Judi Dench

Judi Dench grew up close to the stage. In York, her father was the doctor for the York Theatre Royal and her mother its wardrobe mistress, and actors often stayed at the family home. She first trained as a set designer, until she saw Peggy Ashcroft play Cleopatra, a night she later said changed her life. She went on to the Central School of Speech and Drama, in the same class as Vanessa Redgrave.

She made her professional debut in 1957 as Ophelia in Hamlet with the Old Vic Company and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1961. Her best-known stage role there came in 1976: Lady Macbeth opposite Ian McKellen, in Trevor Nunn’s production at The Other Place in Stratford. The small round stage kept the focus on the characters’ minds, and both leads drew outstanding reviews.

Film fame came late. In 1995 she became M, James Bond’s boss, in GoldenEye, and kept the part for eight films until 2015. She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love, a role of about eight minutes on screen, which she joked about when she collected the award.

Macular degeneration effectively ended her acting career in 2024. Start with Shakespeare in Love, then watch Philomena (2013), which earned her a Best Actress nomination.