Talk:Judi Dench

stage, film and television actor?
why do people insist on categorising actors like this unless it is VERY well known that they stick to a particular style of performance? She has done radio plays, narrated books, and probably worked in countless other media that i haven't thought of. i propose changing it to just "actor".


 * After i edited, someone changed it back. Is there any real reason for listing an incomplete set of her achievements? If we want to stress what a versatile actress she is why not go for something like "who has worked professionally in a variety of dramatic media"?

Mrs Brown
With regard to "Mrs. Brown" vs "Her Majesty Mrs. Brown" The casette cover has "Her Majesty Mrs. Brown" (in Australia at any rate).


 * http://www.imdb.com lists it as Mrs. Brown, AKA Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown or Mrs Brown (w/o period).

I'll conceed the point then.

I think the original (British) title was Mrs. Brown and it was retitled Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown for the US. c/f The Madness of George III. DJ Clayworth 20:43, 3 October 2005 (UTC)

picture
Is this really the best picture we can come up with? Surely something a little more representitive of her than Bond? DJ Clayworth 20:44, 3 October 2005 (UTC)
 * That pic is about to be deleted due to copyvio, so I've swapped it for the Mrs. Brown pic. Not a great pic, unfortunately, but it'll have to do until someone finds a better one we can use. Veledan 20:14, 26 November 2005 (UTC)
 * I have found a much better picture of her, shame she doesn't have that many around considering she's actually quite pretty for her age! User:pa-merynaten 1557BST 30.05.2006

It seems to me there are two copies of the same picture with the same caption on the page. Is this intended or what? If not, somebody might want to remove one of them. - green_meklar  20:30, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

Edit: forte
I changed the word (which is not really a word) "forté" to the proper "forte". Why would we care which pic wiki shows? There appears to be no vanity regarding age in her, and makes me admire her more.

In Britain
I've changed "In her native country" to "In Britain", as I felt the original phrasing had a fairly blatant US-centric tinge to it as well as being somewhat clumsy. AdorableRuffian 00:14, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

The Greatest Actress of the post-war period
Apologies to the fan who wrote that she is regarded as "the greatest actress of the post-war period" : that is pure POV (please see Wikipedia's pointers on opinion and fact) and as such I have amended it. I admire Ms Dench greatly but she must surely share those giddy heights with Helen Mirren, Miranda Richardson, Fiona Shaw etc? Who our greatest post-war actress is is an incalculable, a matter of conjecture. I could possibly allow something along the lines of "...alongside Dame Maggie Smith, she is seen as one of our finest actresses..." What say you, Good Wikipedians? Polite comments please

MARC & NATASHAYgrasil 03:09, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
 * While i don't have any problems with leaving the article to include your edit, I don't think it's too incongruous to say that when immeadiatley followed by the information on the polls which she has toppped. Plus i'm not sure it is strictly POV to say that - isn't POV where you say "Dench is brilliant" unequivocally? Writing about how someone/ something is percieved is an important part of wikipedia, isn't it? Amo 05:26, 7 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Whether she's the greatest or not is completely POV. There is no yardstick that can "prove" this, it's simply what some people believe (and other's disagree with).  It is certainly true that many people regard her as the greatest, but I suspect many of them either have short memories, or weren't even alive when many other great actresses were working in the post-war period.  JackofOz 05:42, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

But the point is absolutely not whether she is great or not - as you say, it cannot be proven. The important thing is that it is a significant part of her public image that she is "great". The fact that many regard her to be so should be represented (and it is, i know that). It's backed up by public polls, and listings of awards and awards she has been given. describing points of view makes it clear that "An article which clearly, accurately, and fairly describes all the major points of view will, by definition, be in accordance with Wikipedia's official 'Neutral Point of View' policy." Amo 05:53, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

