonald (an erstwhile Young Vic player) for
encouraging her to take up acting. Although she has been on the
stage for four decades and a handful of films (including the
role of Spymaster M in the James Bond films), when Dench was
nominated for an Oscar for playing Victoria in Mrs. Brown,
the American press said that she was basically unknown in the
United States.
"1999 changed all that. The next time round she won her Oscar
for eight minutes of being another Queen -- Elizabeth I -- in
Shakespeare in Love. Then her triumph in taking Amy's
View to Broadway made Dench 'the hottest ticket in New
York.' She also became the first performer to win both an Oscar
and a Tony in the same year since 1975 and has been showered
with accolades from critics not known for such treatment in
recent times.
"English audiences already recognized Dench as the greatest
living English actress with a store house of memorable roles
behind her: Cleopatra, Lady Macbeth and Mother Courage among
them.
"Dench was told by a film director she went to see in 1958, that
she was destined not to succeed: too short (5 feet, 1 1/2
inches) and stocky. The verdict after her first screen test
was: 'You have every single thing wrong with your face.'
"Aside from Miss Macdonald, even as a girl it was noted that
Dench's voice sounded as if she permanently suffered from
laryngitis. In 1968 when she was in Cabaret she became
so irked by audiences expressing concern that she sounded ill
that the management put up a notice in the foyer: 'Miss Dench
does not have a cold. This is her normal speaking voice.'
"Judi Dench is quiet about her faith, but does not shy away from
queries as to her being a Quaker. She says that there are two
rocks in her life: her marriage to Michael Williams (28 years),
and Quakerism: 'It's fundamental. It centres me and enables me
to do everything.' It is an irony that with Sheila Hancock --
with whom she has discussed their common bond -- Quakers have
two very strong -- and vocal -- actresses who gather strength in
silent worship. But at Meeting no one is on stage."
The quote about the screen test comment is footnoted as "in
private correspondence."
The second, at the end of the next paragraph, cites the NY
Times.
The third -- her quote about Quakerism -- cites Radio Times.
As I'm sure you know, Sheila Hancock is John Thaw's widow.
The Quaker equivalent of "church" is called Meeting for Worship
or just Meeting. (They also have Meeting for Business.)
On page 8 of this book David Sox writes:
"Today there is ... a Quaker Performing Arts group, the
Leaveners, and among its patrons are three distinguished Quaker
actors: Ben Kingsley, Sheila Hancock and Judi Dench."
Thanks to Delda W. for sending this
Passages from Michael Coveney's
book
Maggie Smith: A Bright Particular Star. (1992)
"When Judi Dench played Lady Bracknell (at the National Theatre
in 1982), she brilliantly side-stepped all comparisons by
portraying the tension and melancholy of a much younger dowager,
non-stentorian and with the bloom still on, whose husband,
dining alone with his meals on trays, was a considerable brake
on her social and indeed sexual potental.
"Her success in the role did not obliterate Edith Evans, and
Maggie will have to start all over again when she (if she)
finally delivers her reading. But it was quite a good swipe. And
Dench has also had her RSC triumphs as Hermione/Perdita in
The Winter's Tale, and as Viola, Portia, the Duchess of
Malfi, Beatrice, Lady Macbeth and Imogen in Cymbeline.
She followed her Lady Bracknell at the NT with an equally
unexpected, and equally memorable, Cleopatra. Any competition
Maggie mustered at that time was confined to Canada, so that the
impression, in Britain at least, was that Judi Dench had become
our leading tragedienne.
The release of feeling, a sort of glorious shiver with an
instantly recognisable crack in her voice, characterises all
these Dench performances. The renewed monstrosity of Bracknell
will be something left to Maggie to accomplish when she gets
round to her second Aunt Augusta (Lady Bracknell's name was
adopted by Graham Greene for his travelling aunt). Dench
generously concedes that it is Maggie's extraordinary way of
looking at the world that marks her out, her delightful sense of
the absurd: 'She does things in such a daring way that she
leaves me standing. She also leaves me laughing.'
"Everyone loves Judi Dench, just as everyone loved Ellen Terry.
But her drive is of a different calibre to Maggie's, less
gnawing, less obsessive. John Moffatt says that Maggie, like
Paul Scofield, is possessed by a demanding and driving genius,
but that she also skirmishes in the realms of camp by inhabiting
a world that is peculiarly her own, rather as Beatrice Lillie
did. Maggie loves a line of Bea Lillie's, said of a hopeless
case leaving the stage: 'She'll never find the kitchen, she's
that moody.'
"And, as Maggie's performances are often a series of elaborately
contrived masks that proceed to disintegrate, she further
arouses interest in what she might really be like under
the skin. As Peter Hall says, 'When the public sees Maggie Smith
in a play, the public becomes voraciously interested in what
kind of person Maggie Smith is.'
