An Associate Member of RADA.
As of 2007, received six Oscar nominations, all of them when she was already over the age of 60. No other actor or actress collected more nominations when older than 60, the closest runner-ups being Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Laurence Olivier, Spencer Tracy, Melvyn Douglas and Edith Evans with a mere three nominations each.
At the opening of the Judi Dench Theatre in London in 1986 she was introduced as "Here she is, Miss Judy Geeson'.
Attended the Mount School and at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.
Awarded an honorary DLitt by Oxford University on 28 June 2000.
Awarded honorary D.Litt from the University of St Andrews, June 2008.
Became engaged to Michael Williams during Christmas 1970 after he proposed to her on a beach in Australia.
Created the role of Sally Bowles in the London premiere of the musical, Cabaret.
Currently supporting the Theatre Royal, Bury St. Edmunds Restoration Appeal (2005).
During the filming of "As Time Goes By" (1992) , she used to direct everybody to hide from the director when he left the set.
Even after winning so many acting awards, she still admits to being insecure and wanting to improve the next performance. She admits that she prefers stage first, television second and film in third place.
First female to portray the 007 series character "M" which she did in GoldenEye (1995).
Following the birth of her daughter, Finty Williams, Dench and her husband immediately began trying for another child. However, having been unsuccessful, the couple looked into adoption when Dench was in her 40s, but they were turned down.
Going blind due to condition called macular degeneration. Does not plan to retire [February 19, 2012].
Good friend of Paul Scofield.
Has had custody of her grandson, Sammy Williams (b. 1997), since 2004 following her daughter Finty Williams's rehabilitation for alcoholism.
Has twice been nominated for an Oscar in the same year that another actress was nominated for playing the same role. She received Best Supporting Actress for playing Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1998), while Cate Blanchett was nominated for Elizabeth (1998). She was later nominated for Best Actress in Iris (2001/I), for which Kate Winslet was also nominated for the title role.
Her 1999 Oscar was awarded for an eight-minute performance in only four scenes as "Queen Elizabeth I" in Shakespeare in Love (1998). It is the second shortest performance ever to win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, the only shorter one being Beatrice Straight's six-minute performance in Network (1976).
Her first stage appearance was as a snail in a play at her Quaker junior school.
In a 2004 opinion poll of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Dame Dench's performance as "Lady Macbeth" in Trevor Nunn's 1976 production of "Macbeth" was voted the second greatest Shakespearean performance of all time. Only Paul Scofield's masterful "King Lear" was ranked higher.