I am still not overly convinced with the revised opening gambit relating to her greatness; that she is a "great" actress is generally accepted but it is not enough to say that that nebulous animal, "the Great British Public", see her as the greatest, without clarification. Toping two newspaper polls does not make a demi-god: I could argue that Maggie Smith, with two Academy Awards, should be termed "the greatest post-war British actress" but I would never do such a thing as I recognise that it is utterly subjective (no matter how much I may personally believe it). I am adding the word "probably" to the article, which in no way diminishes Ms Dench's acting skills but rather adds academic credence to the article. Ygrasil 20:44, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Confused - did you add "probably" (am i being stupid, i can't see when). As i said before, i was perfectly happy with the phrasing and saw/see no reason to change it. I still think there is plenty clarification for what is there, but continue to agree that opinions are subjective (while personally disagreeing with the idea that a skill for acting might make someone godlike! :) Amo 00:26, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

After seeing that "the greatest" had surfaced again, I thought adding "probably" might help clarify the situation. However, things seem to have settled down for now and reverted to what seems a good all-round compromise, so let sleeping dogs lie, say I ! Ygrasil 02:08, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Date of Damehood
I'm certain she wasn't made a DBE in 1988, as the article currently says. Assuming a typo, I've changed it to 1998, but it would be nice if we could find a ref showing the actual year and whether it was New Years Day or Queen's Birthday Honours. JackofOz 01:36, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

It was in fact 1988. Crouchend, 23 May 2007

I discovered Judi Dench in 1972 in "London Assurance" with Donald Sinden. It was one of her bigger successes on the stage and it's not mentionned. She still played the young girl when she was 6 months pregnant. JP Massias (20 janvier 2008) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.206.152.136 (talk) 22:43, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

National treasure
It's fair enough to quote legitimate commentators who describe Dench as a "national treasure", but the way it's written in the lead, in part of the summary about her, it is making it one of the most important statements made about her. Furthermore it's been written in such a way that it appears Wikipedia is calling her a national treasure. Without context it fails WP:NPOV, but with context it would be acceptable and relevant. That she is a "national treasure" is a widely held view rather than a universally held view, and it needs to be presented as such. I'll remove it again, but I think that it could be written in the article body and placed into context. For example, it needs to say that Dench has been described as a "national treasure" as part of the discussion about her, but it needs to be presented as an opinion expressed by relevant/noteworthy commentators rather than a statement of fact. Thanks Rossrs (talk) 01:48, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

WP:WikiProject Actors and Filmmakers priority assessment
Per debate and discussion re: assessment of the approximate 100 top priority articles of the project, this article has been included as a top priority article. Wildhartlivie (talk) 11:05, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

As Time Goes By
she never won anything for this?Toyokuni3 (talk) 14:24, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

A Fine Romance
Not much mention of this - and no mention of the awards she won for this series either.--82.0.207.86 (talk) 08:30, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Theatre credits
Hello... I thought that her theatre credits were substantially lacking here, so i took some time to add them. hope you like Adaircairell (talk) 12:42, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

new picture
I think there needs to be a less angry picture of her, if anyone can find it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by WhoYouAre (talk • contribs) 20:51, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

See my link to a possible one under the heading 'Change the picture Please!' below. 82.235.147.212 (talk) 15:52, 20 September 2015 (UTC)

Career -> 21st Century -> Tramlink Trivia
The article mentioned "At the end of 2006 Dench worked pro bono to record information announcements for Tramlink." I have been looking for a source to back up the info on the Tramlink Trivia section and have found nothing, so have removed this sentence. This source suggests it's a different female voice: http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/1407400.tramlink_celebrates_its_seventh_birthday/

If someone does come across a source please add it back and add it to the tramlink page as well. Thanks, -Bigger digger (talk) 12:19, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

Question
Why doesnt anyone add the fact that she is patron of the save the seagull theatre campaign in Lowestoft? —Preceding unsigned comment added by South pier (talk • contribs) 17:58, 25 March 2009 (UTC)
 * It's a relatively minor point and probably wouldn't be found in an encyclopaedia entry about her. If you'd like it included, the first step is to edit the page and add it. --h2g2bob (talk) 14:28, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

