Judi Dench: The actress who can play it all

Dench is a British actress who has performed and won awards in stage, TV and film. She is also an author.

Both her parents were involved in the theatre. Her mother worked in wardrobes and her father, a doctor, was also an actor.

It was her brother Jeffrey, an actor in his own right, who encouraged her to attend London’s Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art. Dench achieved a degree and won the Gold Medal as Outstanding Student.

Williams was very enthusiastic about Dench playing the role. According to Dench, he said, “Oh God, oh crikey, you’ve got to do it.”

Williams gifted Dench with a red rose every Friday for the almost 30 years they were married. Williams died in 2001.

This honor was bestowed on Dench in 1988. The full title is Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

In her Quaker junior school, at the age of five, she played the title role of a snail. The play was "Four and Twenty Tailors Went to Kill a Snail," which comes from a nursery rhyme.

This role was Dench’s professional stage debut. She would go on to act in several other Shakespeare plays.

Dench and husband Michael worked together in both movies and TV. The couple had one child together, Finty, who is also an actress.

The sitcom was well received and ran for 26 episodes. Dench received the BAFTA award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.

This six-part series was broadcast live. Consequently, there were no recordings available.

Dench was set to play the part of Grizabella. Before she could do so, she suffered a torn Achilles tendon and had to leave the musical.

Diesel courted Dench by sending her flowers to convince her to play the part of Aereon. She did, but unfortunately the movie received bad reviews.

Dench starred with Leonardo DiCaprio, who played the role of Hoover. She played his mother. Clinton Eastwood directed the movie.

Dench never considered herself a singer, but her performances as Sally Bowles were well received. "Cabaret" was her first musical performance.

Featured in "Angelina Ballerina," Dench did the voice-over for Miss Lilly. Her daughter, Finty, was Angelina.

Her character, M, was actually killed in her seventh Bond film, "Skyfall," and Dench cried when she learned of M's fate. However, Dench was brought back to play the role in an eighth Bond film, "Spectre," with some creative writing.

In 1995, Dench established herself as a Hollywood favorite in this film. She became highly favored with American audiences.

Dench played the role of M in the four Bond films Brosnan starred in. Although Brosnan left the role, the films he starred in still remain some of the highest grossing in the Bond series.

Dench was the first woman to play “M” and she is considered the favorite. A man is scheduled to play “M” in the next Bond film, 2018's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."

Jack, a Royal Doulton statue, is a reminder of Dench’s contribution to the 007 series. He played a cameo role in "Skyfall," where he sat on M’s desk and survived an explosion with some damage. He was seen again in the 2015 Bond movie, "Spectre."

When M died in "Skyfall," she bequeathed her belongings to Bond and her character was called Olivia. Appropriate, since that is Dench’s middle name in real life.

Dench played the role of Queen Elizabeth. speaking for only eight minutes. That performance won her an Academy Award for Supporting Actress.

Dench played the role of Queen Victoria. The movie was originally intended to air as an episode of Masterpiece Theater.

Dench once said she didn’t like filming very much. She did however tell the NY Post that “playing M is the closest to glamour I’ve ever got.”

"The Third Secret" was a crime drama, with Dench playing the role of Miss Humphries. It was directed by Charles Crichton, who would later write and direct "A Fish Called Wanda."

This love triangle drama directed by Dench featured Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. It was Dench’s first time directing.

Dench was nominated for every one of these films. However, she did not win in any of them.

In this dark fantasy drama, Dench played the role of a wounded Ymbryne. Her character, Miss Avocet, had to use a crossbow in the film.

Dench will play Princess Dragomiroff in the upcoming FOX film, which is expected to be released in 2017. It is a remake of 1974's "Murder on the Orient Express."

Dench wrote about her 54-year career in "And Furthermore." She refuses to call it an autobiography or a memoir, because her life isn't over and the book isn't the final word. She said she plans to keep working “right to the end.”

Both Dench and Mirren are famous British actresses. Both have also been honored with the title of Dame.

Dench's father, Reginald Dench, was the resident doctor for the Theatre Royal in York and sometimes acted as well. Her mother was musically inclined. No wonder she and her brother, Jeffrey, both became actors.

Unable to read, Dench has someone read scripts to her. Often the person is her daughter or her agent.

For Dench’s 81st birthday, her daughter Finty gifted her with the tattoo. On her right wrist she displays "carpe diem," Latin for “seize the day."