Judi Dench

British actress Judi Dench (1934) is best known for her role of M in the James Bond films. In 1999, she won the Oscar for Best Female Supporting Actress in Shakespeare in Love (1998). Dench appeared in many other films, plays and TV shows for which she received an oeuvre award at the European Film Awards in 2008. That year, she was also awarded a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, becoming Dame Judi Dench.


British postcard and photo by Robert Workman, Theatrical Photographer. Caption: Dame Judi Dench, Actress.


Chinese postcard by Oriental City Publishing Group Limited. Judi Dench as M in Quantum of Solace (Marc Forster, 2008).

Most Promising Newcomer

Dame Judith Olivia Dench was born in Heworth, York, in 1934. Dench was the daughter of Eleanora Olive (born Jones) and Reginald Arthur Dench of Dorset, a doctor and an amateur actor. She has a younger brother Jeffrey, an actor and an older brother Peter, a doctor. She grew up a Quaker and lived in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester.

When Dench was thirteen she went to The Mount School in York. Her original ambition was to be a designer and she trained as a costume designer. At 23, she made her professional debut as Ophelia in 'Hamlet' in Liverpool in 1957. That same year, she made her debut in the Old Vic.

Although most of Dench's work during this early period was in theatre, she also branched out into film work and won a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer. In 1968, she drew excellent reviews for her leading role as Sally Bowles in the musical 'Cabaret'. Through the years, she performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and at Old Vic Theatre, and played virtually most of Shakespeare's leading ladies.

For her stage work, she won many awards including the 1982 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award for 'A Kind of Alaska' and 'The Importance of Being Earnest', the 1996 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for 'A Little Night Music' and the 1999 Tony Award for Best Broadway Actress in 'Amy's View'. In 1971, she married British actor Michael Williams, with whom she had a child, actress Tara Cressida 'Finty' Williams.

Dench and Michael Williams starred in many plays and TV shows together, including Bob Larby's sitcom, A Fine Romance (1981-1984). She is a ten-time BAFTA winner including Best Actress in a Comedy Series for A Fine Romance (1981), Best Supporting Actress in A Room with a View (James Ivory, 1985) and A Handful of Dust (1988). She also received an ACE award for her performance in the television series Mr & Mrs Edgehill (1985).


British postcard in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre series, no. 86. Photo: Joe Cocks. Judi Dench as Hermione in 'The Winter's Tale' by William Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1969.


British postcard by Royal National Theatre, no. NT 55. Photo: Mark Douet. Judi Dench in 'The Sea' (1991) by Edward Bond (Lyttelton Theatre, 1991).

The first female M

Judi Dench became best known to the general public for her role of M in the James Bond films, which she played from GoldenEye (Martin Campbell, 1995) with Pierce Brosnan through Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012) starring Daniel Craig, where M lost her life after a siege of Skyfall, James Bond's parents' castle.

She was the first woman to portray the character. Judi Dench became known for playing dignified, strong-willed women in positions of authority, who are sometimes opposed or criticised by those under them. She won her first Oscar nomination for Mrs Brown (John Madden, 1996). It was her breakthrough as a film actress. In 1999, she won the Oscar for Best Female Supporting Actress in Shakespeare in Love (John Madden, 1998). It was for a six-minute performance in only four scenes as Queen Elizabeth I.

Following her Oscar win, the producers of the Bond franchise gave her character M a much larger role, central to the film's plot, for the first time in the Bond franchise. While M had typically only been seen in Bond films in bookend scenes at the very beginning and end, this time around the writers made her past actions the primary motive for the film's two main villains.

Her other Oscar-nominated roles are Chocolat (Lasse Hallström, 2000) with Juliette Binoche, Iris (Richard Eyre, 2001) with Kate Winslet, Mrs Henderson Presents (Stephen Frears, 2005) with Bob Hoskins, Notes on a Scandal (Richard Eyre, 2006) with Cate Blanchett, Philomena (Stephen Frears, 2013) with Steve Coogan, and Belfast (Kenneth Branagh, 2021).

In May 2024, Dench announced that she would stop acting as she had gone virtually blind due to the eye disease macular degeneration. In 2022, she played her last film role in the American comedy Spirited (Sean Anders, 2022) starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds. In 1997, she became a grandmother at age 62 when her daughter Finty Williams gave birth to a son, Sam Michael Williams. Michael Williams died in 2001 at the age of 66. Since 2010, her partner is David Mills.


British postcard by Royal National Theatre, no. LNM 2. Photo: Michael Le Poer Trench. Judi Dench in 'A Little Night Music' (Olivier Theatre, 1995).


British postcard by Danjaq, LLC and United Artists Corporation. Photo: Judi Dench as M in GoldenEye (Martin Campbell, 1995). In the background, on the screen, Gottfried John as Colonel Ourumov.


Dutch postcard by John v.d. Burg Indoor Media. Image: French poster for Iris (Richard Eyre, 2001) with Judi Dench and Kate Winslet. Caption: A Memoir of Iris Murdoch. Collection: Carla Bosch (Meiter).

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.