And Furthermore
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Michael and Sammy at Eriska.
With Finty, Sammy and Minnie.
With Geoffrey Palmer in As Time Goes By. Geoffrey taught me to fine-tune my timing on television.
In Cranford with Lisa Dillon, Eileen Atkins and Imelda Staunton.
Pierce Brosnan and I got on very well indeed, and I loved M’s line rebuking Bond, calling him ‘a sexist, misogynistic dinosaur’.
With a new Bond, Daniel Craig, in Casino Royale. He too is hugely good fun to work with, and does most of his stunts himself.
With the writer and director of Shakespeare in Love, Tom Stoppard (left) and John Madden, at the announcement of the Oscar nominations.
With the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. I was so surprised to win it for eight quick minutes with bad teeth.
On the set of Tea with Mussolini, when Finty brought Sammy out for his first Italian holiday.
With Kevin Spacey, who played my nephew in The Shipping News. He is a brilliant mimic with a good ear for other actors’ voices.
Bob Hoskins and I had a terrible time dancing in Mrs Henderson Presents. Bob said, ‘The trouble with you is you have hooves instead of feet.’
With Toby Stephens in The Royal Family. One night during the run he heard he had got the part of the villain in the next Bond film, and then had to say the line onstage, ‘Oh God, I hate pictures.’
After a performance of The Breath of Life with Maggie Smith and a visiting member of the audience who looked familiar.
Ladies in Lavender, directed by Charles Dance. One critic moaned, ‘This film will only appeal to fans of Maggie Smith and Judi Dench.’
With Jim Broadbent in Iris in 2001. He won the Oscar for it, and it was very exciting to be there with him that night.
In Notes on a Scandal, as the terrifying schoolteacher Barbara Covett, with Cate Blanchett.
Two strongly contrasting films in 2009. Nine, a large-scale musical with an international cast; and Rage, shot on a shoestring as a series of monologues filmed against a coloured screen.
My first appearance at the BBC Proms in July 2010, in a concert performed to honour Stephen Sondheim on his eightieth birthday.
Chronology of parts
Awards
1961
Paladino D’Argentino at the Venice Festival for Romeo and Juliet
1965
BAFTA Award Most Promising Newcomer for Four in the Morning
1977
SWET Award Best Actress for Macbeth
1980
SWET Award Best Actress for Juno and the Paycock
1981
BAFTA Award Best Actress for A Fine Romance and Going Gently
1984
SWET Award Best Actress for Pack of Lies
1987
Olivier Award Best Actress for Antony and Cleopatra
1995
Olivier Award Best Actress for Absolute Hell
1995
Olivier Award Best Actress in a Musical for A Little Night Music
1998
Golden Globe Award Best Actress for Mrs Brown
1998
Critics Circle Award Best Actress for Amy’s View
1998
BAFTA Award Best Actress for Mrs Brown
1999
Academy Award Best Supporting Actress for Shakespeare in Love
1999
Tony Award Best Actress for Amy’s View
1999
American Shakespeare Guild JOHN GIELGUD AWARD for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts
2000
BAFTA Award Best Supporting Actress for Shakespeare in Love
2000
Golden Globe Award Best Actress for The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
2000
BAFTA Award Best Actress for The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
2001
BAFTA Award Best Actress for Iris
Acknowledgements
I am eternally grateful to all my friends and colleagues in the profession who have made my career such a happy and fulfilling one; many of them are named in these pages, and to the many others who are not I proffer my apologies as well as my thanks. Sadly some of them are no longer with us, and I miss them all.
For their permission to quote them, my particular thanks to John Moffatt for his poem, to David Hare for his letter, and to Trevor Nunn for his Address at my husband Michael’s funeral. I am also grateful to John Miller for his help, not least in checking many of the details against my occasionally patchy memory. I would like to express my thanks to Ion Trewin for inviting me to write this book, for his patience when I hesitated about seeing it through to completion, and for his meticulous editing of the manuscript.
