Oscar Profile #161: Judi Dench

Born December 9, 1934 in Yorkshire, England, to a physician who was also general practitioner for a local theatre and his wife, the wardrobe mistress, Judith Olivia (Judi) Dench grew up to become one of her country’s greatest actresses.

Although she intended to become a set designer, she followed her brother Jeff into acting school where she graduated at the top of a class that included Vanessa Redgrave. Drawn to the theatre, she excelled in Shakespearean roles, notably Ophelia in Hamlet; Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. To her astonishment she won rave reviews for her Sally Bowles in the 1968 London production of Cabaret even though she insisted she couldn’t really sing. She married actor Michael Williams in 1971 and had her only child, a daughter, in 1972.

Much on British TV in starring roles from 1959, Dench made her film debut in a bit part in 1964’s The Third Secret. Back to the theatre and TV, she was a hit in TV series A Fine Romance (1981-1984) opposite her husband. Small but interesting roles in such films as A Room With a View; 84 Charing Cross Road and A Handful of Dust brought her some notice, but it was the TV series As Time Goes By which began in 1992 and ran for over ten years that brought her lasting fame in the U.S., followed by her introduction as M in the 1995 James Bond movie, Goldeneye. Still, it wasn’t until 1997’s Mrs. Brown that she became a bona fide film star earning numerous awards including her first Oscar nomination at the age of 63.

Dench holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for any performer over the age of 60. She has been nominated six times to date for Mrs. Brown; Shakespeare in Love (for which she won); Chocolat; Iris; Mrs. Henderson Presents and Notes on a Scandal. Her closest runners-up for nominations over the age of 60 are Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Laurence Olivier, Spencer Tracy, Melvyn Douglas, Edith Evans and Meryl Streep with three each.

Other notable screen appearances during this time include those in Tea With Mussolini; The Shipping News; Ladies in Lavender and Pride and Prejudice.

Since her most recent Oscar nomination for 2006’s Notes on a Scandal, Dench has, among other things, starred in the TV mini-series Cranford and Return to Cranford; sang in Nine; played Sybil Thorndike in My Week With Marilyn; charmed audiences in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and played M for the last time in Skyfall. She is once again in the conversation for an Oscar nomination and possible win for her portrayal of the real life Philomena Lee in Stephen Frears’ Philomena.

Made a Dame of the British Empire in 1988, Judi Dench is still going strong as she nears her 79th birthday. She will next be seen in starring roles in the TV movie Esio Trot opposite Dustin Hoffman and on the big screen in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2 opposite Richard Gere.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

MRS. BROWN (1997), directed by John Madden

After a life in the theatre, on TV and the odd role in films here and there, Dench became a bona fide movie star at the age of 63 earning the first of six Oscar nominations in a ten year period. Her portrayal of the deeply depressed Queen Victoria brought out of mourning for Prince Albert by servant John Brown, won her numerous awards including her 7th BAFTA, her third in film albeit her first for a leading role as well as her first Golden Globe.

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (1998), directed by John Madden

Dench’s eight minute cameo as Elizabeth I is the second shortest Oscar winning performance ever given by an actress. She won the same year another actress (Cate Blanchett) was nominated in the lead actress category for playing the same character.

The film, which won another six Oscars including a surprise win for Best Picture, was the first comedy to win since 1977’s Annie Hall and the last to date.

NOTES ON A SCANDAL (2006), directed by Richard Eyre

Dench received her sixth Oscar nomination for her brilliant portrayal of a bitter, cynical and lonely schoolteacher who latches onto a vulnerable younger teacher whose affair with a fifteen year-old student sets the stage for blackmail. Dench and Cate Blanchett, who also received an Oscar nomination for her equally brilliant portrayal of the younger teacher, create indelible screen portraits. Unfortunately for Dench, she was up against Helen Mirren’s unstoppable awards magnet as Elizabeth II in The Queen.

THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (2012), directed by John Madden

Dench supported Maggie Smith in 1986’s A Room With a View, was her equal in 2004’s Ladies in Lavender and finally had the lead in a film in which her long-time friend (since 1958) had the smaller part.

Although the film provides each of its extraordinary cast with a chance to sparkle, Dench is clearly the standout as the newly widowed matron stepping out on her own for the first time in years.

PHILOMENA (2013), directed by Stephen Frears

Dench has the role of her screen career as the real life Irish woman who was forced to give up her illegitimate child by the nuns in the convent in which found shelter as a young mother. More than fifty years later, after having married and raised a family, Dench’s Philomena Lee engages an investigative reporter in the search for her missing son. Her journey takes her to America where she learns her son was a closeted gay Republican of some distinction in the George H.W. Bush White House. Further investigation reveals that he died of AIDS, and at his request, is buried in the graveyard of the convent from which he was taken.