Judi Dench's Real Name: Judith Olivia Dench

Quick answer: Judi Dench's real name is Judith Olivia Dench. She was born on December 9, 1934, in York, England. "Judi" is a short form of Judith, and she is formally Dame Judi Dench.

Judi Dench's real name

Dench was born Judith Olivia Dench, the daughter of Reginald Dench, a doctor, and Eleanora Olave Jones (Britannica). She has always worked as Judi Dench. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1988 and later a Companion of Honour (Britannica).

Early life and training

Dench grew up in York in a Quaker family and attended the Mount School, a Quaker school. She first studied stage design before training at London's Central School of Speech and Drama (Britannica).

Stage career

She made her professional debut as Ophelia in Hamlet at the Old Vic in 1957. Over the following decades she became one of Britain's leading classical actors, especially with the Royal Shakespeare Company, with acclaimed performances as Lady Macbeth opposite Ian McKellen, Juliet and Cleopatra. She also played Sally Bowles in the first London production of Cabaret (1968). She has won a record number of Laurence Olivier Awards for an actor (Britannica; Olivier Awards).

Film and TV: M, Oscars and more

On TV she starred with her husband, Michael Williams, in the sitcom A Fine Romance and later in the long-running As Time Goes By (1992–2005).

In 1995 she became the first woman to play M, James Bond's boss, in GoldenEye, a role she held through Skyfall (2012).

Her film career took off in her 60s. Mrs. Brown (1997), in which she played Queen Victoria, earned her first Oscar nomination. She won the Academy Award for best supporting actress as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1998), despite only about eight minutes on screen (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Further nominations came for Chocolat, Iris, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Notes on a Scandal, Philomena and Belfast.

Personal life

Dench married actor Michael Williams in 1971. They had a daughter, actress Finty Williams, and remained married until his death in 2001. She has spoken publicly about living with macular degeneration, which has affected her eyesight.

And Furthermore by Judi Dench (memoir) Shakespeare in Love (1998) Blu-ray