The accomplished English actress Judith Olivia Dench, more commonly known as Judi Dench, has the credit of winning an Oscar, a Tony Award, two Golden Globes, a Screen Actors Guild Award, six Laurence Olivier Awards and nine BAFTA Awards was born in York, England on the 9th December, 1934 to Dublin native Eleanora Olave and doctor Reginald Arthur Dench. Judi Dench was brought up as a Quaker who lived in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester. Till the age of thirteen Judi Dench went to Mount School, York.

Judi Dench joined the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art and performed in three productions of York Mystery Plays during the late 1950s. In September 1957 Judi made her professional debut with the Old Vic Company playing the character of Ophelia in Hamlet and remained with the company for the next four years.

In December 1961, Judi Dench entered the Royal Shakespeare Company playing Anya in The Cherry Orchard. She subsequently worked for the Nottingham Playhouse followed by the Oxford Playhouse during the period of 1963 to 1968. In 1968, Judi Dench played in Cabaret which turned out to be one of the most successful musicals of that time. For the next two decades, she was associated with the RSC and gave acclaimed performances in John Webster's 1971 play The Duchess of Malfi, Trevor Nunn's, 1976 musical comedy The Comedy of Errors and John Barton's 1977 play British Raj. One of her major RSC achievement was the depiction of the character Lady Macbeth for which she received the Best Actress Award at SWET in 1977.

Judi Dench then appeared in the David Jones directed 1978 television movie Langrishe Go Down with Jeremy Irons broadcast by the BBC. In 1988 Judi Dench’s directorial debut came with the 1988 tour of Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road. Judi Dench appeared for the West End stage as Miss Trant at Her Majesty's Theatre in the musical version of The Good Companions. She also performed in A Little Night Music at the London National Theatre in September 1995, for which an Olivier Award was presented to her. In 1995, Judi Dench came into the limelight after accepting the role of James Bond's boss M for the upcoming James Bond film. Her first 007 Movie was Golden Eye followed by the 2006 blockbuster Casino Royale and its sequel Quantum of Solace.

Judi Dench is one of the most popular actresses on the London stage circuit and is often compared with Maggie Smith. The duo have performed together in Ladies in Lavender and David Hare's Breath of Life. In April 2006 Judi Dench on her return to the West End stage performed in Hay Fever. The same year she also performed as Mistress Quickly in The Merry Wives which was RSC's latest musical version of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Judi Dench is scheduled to make a return to the West End in Yukio Mishima's Madame De Sade from the 13th March to the 23rd May 2009 at Wyndham's Theatre.

Judi Dench has received numerous awards including six Laurence Olivier Awards for her London stage performances, and a 1999 Tony Award for her Broadway performance as Esme Allen in David Hare's Amy's View. Judi Dench received the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role as Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love. In recent years, Judi Dench has enjoyed an extremely successful film career. She has received six Oscar nominations during the last Nine years for movies such as Mrs. Brown released in 1997, Shakespeare in Love in 1998, Chocolate in 2000, Iris in 2001, Mrs. Henderson Presents in 2005 and Notes on a Scandal in 2006. In 2007 the BBC released The Judi Dench Collection containing eight television dramas including the 1966 quartet Talking to a Stranger, the 1973 Keep an Eye on Amélie, the 1981 dramas The Cherry Orchard & Going Gently, the 1987 productions Ghosts & Make and Break, the 1991 Absolute Hell and the 1990 film Can You Hear Me Thinking?, a movie showcasing Judi Dench and Michael Williams together.

Judi Dench received the OBE honour in 1970 and a Companion of Honour in 2005. She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1988. The patron of The Leaveners, the Archway Theatre and Friends School Saffron Walden Judi was selected as president of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in 2006. Judi Dench is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge.

In 1971 Judi Dench married English actor Michael Williams and the couple were blessed with a daughter Tara Cressida Williams on the 24th September 1972. Tara Cressida Williams is currently a successful actress. The couple have performed together in numerous stage and television productions. They are often remembered for their performance in Bob Larbey’s A Fine Romance broadcast from 1981 to 1984. In 2001 Michael Williams died after suffering from lung cancer.