Acting · York, North Yorkshire, England · Born December 9, 1934
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.
Letters to My Younger Future Self
2026
MovieDavid Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth
2026
as Self
MovieThe Magic Faraway Tree
2026
as The Fridge (voice)
MovieJoke
2026
MovieJudi Dench: Shakespeare, My Family and Me
2025
as Self
MovieTea with Judi Dench
2025
as Self
MovieDame Judi and Jay: The Odd Couple
2024
as Self
TVShakespeare: Rise of a Genius
2023
as Self
MovieAllelujah
2023
as Mary
MovieMCAINE: An Anagram of Cinema
2023
as Self - Actress (archive footage)
MovieSpirited
2022
as Dame Judi Dench
MovieQuintessentially British
2022
as Self
TVLouis Theroux Interviews
2022
as Self
MovieBorn to be The King
2022
as Narrator
MovieJudi Dench: Our National Treasure
2022
as Self (archive footage)
MovieI Remember It Well: Dame Judi Dench in Conversation with Gyles Bandreth
2022
as Self
TVRemembers…
2022
as Self
MovieStephen Sondheim's Old Friends
2022
as Self
MovieBelfast
2021
as Granny
MovieOff the Rails
2021
as Diana
MovieThe Show Must Go On! - Live at the Palace Theatre
2021
as Self - Preshow Announcement (voice)
MovieBlithe Spirit
2020
as Madame Arcati
MovieSix Minutes to Midnight
2020
as Miss Rocholl
TVStaged
2020
as Judi
MovieArtemis Fowl
2020
as Commander Root
MovieThe Big Night In
2020
as Self
MovieCats
2019
as Old Deuteronomy
TVJudi Dench's Wild Borneo Adventure
2019
as Self
MovieAll Is True
2018
as Anne Shakespeare
MovieRed Joan
2018
as Joan Elizabeth Stanley
MoviePalo Santo
2018
as Mother of Palo Santo
MovieNothing Like a Dame
2018
as Self
MovieJudi Dench: My Passion for Trees
2017
as Self
MovieMurder on the Orient Express
2017
as Princess Dragomiroff
MovieVictoria & Abdul
2017
as Queen Victoria
MovieTulip Fever
2017
as The Abbess of St. Ursula
MovieJudi Dench: All the World's Her Stage
2016
as Self
MovieMiss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
2016
as Miss Avocet
MovieShakespeare Live! From the RSC
2016
as Self - Performer
MovieBranagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale
2015
as Paulina
MovieDames of Classic Drama at the BBC
2015
as Self (archive material)
MovieSpectre
2015
as M (uncredited)
MovieThe Vote
2015
as Christine Metcalfe
MovieThe Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2015
as Evelyn Greenslade
MovieRoald Dahl's Esio Trot
2015
as Mrs. Silver
TVLate Night with Seth Meyers
2014
as Self
TVThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
as Self
MovieSix by Sondheim
2013
as Self (archive footage)
MovieNational Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage
2013
as Cleopatra/Desiree Armfeldt
MoviePhilomena
2013
as Philomena
MovieMuse of Fire
2013
as Self
TVVicious
2013
as Judi Dench (voice, uncredited)
TVTalking Pictures
2013
as Self (archive footage)
MovieTop Gear: 50 Years of Bond Cars
2012
as Self
MovieSkyfall
2012
as M
MovieEverything or Nothing
2012
as Self
MovieStars in Shorts
2012
as Mary
TVThe Hollow Crown
2012
as Cecily
MovieRun For Your Wife
2012
as Bag Lady
MovieThe Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2012
as Evelyn Greenslade
MovieMy Week with Marilyn
2011
as Dame Sybil Thorndike
MovieJ. Edgar
2011
as Anna Marie Hoover
MovieFriend Request Pending
2011
as Mary
MoviePirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
2011
as Society Lady
MovieInto the Woods
2011
as The Giant (voice)
MovieJane Eyre
2011
as Mrs. Fairfax
MovieJames Bond Supports International Women's Day
2011
as M (voice)
MovieNine
2009
as Lilli
MovieRage
2009
as Mona Carvell
TVLive from Studio Five
2009
as Self
MovieQuantum of Solace
2008
as M
TVCranford
2007
as Miss Matilda Jenkyns
TVThe Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
MovieNotes on a Scandal
2006
as Barbara Covett
MovieCasino Royale
2006
as M
MovieAngelina Ballerina: All Dancers on Deck
2006
as Miss Lilly (voice)
TVThe One Show
2006
as Self
Directing Bond: The Martin Chronicles
2006
MovieDoogal
2006
as Narrator (voice)
MoviePride & Prejudice
2005
as Lady Catherine de Bourgh
MovieMrs. Henderson Presents
2005
as Mrs. Laura Henderson
MovieAngelina Ballerina: Angelina's Princess Dance
2005
as Miss Lilly (voice)
We Become Silent - The Last Days of Health Freedom
2005
as Narrator
MovieAngelina Ballerina: The Big Performance
2005
as Miss Lilly (voice)
MovieAngelina Ballerina: The Show Must Go On
2004
as Miss Lilly (voice)
MovieLadies in Lavender
2004
as Ursula
TVWho Do You Think You Are?