Finally, I must pay special tribute to my daughter Finty and my grandson Sammy for all their love and support, and to whom I have dedicated And Furthermore.
Index
The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.
Absolute Hell (Ackland)
Academy Awards see Oscars
Achard, Marcel, A Shot in the Dark
Ackland, Rodney, Absolute Hell
Adams, Polly
Affleck, Ben
Africa, Nottingham Playhouse Company tour
Albert Hall, London
Albery Theatre, London
Alchemist, The (Jonson)
Alderton, John
Aldridge, Michael
Aldwych Theatre, London
Alice in Wonderland (Carroll)
All’s Well That Ends Well
American Shakespeare Guild, John Gielgud Award
Amy’s View (Hare)
Anderson, Mary
Andrews, Harry
Annis, Francesca
Anouilh, Jean, Romeo and Jeannette
Antony and Cleopatra
Apocalypse Now (film)
Apollo Theatre, London
Apted, Michael
Arbuzov, Aleksei: The Promise; The Twelfth Hour
Argyll, Margaret, Duchess of
Arms and the Man (Shaw)
As Time Goes By (TV series)
Ashcroft, Dame Peggy; Antony and Cleopatra; The Cherry Orchard; Cymbeline; The Duchess of Malfi; The Importance of Being Earnest
Asherson, Renée
Astrakhan Coat, The (Macaulay)
Atkins, Dame Eileen
Attenborough, Michael
Aubrey, John, Brief Lives
Australia, RSC tour
Ayckbourn, Sir Alan, A Small Family Business
BAFTA: awards; fellowship
Baker, George
Balcon, Jill
Banderas, Antonio
Bangkok
Bannerman, Celia
Barber, Frances
Barber, John
Barbican, London
Barrie, J.M., Peter Pan
Barrit, Desmond
Barton, John
Baxter, Keith
Bayley, John
Belfast
Belfrage, Julian
Belfrage, Victoria ‘Tor’
Bell, Joshua
Bennett, Arnold, Clayhanger
Benthall, Michael
Berry, Cicely
Binoche, Juliet
Birmingham Rep Studio
Birt, John
Birtwistle, Sue
Blanchett, Cate
Blatchley, John
Blessed, Brian
Blick, Newton
Bloom, Claire
Blythe, Peter
Boddington, Diana
Bond, Edward, The Sea
Bond, Philip
Bond, Samantha
Bonham Carter, Helena
Bonneville, Hugh
Boucicault, Dion, London Assurance
Boundy, Neville
Bowles, Peter
Boys from Syracuse, The (musical)
Brahms, Caryl
Branagh,
Kenneth; Coriolanus; Ghosts; Henry V; Ivanov; King Lear; Look Back in Anger; Much Ado About Nothing
Brando, Marlon
Breath of Life, The (Hare)
Brebner, Veronica
Brecht, Bertolt, Mother Courage
Bree, James
Bretherton, Philip
Brief Lives (Aubrey)
Briers, Richard
British Council
Broadbent, Jim
Broccoli, Barbara
Brook, Peter
Brook, Phoebe (school teacher)
Brooker, Moira
Brosnan, Pierce
Browne, Coral
Browne, E. Martin
Brühl, Daniel
Bryant, Michael
Burke, David
Burton, Richard
Button, Fiona
Byrne, Patsy
Cabaret (musical)
Caesar and Cleopatra (Shaw)
Caird, John
Cairncross, James
Calder-Marshall, Anna
Caldwell, Zoe
Callard, Rebecca
Callow, Simon
Campbell, Martin
Canada: filming The Chronicles of Riddick; filming The Shipping News
Caron, Leslie
Carter, Jim
Casino Royale (film)
Cassel, Jean-Pierre
Castle, John
Cats (musical)
Celebration (Storey)
Cellan-Jones, James
Central School of Speech and Drama
Chamberlain, Richard
Chapman, Paul
Charlecote
Chekhov, Anton: The Cherry Orchard; The Seagull; Three Sisters
Cher
Cherry Orchard, The (Chekhov): National Theatre; RSC; television production
Chichester
Chitty, Alison
Chocolat (film)
Christie, Julie
