Judi Dench
Acting • Born 1934-12-09
Biography
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA (born 9 December 1934) is an English film, stage and television actress. Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. She branched into film work, and won a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer; however, most of her work during this period was in theatre. Not generally known as a singer, she drew strong reviews for her leading role in the musical Cabaret in 1968. During the next two decades, she established herself as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. In television, she achieved success during this period, in the series A Fine Romance from 1981 until 1984 and in 1992 began a continuing role in the television romantic comedy series As Time Goes By. Her film appearances were infrequent until she was cast as M in GoldenEye (1995), a role she played in each James Bond film until Skyfall (2012). She received several notable film awards for her role as Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown (1997), and has since been acclaimed for her work in such films as Shakespeare in Love (1998), Chocolat (2000), Iris (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) and Notes on a Scandal (2006), and the television production The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2001). Regarded by critics as one of the greatest actresses of the post-war period, and frequently named as the leading British actress in polls, Dench has received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film and television; her awards include ten BAFTAs, seven Laurence Olivier Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. She was married to actor Michael Williams from 1971 until his death in 2001. They are the parents of actress Finty Williams.
Filmography
182 credits
Chocolat
Movie • 2000
Armande Voizin
Notes on a Scandal
Movie • 2006
Barbara Covett
Tomorrow Never Dies
Movie • 1997
M
GoldenEye
Movie • 1995
M
Nine
Movie • 2009
Lilli
Hamlet
Movie • 1996
Hecuba
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Movie • 2011
Society Lady
Shakespeare in Love
Movie • 1998
Queen Elizabeth
Tea with Mussolini
Movie • 1999
Arabella
Jack & Sarah
Movie • 1995
Margaret
Henry V
Movie • 1989
Mistress Quickly
The Chronicles of Riddick
Movie • 2004
Aereon
Quantum of Solace
Movie • 2008
M
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Movie • 2005
Mrs. Laura Henderson
Pride & Prejudice
Movie • 2005
Lady Catherine de Bourgh
The Shipping News
Movie • 2001
Agnis Hamm
A Room with a View
Movie • 1986
Eleanor Lavish
Doogal
Movie • 2006
Narrator (voice)
A Dairy Tale
Movie • 2004
Mrs. Calloway (voice)
Iris
Movie • 2001
Iris Murdoch
The Importance of Being Earnest
Movie • 2002
Lady Bracknell
Ladies in Lavender
Movie • 2004
Ursula
Allelujah
Movie • 2023
Mary
Rage
Movie • 2009
Mona Carvell
Home on the Range
Movie • 2004
Mrs. Caloway (voice)
Macbeth
Movie • 1979
Lady Macbeth
Casino Royale
Movie • 2006
M
The World Is Not Enough
Movie • 1999
M
Die Another Day
Movie • 2002
M
A Study in Terror
Movie • 1965
Sally
Skyfall
Movie • 2012
M
Judi Dench Talks to Richard Eyre
Movie • 2002
Self
84 Charing Cross Road
Movie • 1987
Nora Doel
Bugs!