2004
as Self
MovieA Dairy Tale
2004
as Mrs. Calloway (voice)
MovieThe Chronicles of Riddick
2004
as Aereon
MovieHome on the Range
2004
as Mrs. Caloway (voice)
MovieMaria Callas: Living and Dying for Art and Love
2004
as Self
MovieBugs!
2003
as Narrator (voice)
MovieAngelina Ballerina - Lights, Camera, Action!
2003
as Miss Lilly (voice)
MovieBilly Connolly: A BAFTA Tribute
2002
as Self
Judi Dench Talks to Richard Eyre
2002
as Self
Best Ever Bond
2002
as Self
MovieDie Another Day: From Script to Screen
2002
as Self
MovieDie Another Day
2002
as M
MovieBond Girls Are Forever
2002
as Herself
MovieThe Importance of Being Earnest
2002
as Lady Bracknell
MovieRichard Rodgers: Some Enchanted Evening
2002
as Performer: "Sixteen Going on Seventeen"
The Life of Shakespeare
2002
as self
Shaken and Stirred on Ice
2002
as Self
MovieThe Shipping News
2001
as Agnis Hamm
MovieIris
2001
as Iris Murdoch
TVAngelina Ballerina
2001
as Miss Lilly (voice)
MovieChocolat
2000
as Armande Voizin
MovieInto the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport
2000
as Self - Narrator (voice)
MovieThe Last of the Blonde Bombshells
2000
as Elizabeth
MovieThe World Is Not Enough
1999
as M
MovieTea with Mussolini
1999
as Arabella
MovieShakespeare in Love
1998
as Queen Elizabeth
MovieHey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
1998
as Desiree Armfeldt (segment "Send In The Clowns")
TVParkinson
1998
as Self
MovieHighly Classified: The World of 007
1998
as Self
MovieTomorrow Never Dies
1997
as M
MovieMrs Brown
1997
as Queen Victoria
MovieHamlet
1996
as Hecuba
MovieGoldeneye: The Secret Files
1995
as Self
MovieGoldenEye
1995
as M
MovieJack & Sarah
1995
as Margaret
GoldenEye: The Secret Files - The Cast
1995
as Self
TVMiddlemarch
1994
TVHBO First Look
1992
as Self
TVAs Time Goes By
1992
as Jean Pargetter
MovieJ.R.R.T. : A Study of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, 1892-1973
1992
as Narrator
Pebble Mill
1991
as Self
MovieAbsolute Hell
1991
as Christine Foskett
TVPerformance
1991
as Christine Foskett
MovieCan You Hear Me Thinking?
1990
as Anne
MovieHenry V
1989
as Mistress Quickly
TVScreen One
1989
as Anne
TVBehaving Badly
1989
as Bridget Mayor
TVCountryfile
1988
as Self
MovieA Handful of Dust
1988
as Mrs. Beaver
TVGoing Live!
1987
as Self
MovieGhosts
1987
as Helene Alving
MovieThe Angelic Conversation
1987
as (voice)
Movie84 Charing Cross Road
1987
as Nora Doel
MovieMake and Break
1987
as Mrs. Rogers
MovieA Room with a View
1986
as Eleanor Lavish
MovieThe Browning Version
1985
as Millie Crocker-Harris
MovieMr. and Mrs. Edgehill
1985
as Dorrie Edgehill
TVTheatre Night
1985
MovieWetherby
1985
as Marcia Pilborough
TVPlaying Shakespeare
1984
MovieSaigon: Year of the Cat
1983
as Barbara Dean
TVA Fine Romance
1981
as Laura Dalton
MovieThe Cherry Orchard
1981
as Mme. Ranevsky
MovieGoing Gently
1981
as Sister Scarli
TVLove in a Cold Climate
1980
as Aunt Sadie
Village Wooing
1979
as Z
MovieOn Giant's Shoulders
1979
as Hazel Wiles
MovieMacbeth
1979
as Lady Macbeth
MovieThe Comedy of Errors
1978
as Adriana
MovieLangrishe, Go Down
1978
as Imogen Langrishe
TVAn Audience with...
1978
as Self
TVBBC2 Play of the Week
1977
as Imogen Langrishe
MovieMy Homeland
1976
as Reader
MovieDead Cert
1974
as Laura Davidson
TVPlayhouse
1974
as Sister Scarli
MovieLuther
1974
as Katharina
Confession
1970
as Woman
MovieA Midsummer Night's Dream
1968
as Titania
TVOoh La La!
1968
as Amélie
TVOmnibus
1967
as Self - Reading Poetry
TVITV Playhouse
1967
as Helen Payle
TVTalking to a Stranger
1966
as Terry Stevens - Daughter
MovieFour in the Morning
1965
as Wife ("Judi")
TVBBC Play of the Month
1965
as Elizabeth Moris
MovieA Study in Terror
1965
as Sally
MovieHe Who Rides a Tiger
1965
as Joanne
TVTheatre 625
1964
as Valentine Wannop
TVDetective
1964
as Charlotte Revel
MovieThe Third Secret
1964
as Miss Ada Humphries
Festival
1963
as Angela Thwaites
MovieThe Cherry Orchard
1962
as Anya
TVAn Age of Kings
1960
as Katherine of Valois
TVTony Awards
1956
as Self - Presenter / Winner
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self
TVThe BAFTA Awards
1949
as Self
