Attended Mount School in York, and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She has performed with Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and at Old Vic Theatre. She is a five-time BAFTA winner including Best Actress in a Comedy Series for A Fine Romance in which she appeared with her husband, Michael Williams, and Best Supporting Actress in A Handful of Dust and A Room with a View . She received an ACE award for her performance in the television series Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill. She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1970, and was created Dame of Order of the British Empire in 1988.



When Royal Shakespeare Company Director Peter Hall asked Judi Dench to play the title role in a staged, and then later televised, production of Cleopatra, Dench refused, saying that her Cleopatra would be a "menopausal dwarf." Director Hall was later successful in coaxing Dench into the role, of which she won rave reviews from both theatre critics and TV audiences. She made history in 1996 as the first person to win two Laurence Olivier awards (for British theatre) for different roles. Mother, with Michael Williams, of Finty Williams. She was to play "Grizabella" in the original "CATS" West End production, but an ailment forced her out of the play. Elaine Paige replaced her. Received the Film Actress Award for her role in Chocolat at The Variety Club Showbusiness Awards 2002. Unfortunately Ms Dench was in attendance at the Berlin Film Festival and couldn't attend the Awards ceremony, but was able to send a televised message congratulating the charity on its 50th anniversary. Was awarded an honourary Litt.D. (Doctor in Letters) from Trinity College on Friday, 11th July, 2003. She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1988 (1987 season) for Best Actress in a New Play for Antony and Cleopatra. She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1996 (1995 season) for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in A Little Night Music at the Royal National Theatre Olivier Stage. She was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1999 (1998 season) for Best Actress for her performance in Filumena. Sister of Jeffery Dench. She was awarded the 1982 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actress of 1981 for A Kind Of Alaska and The Importance of Being Earnest. She was awarded the 1987 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in Anthony and Cleopatra. During the filming of "As Time Goes By" (1992) , she used to direct everybody to hide from the director when he left the set. She was awarded the 1997 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama) for Best Actress for her performance in Amy's View at the Royal National Theatre. An Associate Member of RADA. Voted Best British Actress of all time in a poll for Sky TV [Feb 2005]. Made a Companion of Honour in the Queen's Birthday Honours. [11 June 2005] Topped the poll in Britain's Finest Actresses, July 2005 She and Vanessa Redgrave were in the same class at drama school. When she started training at the Central School of Speech and Drama, she admits she wasn't taking it as seriously as she ought to have done. She was caught out during an improvisation scene at which point she realised that that was what it was all about and studied harder than she had ever done in her life. Shares two roles with both Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett. She and Winslet both played the title role in Iris (2001/I), and she and Blanchette have both played Queen Elizabeth. All three of them have played Ophelia in Hamlet. She and her The Shipping News (2001) and Notes on a Scandal (2006) co-star Cate Blanchett both received Oscar-nominations for playing Queen Elizabeth I in 1999. Dench won for her supporting role in Shakespeare in Love (1998) while Blanchett was nominated for Elizabeth (1998). Judi Dench is the new narrator of Spaceship Earth, the dark ride at EPCOT. She replaced Jeremy Irons after Walt Disney World and Siemens decided to update the classic ride housed inside the infamous golf-ball. First female to portray the 007 series character "M" which she did in GoldenEye (1995). Awarded honorary D.Litt from the University of St Andrews, June 2008.