Movie • 2003
Narrator (voice)
Jane Eyre
Movie • 2011
Mrs. Fairfax
A Handful of Dust
Movie • 1988
Mrs. Beaver
Mrs Brown
Movie • 1997
Queen Victoria
We Become Silent - The Last Days of Health Freedom
Movie • 2005
Narrator
Billy Connolly: Erect for 30 Years
Movie • 1999
The Coronation Concert
Movie • 2023
Self (archive footage)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Movie • 2012
Evelyn Greenslade
My Week with Marilyn
Movie • 2011
Dame Sybil Thorndike
Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport
Movie • 2000
Self - Narrator (voice)
Dead Cert
Movie • 1974
Laura Davidson
Richard Rodgers: Some Enchanted Evening
Movie • 2002
Performer: "Sixteen Going on Seventeen"
J. Edgar
Movie • 2011
Anna Marie Hoover
The Cherry Orchard
Movie • 1962
Anya
The Cherry Orchard
Movie • 1981
Mme. Ranevsky
Langrishe, Go Down
Movie • 1978
Imogen Langrishe
Ghosts
Movie • 1987
Helene Alving
Four in the Morning
Movie • 1965
Wife ("Judi")
An Audience With Victoria Wood
Movie • 1988
Self
Wetherby
Movie • 1985
Marcia Pilborough
Everything or Nothing
Movie • 2012
Self
Stars in Shorts
Movie • 2012
Mary
Run For Your Wife
Movie • 2012
Bag Lady
Philomena
Movie • 2013
Philomena
Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
Movie • 1998
Desiree Armfeldt (segment "Send In The Clowns")
Muse of Fire
Movie • 2013
Self
Absolute Hell
Movie • 1991
Christine Foskett
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Movie • 1968
Titania
Angelina Ballerina: All Dancers on Deck
Movie • 2006
Miss Lilly (voice)
Angelina Ballerina: Angelina's Princess Dance
Movie • 2005
Miss Lilly (voice)
Make and Break
Movie • 1987
Mrs. Rogers
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Movie • 2015
Evelyn Greenslade
Tulip Fever
Movie • 2017
The Abbess of St. Ursula
One More Audience with Dame Edna Everage
Movie • 1988
Self (uncredited)
I Remember It Well: Dame Judi Dench in Conversation with Gyles Bandreth
Movie • 2022
Self
Born to be The King
Movie • 2022
Narrator
The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
Movie • 2000
Elizabeth
Friend Request Pending
Movie • 2011
Mary
J.R.R.T. : A Study of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, 1892-1973
Movie • 1992
Narrator
Roald Dahl's Esio Trot
Movie • 2015
Mrs. Silver
Quintessentially British
Movie • 2022
Self
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Movie • 2016
Miss Avocet
The Vote
Movie • 2015
Christine Metcalfe
Spirited
Movie • 2022
Dame Judi Dench
Best Ever Bond
Movie • 2002
Self
Judi Dench: Our National Treasure
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
Movie • 2022
Self
Village Wooing
Movie • 1979
Z
Spectre
Movie • 2015
M (uncredited)
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale
Movie • 2015
Paulina
Going Gently
Movie • 1981
Sister Scarli
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
Movie • 2016
Self - Performer
Can You Hear Me Thinking?
Movie • 1990
Anne
Saigon: Year of the Cat
Movie • 1983
Barbara Dean
Dames of Classic Drama at the BBC
Movie • 2015
Self (archive material)
Luther
Movie • 1974
Katharina
Murder on the Orient Express
Movie • 2017
Princess Dragomiroff
Victoria & Abdul
Movie • 2017
Queen Victoria
Dame Judi and Jay: The Odd Couple
Movie • 2024
Self
Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage
Movie • 2016
Self
Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill
Movie • 1985
Dorrie Edgehill
National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage
Movie • 2013
Cleopatra/Desiree Armfeldt
Billy Connolly: A BAFTA Tribute
Movie • 2002
Self
My Homeland
Movie • 1976
Reader
The Browning Version
Movie • 1985
Millie Crocker-Harris
James Bond Supports International Women's Day
Movie • 2011
M (voice)
Red Joan
Movie • 2018
Joan Elizabeth Stanley
Judi Dench: My Passion for Trees
Movie • 2017
Self
Six by Sondheim
Movie • 2013
Self (archive footage)
On Giant's Shoulders
Movie • 1979
Hazel Wiles
Artemis Fowl
Movie • 2020
Commander Root
Nothing Like a Dame
Movie • 2018
Self
Palo Santo
Movie • 2018
Mother of Palo Santo
Cats
Movie • 2019
Old Deuteronomy
All Is True
Movie • 2018
Anne Shakespeare
He Who Rides a Tiger
Movie • 1965
Joanne
The Third Secret
Movie • 1964
Miss Ada Humphries
The Angelic Conversation
Movie • 1987
(voice)
Blithe Spirit
Movie • 2020
Madame Arcati
Six Minutes to Midnight
Movie • 2020
Miss Rocholl
Into the Woods
Movie • 2011
The Giant (voice)
Top Gear: 50 Years of Bond Cars
Movie • 2012
Self
The Comedy of Errors
Movie • 1978
Adriana
Off the Rails
Movie • 2021
Diana
Belfast
Movie • 2021
Granny
Directing Bond: The Martin Chronicles
Movie • 2006
GoldenEye: The Secret Files - The Cast
Movie • 1995
Self
Goldeneye: The Secret Files
Movie • 1995
Self
Highly Classified: The World of 007
Movie • 1998
Self
The Life of Shakespeare
Movie • 2002
self
Die Another Day: From Script to Screen
Movie • 2002
Self
Shaken and Stirred on Ice
Movie • 2002
Self
The Show Must Go On! - Live at the Palace Theatre
Movie • 2021
Self - Preshow Announcement (voice)
Angelina Ballerina: The Show Must Go On
Movie • 2004
Miss Lilly (voice)
Morecambe & Wise: The Unseen Tapes
Movie • 2025
Self
Maria Callas: Living and Dying for Art and Love
Movie • 2004
Self
Angelina Ballerina - Lights, Camera, Action!