BAFTA wins
To illuminate the current revert war, In the traditional reverse order:

1965 Most promising newcomer Four in the Morning

1967 Best television actress

1981 Best television actress Going Gently; Fine Romance; Cherry Orchard

1984 Best television light entertainment performance Fine Romance

1986 Best supporting actress Room with a View

1988 Best supporting actress Handful of Dust

1997 Best leading actress Mrs Brown

1998 Best supporting actress Shakespeare in Love

2000 Best television actress Last of the Blonde Bombshells

2001 Best leading actress Iris

--Old Moonraker (talk) 10:54, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Change the picture, please!!!
Can somebody please find a lovely picture of Ms. Dench with which to replace the current one? I would, but I don't know how. She's a beautiful woman with a radiant, warm personality, and deserves to have a nice picture, representative of that, on here. I don't even mean one in which she's younger, I just mean one in which she's smiling! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.31.247.220 (talk) 07:07, 26 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I wouldn't go as far as the person above, but I agree that a new image is needed. The current one is abhorrent. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.9.150.42 (talk) 22:21, 15 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Problem is sourcing one that is free of copyright and can be used under a CC-BY-SA 3.0 License. Keith D (talk) 22:57, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

I found this one on Wikimedia Commons - so it should be OK? https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flickr_-_Siebbi_-_A_rose_for_Dame_Judi_Dench_(cropped).jpg 82.235.147.212 (talk) 15:52, 20 September 2015 (UTC)

Orphaned references in Judi Dench
I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Judi Dench's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "ten": From Kate Winslet:  From Brenda Blethyn:  

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT ⚡ 20:24, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

Missing reference detail
The article has references but there is no detail as to what books or articles these refer to. Can anyone supply full details? Thanks. Keith D (talk) 01:33, 15 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Dole 2007
 * Hoggard 2005
 * Hewitt 2005
 * Wright 2005

English is not my native language so I do not wish to add text to the main article, but:

Judi Dench played as Helen Damson in Peter Shaffer's The "Gift of the Gorgon", Opening Night at The Pit -- December 3, 1992.

Opening Night at Wyndham's Theatre -- March 23, 1993

References can be found in abundance, e.g. http://www.djdchronology.com/images/giftgorgon01.jpg

Xenonius 18:06, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

Tattoo on bum
The article says she "joked" that she had a tattoo on her bum based on the wording of the pagesix.com source. In fact, Harvey Weinstein has revealed on the BBC chat show "The Graham Norton Show" series 16 ep 14 broadcast 16th January 2015 that she revealed the tattoo to him and others at a party at The Four Seasons Restaurant, and it says "JD loves HW". Subsequently when she and Harvey Weinstein were at the 2014 BAFTA awards where she had been nominated for Philomena, Oprah Winfrey (who had also been nominated) asked Harvey Weinstein whether the story about the tattoo was true, and Judi Dench unbuckled her "pants" (trousers in UK) and showed it! So it is no joke.

I could put this in the article, but the source cannot be independently verified unless someone has watched that show. Should it be added anyway? 85.158.45.40 (talk) 04:42, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
 * I don't believe that is notable encyclopedic information, but if you want to add that the tattoo is in fact real, then it needs to be cited with a reliable source. --Lapadite (talk) 05:16, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
 * has the tv clip with some commentary. 50.0.205.75 (talk) 18:43, 4 March 2015 (UTC)

The tattoo came up again, and it has been clarified that it was a temporary tattoo. https://www.snopes.com/judi-dench-harvey-weinstein-tattoo/ http://uk.businessinsider.com/judi-dench-got-fake-tattoo-of-harvey-weinsteins-name-on-her-bum-2017-10

On her 81st birthday Dench got "carpe diem" tattooed on her wrist (includes photo, you can see the words are written across her wrist (perpendicular to her fingers) with carpe and diem each on a separate line). The fake JD loves HW tattoo is also mentioned in the article. http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36673739 -- 109.76.241.81 (talk) 23:08, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