Chronicles of Riddick, The (film)
Church, Tony
Clifford, Richard
Clifton Preparatory School, York
Clinton, Bill
Close, Glenn
Clunes, Martin
Coburn, James
Coliseum, London
Collier, Patience
Collins, Pauline
Colquhoun, Robert
Comedy of Errors, The
Compton Verney
Congreve, William, The Way of the
World
Connolly, Billy
Content to Whisper (Melville)
Cooke, Alistair
Cooke, Juliet
Cooper, Rowena
Coriolanus
Corri, Adrienne
Cotillard, Marion
Country Wife, The (Wycherley)
Cowan, Theo
Coward, Noël: Hay Fever; Private Lives
Craig, Daniel
Craig, Michael
Cranford (TV series)
Crazy Gang
Crosbie, Annette
Cruttwell, Hugh
Cruz, Penelope
Cuckoo in the Nest (Travers)
Curtis, Simon
Cymbeline
Dance, Charles
Daneman, Paul
Daniel, Jennifer
Danner, Blythe
Davies, Howard
Davis, Ernie (Old Vic stage doorkeeper)
Day-Lewis, Cecil
Day-Lewis, Daniel
de Filippo, Eduardo, Filumena
de Sica, Vittorio
Dead Cert (film)
Dearman, Glyn
Dench, Jeffery (JD’s brother); stage career
Dench, Dame Judi
Life: childhood; schooldays; school plays; art school; Central School of Speech and Drama; Old Vic Company; American tour; European tours; joins the RSC; end of RSC contract; Nottingham Playhouse Company; West African tour; Oxford Playhouse Company; death of father; returns to Nottingham Playhouse; wins first BAFTA; returns to Oxford Playhouse; buys house in Hampstead; returns to the RSC; tour of Japan and Australia; marriage; pregnancy; birth of Finty; returns to work; buys house at Charlecote; back at the RSC; ankle injury and withdrawal from Cats; National Theatre Company; award of Dame of the British Empire; reads at Peggy Ashcroft’s Memorial Service; fire at Hampstead home; returns to National Theatre; Oscar nomination for Mrs Brown; Oscar win for Shakespeare in Love; on Broadway with Amy’s View; wins the Golden Quill award; death of Michael; receives BAFTA fellowship; returns to the RSC; knee operation and ankle injury; daily routine before going on stage; hopes for the future
Stage appearances: Absolute Hell; The Alchemist; Alice in Wonderland; All’s Well That Ends Well; Amy’s View; Antony and Cleopatra; Arms and the Man; The Astrakhan Coat; The Breath of Life; Cabaret; The Cherry Orchard; The Comedy of Errors; Content to Whisper; Coriolanus; The Country Wife; Cymbeline; The Duchess of Malfi; Entertaining Strangers; Filumena; The Firescreen; The Gay Lord Quex; The Gift of the Gorgon; The Good Companions; Hamlet; Hay Fever; Henry V; Henry VIII; The Importance of Being Earnest; Juno and the Paycock; A Kind of Alaska; King Lear; A Little Night Music; London Assurance; Macbeth; Madame de Sade; Major Barbara; Measure for Measure; The Merchant of Venice; The Merry Wives of Windsor; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Mother Courage; Mr and Mrs Nobody; Much Ado About Nothing; Pack of Lies; A Penny for a Song; Pillars of the Community; The Plough and the Stars; Private Lives; The Promise; Romeo and Jeannette; Romeo and Juliet; The Royal Family; The Rules of the Game; St Joan; The Sea; The Seagull; She Stoops to Conquer; A Shot in the Dark; Time and the Conways; Toad of Toad Hall; Too True to be Good; The Twelfth Hour; Twelfth Night; Waste; The Way of the World; The Winter’s Tale; The Wolf; Women Beware Women; York Mystery Plays
