Since playing Ophelia in Hamlet at the Old Vic 50 years ago, Judi has received wide critical acclaim for a career marked by outstanding performances in both classical and contemporary roles.
She has won more than 25 awards - including 9 British Academy Awards - in a career that has encompassed the stage, television and film. She received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 1970 for services to the theatre, and subsequently became DBE (Dame of the British Empire) in 1988. She was recently awarded a CH (Companion of Honour).
Her other notable film credits include: Franco Zeffirelli's Tea with Mussolini, Mar Brown (for which she won a Golden Globe®, BAFTA® award and Oscar® nomination), Wetherby, A Room with a View (for which she won a BAFTA® award as Best Supporting Actress), 84 Charing Cross Road, A Handful of Dust (another BAFTA award-winning performance as best actress), and 2 films for Kenneth Branagh - Henry V and Hamlet.
Dench won an Academy Award, a BAFTA® and was named Best Supporting Actress by the National Society of Film Critics for her performance in the hit romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love. She was then nominated for a Golden Globe® and an Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress for Lasse Hallstrom's Chocolat.
She also won a BAFTA® award for her performance in The Last of the Blonde Bombshells for Working Title Television. In 2001 she filmed Iris directed by Richard Eyre with Jim Broadbent (for which she received an Academy Award nomination) and The Shipping News directed by Lasse Hallstrom with Kevin Spacey and Julianne Moore.
She continued working on the stage, starring in David Hare's Amy's View (winning her a Tony Award for her Broadway performance), Peter Hall's The Royal Family and David Hare's The Breath of Life at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, with Dame Maggie Smith. All's Well That Ends Well for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RAC) in Stratford and then the West End, Hay Fever at The Theatre Royal Haymarket, and most recently Merry Wives of Windsor at the RSC in Stratford.
Judi's recent film credits include David Twohy's The Chronicles of Riddick, Charles Dance's Ladies in Lavender, Stephen Frears' Mrs Henderson Presents with Bob Hoskins, and Notes on a Scandal with Cate Blanchett, directed by Richard Eyre, for which Judi received a Best Actress nomination at the 2007 Academy Awards®, the 2007 Golden Globes®, the 2007 SAG® awards and the 2007 BAFTA's, and won Best Actress at the 2007 British Independent Film Awards. Most recently, she appeared in the critically acclaimed TV series Cranford as Miss Matty Jenkins.