ABSTRACT
Judi Dench was born in York, England in 1934. She made her London stage debut as Ophelia in Hamlet at the Old Vic Theatre, and first appeared on Broadway as Katherine in Henry V with the Old Vic Company. Amongst Dame Judi’s many roles are: Anya in The Cherry Orchard, Isabella in Measure for Measure, Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hermione and Perdita in The Winter's Tale, Viola in Twelfth Night, Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Regan in King Lear, Imogen in Cymbeline and the title role in The Duchess o f Malfi, all at Stratford-Upon-Avon. At the Aldwych in London, she has played leading roles in London Assurance, Major Barbara, Too True to Be Good, The Way o f the World, The Comedy of Errors and Pillars o f the Community. At the Oxford Playhouse, Dame Judi performed in The Twelfth Hour, The Three Sisters, The Alchemist, Macbeth and The Rules o f the Game. She played the title role in St. Joan and Amanda in Private Lives at the Nottingham Playhouse. For the National Theatre, Dame Judi has starred in The Importance o f Being Earnest, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, The Sea, The Seagull, Absolute Hell, A Little Night Music, and Amy's View (which trans ferred to Broadway, and for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress). Other performances include her portrayal of Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Barbara Jackson in Pack of Lies, leading roles in Waste, The Cherry Orchard, The Plough and the Stars, The Gifts of the Gorgon and the title role in Filumena for the Peter Hall Company. Dame Judi was given the SWET Best Actress Award for Macbeth, Juno and the Paycock and Pack of Lies. She received the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress for Juno and the Paycock (for which she also won the Plays and Players and Variety Club Best Actress Awards), A Kind of Alaska, The Importance o f Being Earnest, and Antony and Cleopatra. The Olivier Best Actress Award was bestowed for her work in Antony and Cleopatra (for which she also won the Drama Magazine Best Actress Award), Absolute Hell and A Little Night Music. Dame Judi was given the Patricia Rothermere Award for Distinguished Service to the Theatre by the Evening Standard.