Proposed addition
Not sure where to put this, but could someone use this comment by her in the article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftAeard31Hs — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mrdeleted (talk • contribs) 06:08, 4 March 2015 (UTC)

Caption to the Photograph
Transferred from article Keith D (talk) 18:12, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Yes, that is Joseph O'Conor and John Neville with JD - but the other man is certainly not Olivier!! Rogersansom (talk)

Author?
In the lead, it claims she is an author. But the only books she seems to have written are autobiographical. Does this really make her an author? &#8213; J u P it E er  (talk) 13:24, 2 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes, although I'm quite sure she is not well known for being an author. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:36, 2 November 2017 (UTC)


 * It seems very much like a case of undue weight to say she is an author in the intro. There is a tendency for Wikipedia articles to write about people actor/model/author/fashion designer/every career ever/etc when in my opinion only the most relevant careers should be mentioned.
 * The intro should summarize the article, but the article body does not elaborate on her books yet.
 * She is listed as the author of 3 books that I can see but I haven't gone digging any further to try to find if they are ghost written or not (even then the amount of help authors get from publishers varies wildly, so we'd probably need to take any claims of authorship at face value anyway).
 * I'd suggest removing the mention of author from the lede, and would discourage adding it back so long as the article text fails to discuss her books. -- 109.76.241.81 (talk) 14:19, 2 November 2017 (UTC)


 * Changed it to say she is a "theatre and film actress" and not mention author at all. I thought it was impornant to emphasize her theatre work but also it makes the sentence rythm flow bet. -- 109.76.241.81 (talk) 01:03, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

Miscaptioned Photo
The photo here, taken at a monument in Serbia, claims to show Laurence Olivier, Joseph O'Conor, John Neville and of course Judi Dench. The guy on the left is definitely Joseph O'Conor. The guy on the right is definitely John Neville. The bearded guy in the middle is definitely NOT Laurence Olivier. In fact, it looks to me like the director Charles Marowitz. (Google Image him and you'll see what I mean.) I think the confusion here may have arisen because O'Conor (in this photo, at any rate) looks a *tiny* bit like Olivier. As for the date - 'early 1970s'. Hmm. It looks much more mid-1960s. I suspect the Belgrade photographer who supplied the picture had rather shaky recall of the circumstances... (I see the misidentification was previously mentioned way back in 2015. About time it was rectified.) Clamias

Semi-protected edit request on 9 April 2019
Add Red Joan (2019) to filmography 2A00:23C4:218A:4800:30FD:5FCC:D065:2D06 (talk) 20:00, 9 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: Already listed at Judi Dench filmography. The filmography section in the main article does not list every film. NiciVampireHeart 19:22, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

WDYTYA - connection to Hamlet
I added this detail: "As part of the programme she visited the Kronborg castle in Helsingør and discovered that the royal court had been entertained by a troupe of players including Shakespearean actor William Kempe" as the connection to the play Hamlet seemed to be particularly relevant to her, especially as she is also a descendant of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (a fact which she mentioned again on The Graham Norton Show last Friday night). Kempe seems to be a likely direct link to Shakespeare. But is was reverted with this edit summary: "Dench also visited other places whilst there - specifically the achieves which is far more relevant that some dancers at a palace etc. This was research on a tv show and not something that she did or does in the private life." I'm not sure what is meant by "some dancers at a palace etc." This seems to miss the point entirely. Martinevans123 (talk) 11:37, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

ricote spain judy dench
i heard the rumor that she was renting a country house in ricote but thought its alot of malarky.. went there to visit the mountain and there she was with grandkid a redhead teen.. no secret service bodyguards like in james bond movies.. turns out she bought a place near bermeja.no neighbours nearby no pool just house and family.. big outdoor bbq and table.. doesnt spek spanish but shes welcome.. its the second time FAME came to ricote spain. in 2017 will smith rented here for 2 weeks just to rehearse a film. a quiet place rustic in winter too hot in summer. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.52.43.157 (talk) 11:13, 21 January 2022 (UTC)