"There are various points of similarity between Maggie and Judi
Dench, but that is not one of them. Judi Dench is known to be a
cosy, comfy creature with good manners, good breeding and a
pronounced liability to burst into giggles and gales of
laughter. Everything is more dangerous, acidulous and beadily
observed with Maggie.
"This is not a value judgement on their respective talents. But
Maggie, especially in comedy, presents the role, while Dench
puts herself in its centre and works outwards, negotiating the
limits of her own characterisation at the same time as she meets
the rest of the actors and the surrounding production. This
method leads, not all that surprisingly, to the occasional
aberration in the costume and wig departments,
where Dench is often reprehensibly
careless. Maggie never makes such mistakes."
Thanks to Delda W. for sending this
Neither Delda or I agree with that last bit ...
Queen
Victoria Envelope autographed by Dame Judi
(click on the image to view full-size)
Available for Purchase at Acorn
Online or from their Catalog.
Thanks to Marla C. and Renee G. for bringing this to my
attention.
(Note: Acorn also has other Dame Judi
items for sale)
 Hello
Magazine -- Photo of Dame Judi at The BAFTA Film Awards
( This person "hardly"
knows what he/she is talking about )
Thanks to Gloria B.
August
27, 2002
Whatsonstage.com Poll
Debate - WHO IS THE GREATEST??? - THE
RESULTS!
In total, over 3,000
theatregoers voted in our hugely popular Big
Debate to decide the very greatest
stage actors, based on theatregoers' nominations.
With nearly half the overall vote in the today's greatest
actresses category, Judi
Dench was the biggest, if least surprising, winner
(46%).
CLICK
HERE FOR FULL SURVEY RESULTS!
Thanks to
Meggie.
August
26, 2002
E! Entertainment
Royalty A to Z
The last E! Entertainment episode of Royalty A to Z shows Judi
Dench
saying that the Queen had admired a tapestry that she had done,
but
as it took her 20 years to complete, she was not planning to give
it to
the Queen. You can see the clip by clicking the following:
http://www.eonline.com/On/Royalty/Shows/index11.html
Thanks to Sandy C.
August 26, 2002
Modern Maturity Magazine -- AARP
Letters to the Editor -- September / October 2002 Issue
Instead of the Carson story, you could have done all of us a
service and
featured the article on Judi Dench. Now that was an
interesting and
insightful piece. And it seems that the author actually
interviewed the subject.
Reader from WA.
Thanks
to Connie E.
August 25, 2002
The Sunday Times of London
Cover story: The golden girl: Reese
Witherspoon
Cecily Cardew, The Importance of Being Earnest
... Her
greatest praise, however, is reserved for Dame Judi Dench, for
whom
she reveals the first and only sense of awe in our conversation.
“I felt so intimidated when I got on set with her, my voice came
out as a whisper,” she says. “It was like meeting royalty,
because she has so much dignity.” Dench, 67, who had been
combining work on both The Shipping News and Iris when she began
her role as Lady Bracknell, also produced a tour de force
of no-fuss acting. “She had eight pages of dialogue, which she
delivered word perfect on the very first take,” reports
Witherspoon. “She was inspiring — the way she took her job so
seriously, with the same passion as if she had just started. To be
like her would be...” she searches for the right word “...the
best.”
August
22, 2002
The Guardian, UK
Is this a feminist statement?
... "Of course, youth has, and always will have, a cult
of beauty that applies to both men and women, but there is enough
evidence to suggest that we still appreciate the beauty of those
who are far from the first flush of youth. It can be sensibly
argued that the handsome, intelligent beauty of Germaine Greer is
considerably more appealing to many than the pug-nosed, pinched
mask of 20-something Victoria Beckham. The actress Helen Mirren still
turns heads in her 50s, as does Dame Judi Dench, who is even
further down the road to the grim reaper's arms, with a face so
impossibly beguiling that it often eclipses those of her young and
fresh faced co-stars. Even Doris Lessing, speaking at The
Edinburgh Book Festival this week, was striking in how utterly
beautiful she has become at 83, her glittering little eyes looking
out from a perfect skin lined like an expensive Italian truffle,
giving her a radiance that far exceeds the simple prettiness of
her youth."
The full story is at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/women/story/0,3604,778601,00.html
Thanks
to Jan M.
July
26, 2002
The Press Association Limited
"Quotes of the Day"
"Stage actresses are always banging on about how the great
roles dry up when you're between 50 and 80. But for movies they
always seem to need some old bat shuffling around in a wheelchair
and I'm perfectly happy with the thought of that" - Dame Judi
Dench, 67.
Thanks to Sandy C.
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