DAME Judi Dench is an Oscar-winning actress best known for a list of star performances on the stage and screen stretching over seven decades.
The York-born actress has won an Academy award, a Tony, two Golden Globes, six BAFTAs for film work and four television BAFTAs, plus two Golden Globes and seven Olivier awards.
She has also picked up two Screen Actors Guild awards.
Her 1998 Oscar win in the Best Supporting Actress category came for her performance as Queen Elizabth I in the film Shakespeare in Love.
Read on for all the latest Judi Dench news, interviews and updates on the start of stage and screen.
Latest Dame Judi Dench news
Dame Judi Dench addresses questions over retirement
Dame Judi Dench fined when Bond theme played on her mobile
Inside the 15th century farmhouse owned by Dame Judi Dench
Dame Judi Dench's chat show appearances on Graham Norton
The actress has been seen on the BBC Friday night chat show talking with the host about her career highs, reviewing her Hollywood performances and engaging with other global stars.
How old is Judi Dench?
Born in York, North Yorkshire on December 9, 1934, Dame Judi Dench is 91-years-old.
Dame Judi Dench returning to York
Dame Judi Dench will join her writing partner Brendan O’Hea for a conversation about her new memoir at York Theatre Royal on Sunday, November 8.
The show, ‘Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?’ – the title of her memoir - is set to unveil details of Dame Judi’s life which she has never shared before.
Guests will hear from the star as she discusses her most famous roles, such as M in James Bond, Iris Murdoch and Queen Victoria.
Speaking about this, a representative for York Theatre Royal said: “She has played queens and murderers, mothers and monsters, Shakespeare’s heroines and the most powerful woman in British intelligence.
“Yet throughout a career spanning more than 70 years, a single question has followed her into every rehearsal room: is it too late to make a run for it?
“At turns deeply touching and riotously funny, this evening will show Judi at her inimitable best: telling the stories of a lifetime spent as one of the world’s best-loved performers.”
Brendan O’Hea shared: “Hearing her recount stories from her past has made me appreciate how certain events, experiences, doubts and knock-backs have conspired to make her the extraordinary person and actor she is.”
Dame Judi previously worked with O’Hea on her 2024 book Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, in which the actress reflects on the Shakespearean roles she's played throughout her life.
Every ticket sold includes a hardback copy of Is It too Late to Make a Run for It – expected to hit the shelves in November.
Dame Judi Dench's film and theatre portfolio
Dame Judi Dench has enjoyed one of the most celebrated careers in the history of the British performing arts.
She started her professional acting career with the Old Vic Company in 1957, earning plaudits in Shakespearean roles which included Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth.
She went on to become one of the leading figures of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.
Early screen successes include A Room with a View (1985), before she achieved international fame as M, the head of MI6 in the James Bond franchise, starting with Goldeneye in 1995.
She went on to portray the iconic boss of the 007 character in eight Bond films.
As well as earning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1988) her many acclaimed films also include Mrs Brown, Chocolat, Iris, Mrs Henderson Presents, Notes on a Scandal, Philomena and Belfast.
West End Theatre to be renamed Dame Judi Dench Theatre
Shaftesbury Theatre, the largest independent theatre in the West End announced in June that it is set to become the Judi Dench Theatre from February 2027.
The theatre says the tribute will honour Dame Judi Dench’s exceptional contribution to British theatre and the performing arts, as well as being the first time a West End theatre has been named after an actress.
Dame Judi said: "The Shaftesbury Theatre has always held a special place in my heart.
"My relationship to the Theatre of Comedy and to the Taffner family goes back many years and to have this beautiful theatre renamed after me is truly overwhelming.
"Live theatre continues to be so important as a way of telling stories and entertaining audiences, something I have aimed to do all my working life."
Dame Judi - who was born in Heworth and had her start as an actress in the York Mystery Plays - was a founding member of the Theatre of Comedy and helped secure the future of the Shaftesbury in the 1980s and early 1990s.
This work also led to a close relationship with the Taffner family, who own the theatre and a production company, and saw her staring in the long-running television series As Time Goes By, which was produced the family.
Donald Taffner Jr, chairman, said: "Dame Judi has been a close friend of the DLT family for so long, particularly from her involvement with As Time Goes By, and we will always treasure the time she made in her busy schedule to make the programme.
"We have such fond memories of Judi at the Shaftesbury from the meetings for the Theatre of Comedy members to when her husband was performing in a number of the Theatre of Comedy productions.
"We are therefore delighted to recognise her extraordinary talent and extensive contribution to many in the renaming of our theatre."
Eleanor Lang, chief executive, said: "We are so excited to rename the Shaftesbury Theatre in honour of Dame Judi.
"Not only does she play an important role in our history, but she is an iconic figure of the stage and screen landscape.
"We don’t celebrate brilliant women enough in our West End theatre names, so we are delighted that her name will be forever in lights above our doorway."
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