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Dame Judi Dench, CH, DBE, OBE
Judith Olivia Dench was born in York, England on 9th December 1934.Dame Judi first got a taste for the stage, her first
stage appearance was as a snail in a play at Mount School a Quaker school in her home city. She went to London
to attend the Central School of Speech and Drama, leaving to join the touring company at the capital's Old Vic theatre in
1957. Dame Judi made her debut in a production of Hamlet, and stayed for four seasons, appearing in Franco Zeffirelli's 1960
stage production of Romeo and Juliet. She moved on to the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1961, and took her first film role
in 1964, a small part in Charles Crichton's drama The Third Secret. Despite an acclaimed role in Anthony Simmonds' kitchen
sink drama Four In The Morning - which won her a 1966 Bafta award for "most promising newcomer to leading film roles" - Dame
Judi mostly took stage and TV roles. In 1967 she played Sally Bowles in the West End production of Cabaret, but it was her
Shakespearian roles which really marked her out.
She has played nearly all of his major female parts - her 1987 Cleopatra at the National Theatre won her many plaudits
- and shortly afterwards, she was made Dame Judi. Away from the stage, she starred in wistful TV sitcoms A Fine Romance with
her late husband Michael Williams and As Time Goes By. She also directed Kenneth Branagh in a 1989 TV production of John Osbourne's
Look Back In Anger.
Further stage fame came in 1996 when she became the first person to walk away with two Olivier awards in the same year
- best actress for Absolute Hell and best actress in a musical for A Little Night Music. Movie recognition also arrived in
the mid-1990s. Dame Judi played M in the Bond film GoldenEye, and then played Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown in 1997 - a role
which won her a Golden Globe and her first Oscar nomination. Another brief royal role - as Queen Elizabeth in Shakespeare
in Love - saw her bag her first Oscar in 1999. She was only featured for a short amount of time in the film, and she said
of her best supporting actress statuette: "I feel I only deserve a little bit of him after only being on screen for eight
minutes."
Despite the death of her husband, Dame Judi has kept busy - winning a TV Golden Globe for The Last of The Blonde Bombshells
in 2001, and picking up another Oscar nomination for Chocolat in the same year. "Grief produces more energy, and all that
needs burning up," she told John Lahr of the New Yorker late in 2001, although she admitted feeling "lopsided" without the
man who sent her a red rose each Friday during their marriage. Their daughter, Finty Williams - herself an actress - told
the newspaper her father's death had left her mother "curiously liberated".
But now Dame Judi is turning heads herself once again - she received a Golden Globe nomination for Iris, in which
she played the writer Iris Murdoch, and a Bafta nomination for the role.
In 2005 Dame Judi Dench, was been given the prestigious Companionship of the British Empire award in the Queen's
birthday honours, is one of the UK's most revered actresses. Having been made a Dame in 1988, she is one of only 65 people
in the UK to receive the Companionship honour - reports the BBC. It is recognition of her contribution to drama in an acclaimed 47-year career covering stage, screen and TV work.
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a BBC profile
a delightful and informative
fan-based website, the nearest
thing to an official
Dame Judi Dench website
She made history in 1996
as the first person to win two
Olivier awards (for British theatre)
a portrait at the
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4 series, 26 episodes
1981-84
ITV. London Weekend Television
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Summary
Laura (Judi Dench) is still unmarried at thirty-seven. Her sister Helen (Susan Penhaligon) would
like to see her 'married off', so she tries a spot of matchmaking. She introduces Laura to Mike (Michael Williams) at a party.
Laura and Mike don't really take to one another at first, but they pretend to get on well to keep Helen happy. As time goes
by, a relationship develops, but it's very much an 'on-off' one.
Cast List
Judi Dench as
Laura Dalton
Michael Williams as
Mike Selway
Susan Penhaligon
as
Helen Dalton
Barker
Richard
Warwick as
Phil
Barker
Geoffrey Rose as
Harry (series 1-2)
George Tovey as
Charlie Paynter (series 1-2)
Richard Pearson as
Tom Dalton (series 3-4)
Lally Bowers as
Alice Dalton (Series 3-4)
Karl Howman as
Terry Bullivant (Series 3-4)
Michael Lees as
Wilfred Robinson (Series 3-4)
Episode List
Series 1 (1 Nov 81 - 13 Dec 81)
1. First Meeting
(1 Nov. 1981)
2.Different Answers
(8 Nov. 1981)
3.The Restaurant
(15 Nov. 1981)
4. Unlucky In Love
(22 Nov. 1981)
5. How To Avoid Bankruptcy
(29 Nov 1981)
6. Keep Them Apart
(6 Dec. 1981)
7. Playing Games
(13 Dec. 1981)
Series 2 (17 Jan 82 - 21 Feb 82)
1. A Helping Hand
(17 Jan 1982)
2. A Trip To The Dentist
(24 Jan 1982)
3. Was That A Proposal?
(31 Jan. 1982)
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