A seven-time Academy Award nominee, Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born December 9, 1934) won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Queen Elizabeth I, in the film ‘Shakespeare in Love’ (1998). She is an English actress regarded as one of the best in British history, seen as a “peerless performer” with roles that have ranged from Shakespearean dramas to the ‘James Bond’ films.

Her other Oscar-nominated roles were in ‘Mrs Brown’ (1997), ‘Chocolat’ (2000), ‘Iris’ (2001), ‘Mrs Henderson Presents’ (2005), ‘Notes on a Scandal’ (2006) and ‘Philomena’ (2013). Judi Dench, as she is commonly known, has also received multiple awards and other accolades. She has been active in her career on stage and in films since 1957.

Her life-long career on the stage and in the film industry is complimented by her professional role as an advisor to the American Shakespeare Center and her support as a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the United Kingdom to perform Shakespeare dramas in professional theaters.

In a biography by John Miller, it was noted that in the late 1990s, Dench was the patron of over 180 charities, many of which were related either to the theater or to medical causes.

Dench is a long-time Quaker since her school years and in 2013, she said of her faith, “I think it informs everything I do…I couldn’t be without it.”

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