Television and radio roles: Absolute Hell; As Time Goes By; The Cherry Orchard; The Comedy of Errors ; Cranford; A Fine Romance; Ghosts; Going Gently; Henry V – Age of Kings; Hilda Lessways; King Lear; Langrishe, Go Down; The Last of the Blonde Bombshells; Love in a Cold Climate; Luther; Macbeth; Saigon – Year of the Cat; Talking to a Stranger; Whom Do I Have the the Honour of Addressing?; Z-Cars
Film roles: Casino Royale; Chocolat; The Chronicles of Riddick; Dead Cert; Die Another Day; Charing Cross Road; Four in the Morning; GoldenEye; Henry V; The Importance of Being Earnest; Iris; Ladies in Lavender; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Mrs Brown; Mrs Henderson Presents; Nine; Notes on a Scandal; Pride and Prejudice; Rage; A Room with a View; Shakespeare in Love; The Shipping News; A Study in Terror; Tea with Mussolini; The Third Secret; Tomorrow Never Dies; Wetherby; World Is Not Enough, The
Directing: The Boys from Syracuse; Look Back in Anger; Macbeth; Much Ado About Nothing; Romeo and Juliet
Dench, Olave (née Jones; JD’s mother)
Dench, Peter (JD’s brother)
Dench, Reginald (JD’s father)
Denham, Maurice
Depp, Johnny
Desert Island Discs (radio series)
Desert Song, The (musical)
Dexter, John
Die Another Day (film)
Diesel, Vin
Digby Day, Richard
Donmar Warehouse, London
Doran, Gregory
Dotrice, Roy
Doyle, Patrick
Dubrovnik
Duchene, Kate
Duchess of Malfi, The (Webster)
Dukakis, Olympia
Dury, Susan
Eagle in a Cage (film)
Eden, Mark
Edgar, David, Entertaining Strangers
Edwards, Buster
84 Charing Cross Road (film)
Elizabeth II, Queen
Ellis, Robin
Englishby, Paul
Enigma (film)
Entertaining Strangers (Edgar)
Evans, Dame Edith
Evans, Tenniel
Everett, Rupert
Eyre, Sir Richard
Eyre, Ronald
Fairhall, Gary
Farhi, Nicole
Farrell, Nicholas
Feldman, Marty
Fellini, Federic
o
Fergie (singer)
Ffrangcon-Davies, Dame Gwen
Field, Sid
Fielding, Emma
Fiennes, Joseph
Filumena (de Filippo)
Findlater, Richard
Findlay, Deborah
Fine Romance, A (TV series)
Firescreen, The (Musset)
Firstborn, The (Fry)
Firth, Colin
Fitzgerald, Helen
Five Finger Exercise (Shaffer)
Fleming, Tom
Flynn, Barbara
Forbes-Robertson, Sir Johnston
Forrest, Frederic
Fortune Theatre, London
Foster, Miranda
Four in the Morning (film)
Francis, Dick, Dead Cert
Fraser, Moyra
Frayn, Michael
Frears, Stephen
Freeman, Morgan
Fry, Charis
Fry, Christopher, The Firstborn
Funnell, Jenny
Gable, Christopher
Galloway, Jenny
Gambon, Sir Michael
Garrick, David
Gaskell, Elizabeth
Gay Lord Quex, The (Pinero)
Geddis, Peter
Ghana, Nottingham Playhouse Company tour
Ghosts (Ibsen)
Gielgud, Sir John; as director; Ages of Man; The Cherry Orchard; The Gay Lord Quex; Henry VIII; King Lear; Measure for Measure; No Man’s Land; Twelfth Night
Gielgud Theatre, London
Gift of the Gorgon, The (Shaffer)
Gigli, Beniamino
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbreath, Alexandra
Giles, David
Glen, Iain
Glenister, Philip
Godfrey, Derek
Going Gently (TV drama)
Goldberg, Whoopi
Golden Quill awards
GoldenEye (film)
Goldsmith, Oliver, She Stoops to Conquer