“I can't see anyone. I've got, you know, that thing. I can't recognize anybody. I can't see the television, I can't see to read.”
- #wikiquote
- #quote
Figure timeline
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia Dench is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actresses, she is noted for her versatile roles on stage and screen. Dench has garnered various accolades throughout a career that spans seven decades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), and sev…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
entertainment · English actress (born 1934) · film actor · television actor · voice actor · autobiographer · stage actor · film director · theatre director · actor · musician · also Judi Dench, Dame Judi Dench, Dench
Born 9 December 1934 · Q28054
72 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
8 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Quote
- Award
2026· 6 entries
Daily Express: Judi Dench becomes emotional as she admits 'I'd like to go back' in tell-all film
- #news
- #headline
Metro: Emotional first look at Judi Dench and Ian McKellen TV show will make you sob
- #news
- #headline
Digital Spy: "Brilliant" period rom-com with Judi Dench and Martin Clunes is now streaming on the BBC
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: London’s Shaftesbury theatre to be renamed after Judi Dench
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: A statue of Queen Victoria, memorial trees and a swimming pool: Judi Dench’s garden – in eight poignant items
- #news
- #headline
2025· 2 entries
Yahoo: Judi Dench makes shocking defense of Harvey Weinstein after rape conviction: ‘He’s done his time’
- #news
- #headline
7NEWS Australia: Judi Dench, 90, opens up about losing her eyesight, as her degenerative health condition deteriorates
- #news
- #headline
2024· 3 entries
In 2024, it was reported that Dench's eyesight has deteriorated to the point where she is effectively retired from acting.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #life
- #health
It was reported that Dench's eyesight has deteriorated to the point where she is effectively retired from acting
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Dench and Siân Phillips became the first female members of the Garrick Club
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2023· 3 entries
Awarded IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award (2023).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
People: Judi Dench Says 'It's Become Impossible' to Act amid Eyesight Loss: 'I Have a Photographic Memory'
- #news
- #headline
Dench and her partner David Mills were both invited to ride in King Charles III's Royal Ascot Procession
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2021· 1 entry
Dench had a brief role in Jules Williamson's comedy drama Off the Rails, starring Kelly Preston, Jenny Seagrove, and Sally Phillips, about three friends in their 50s who embark on a European train adventure to celebrate
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2020· 2 entries
Was Blithe Spirit, a comedy film based upon the 1941 play of the same name, in which she played a talentless but eccentric medium named Madame Arcati
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Dench reteamed with Kenneth Branagh in his science fantasy adventure film Artemis Fowl, based on the first novel in the same-titled series by Eoin Colfer
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2019· 1 entry
Dench presented a two-part nature documentary series for the ITV network called Judi Dench's Wild Borneo Adventure in which she and her partner travelled across the island, looking at its remarkable wildlife and efforts
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2018· 1 entry
Dench appeared alongside Eileen Atkins, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith in Roger Michell's documentary film Nothing Like a Dame which documents conversations between the actresses, interspersed with scenes from their car
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2017· 4 entries
Snopes rated the claim “Actress Judi Dench has Havey Weinstein's initials tattooed on her butt.” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Awarded honorary doctor of Harvard University (2017).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
One of the highest-profile actresses in British popular culture, Dench appeared on Debrett's 2017 list of the most influential people in the UK.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #life
- #public-image
Dench reprised the role of Queen Victoria when she headlined Stephen Frears's Victoria & Abdul
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2016· 1 entry
Dench made Olivier Award history when she won Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role as Paulina in The Winter's Tale, breaking her own record with her eighth win as a performer
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2015· 1 entry
Dench appeared opposite Dustin Hoffman in Dearbhla Walsh's small-screen adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's novel Esio Trot (1990), in which a retired bachelor falls in love with his widowed neighbor, played by Dench,
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2014· 3 entries
"I don't want to be told I'm too old to try something
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
The film went through several delays and earned largely negative reviews from critics, who called it a "handsomely-mounted period piece undone by uninspired dialogue and excessive plotting"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Dench was one of 200 celebrities to sign an open letter to the people of Scotland asking them to vote to remain part of the UK in that year's referendum
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2013· 2 entries
Dench starred as the title character in the Stephen Frears-directed film Philomena, which was inspired by true events of a woman looking for the son whom, half a century earlier, the Catholic Church had taken from her
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
But recovered from the procedure and stated that her knee was no longer an issue
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2012· 2 entries
Friend Request Pending, an indie short film which Dench had filmed in 2011, received a wide release as part of the feature films Stars in Shorts, "Camden Clog dancing Nelson Mills" by Pat Tracey, and The Joy of Six
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
In early 2012, Dench discussed her macular degeneration, with one eye "dry" and the other "wet", for which she has been treated with injections into the eye.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #life