Movie • 2003
Miss Lilly (voice)
Angelina Ballerina: The Big Performance
Movie • 2005
Miss Lilly (voice)
Tea with Judi Dench
Movie • 2025
Self
Judi Dench: Shakespeare, My Family and Me
Movie • 2025
Self
The Big Night In
Movie • 2020
Self
Joke
Movie • 2026
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
Movie • 2005
Jean Pargetter (archive footage) (uncredited)
MCAINE: An Anagram of Cinema
Movie • 2023
Self - Actress (archive footage)
As Time Goes By
TV • 1992
Jean Pargetter
The One Show
TV • 2006
Self
Staged
TV • 2020
Judi
A Fine Romance
TV • 1981
Laura Dalton
Talking to a Stranger
TV • 1966
Terry Stevens - Daughter
Middlemarch
TV • 1994
Cranford
TV • 2007
Miss Matilda Jenkyns
Behaving Badly
TV • 1989
Bridget Mayor
Pebble Mill
TV • 1991
Self
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
Love in a Cold Climate
TV • 1980
Aunt Sadie
Angelina Ballerina
TV • 2001
Miss Lilly (voice)
Playhouse
TV • 1974
Sister Scarli
Live from Studio Five
TV • 2009
Self
Theatre Night
TV • 1985
Talking Pictures
TV • 2013
Self (archive footage)
Who Do You Think You Are?
TV • 2004
Self
Ooh La La!
TV • 1968
Amélie
Late Night with Seth Meyers
TV • 2014
Self
An Audience with...
TV • 1978
Self
The Graham Norton Show
TV • 2007
Self
Playing Shakespeare
TV • 1984
Going Live!
TV • 1987
Self
The Hollow Crown
TV • 2012
Cecily
Louis Theroux Interviews
TV • 2022
Self
Judi Dench's Wild Borneo Adventure
TV • 2019
Herself
Performance
TV • 1991
Christine Foskett
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
TV • 2014
Self
Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius
TV • 2023
Self
The BAFTA Awards
TV • 1949
Self
Parkinson
TV • 1998
Self
Theatre Night
TV • 1985
Helene Alving
Countryfile
TV • 1988
Self
Omnibus
TV • 1967
Self - Reading Poetry
An Age of Kings
TV • 1960
Katherine of Valois
BBC Play of the Month
TV • 1965
Elizabeth Moris
BBC2 Play of the Week
TV • 1977
Imogen Langrishe
BBC2 Play of the Week
TV • 1977
Helen Wiles
Detective
TV • 1964
Charlotte Revel
Festival
TV • 1963
Angela Thwaites
HBO First Look
TV • 1992
Self
Theatre 625
TV • 1964
Valentine Wannop
Theatre 625
TV • 1964
Terry Stevens
Vicious
TV • 2013
Judi Dench (voice, uncredited)
Remembers…
TV • 2022
Self