- #health
2011· 5 entries
Awarded Praemium Imperiale (2011).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Dench reunited with director John Madden on the set of the comedy drama The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), starring an ensemble cast also consisting of Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkin
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
While accepting a British Film Institute Award in London, Dench commented that the project launched her Hollywood career and joked that "it was thanks to Harvey, whose name I have had tattooed on my bum"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Dench starred in Jane Eyre, My Week with Marilyn and J
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Along with musician Sting and billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, she publicly urged policy-makers to adopt more progressive drug policies by decriminalising drug use
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2010· 2 entries
Dench renewed her collaboration with Peter Hall at the Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames in A Midsummer Night's Dream, which opened in February 2010; she played Titania as Queen Elizabeth I in her later years – almost
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
And Vice President of The Little Foundation
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2009· 1 entry
Dench reprised the role of Matilda Jenkyns in Return to Cranford, the two-part second season of a Simon Curtis television series
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2008· 2 entries
Awarded European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award (2008).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded honorary doctor of the University of St Andrews (2008).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
2004· 2 entries
Dench appeared as Aereon, an ambassador of the Elemental race who helps uncover the mysterious past of Richard B
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Dench provided her voice for several smaller projects
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2002· 1 entry
Dench was cast opposite Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, and Reese Witherspoon in Oliver Parker's The Importance of Being Earnest, a comedy about mistaken identity set in English high society during the Victorian Era
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2001· 1 entry
Awarded BAFTA Fellowship (2001).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
2000· 1 entry
Won Benjamin Franklin Medal (2000).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
1999· 4 entries
Awarded BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Shakespeare in Love (1999).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (1999).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Shakespeare in Love (1999).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Dench won the Tony Award for her 1999 Broadway performance in the role of Esme Allen in Sir David Hare's Amy's View
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1997· 1 entry
Dench appeared in her first starring film role as Queen Victoria in John Madden's teleplay Mrs Brown, which depicts Victoria's relationship with her personal servant and favourite John Brown, played by Billy Connolly
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1996· 2 entries
Awarded Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress (1996).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical (1996).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1995· 1 entry
Played Desiree Armfeldt in a major revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, for which she won an Olivier Award
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1992· 1 entry
Awarded honorary doctorate presented by The Open University (1992).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1989· 2 entries
Awarded BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for A Handful of Dust (1989).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Appeared in David Tucker's Behaving Badly for Channel 4, based on Catherine Heath's novel of the same name
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1988· 2 entries
Awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1988).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
With the Renaissance Theatre Company's touring season, Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road, co-produced with the Birmingham Rep, and ending with a three-month repertory programme at the Phoenix Theatre in London
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1987· 2 entries
Awarded BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for A Room with a View (1987).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Dench played a supporting role in Columbia Pictures film 84 Charing Cross Road, with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1981· 1 entry
Dench was due to play Grizabella in the original production of Cats, but was forced to pull out due to a torn Achilles tendon, leaving Elaine Paige to play the role
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1977· 1 entry
Gave two comedy performances, first in Trevor Nunn's musical staging of The Comedy of Errors as Adriana, then partnered with Donald Sinden as Beatrice and Benedick in John Barton's "British Raj" revival of Much Ado A
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1970· 1 entry
Awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire (1970).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1968· 3 entries
Drew excellent reviews for her leading role of Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
By a BAFTA Best Actress Award for her role in John Hopkins' 1966 BBC drama Talking to a Stranger
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Was offered the role of Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1966· 1 entry
As Terry in the four-part series Talking to a Stranger, for which she won a BAFTA for Best Actress
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1960· 1 entry
Dench appeared on television as Anna in the very last episode ("Traviso Dam") of the TV series The Four Just Men, in 1964 as Valentine Wannop in Theatre 625's adaptation of Parade's End (shown in three episodes), and als
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1958· 1 entry
(which was also her New York City debut) and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet in 1960, both directed and designed by Franco Zeffirelli
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1934· 1 entry
Born 1934-12-09.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth