10 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Judi Dench

By Rachel West. 18 Jan 2018 3:47 PM

Nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role in “Victoria & Abdul”, here are 10 things you might not know about the one and only Dame Judi Dench.

She Had A Harvey Weinstein Tattoo…On Her Behind

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She Got A Real Tattoo For Her 81st Birthday

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She Made The Best-Dressed List At Age 78

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She Had A Harvey Weinstein Tattoo…On Her Behind
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Luckily, this was a prank and not a permanent ink job. Judi Dench showed up for a lunch with the now-disgraced producer in 2014, joking that she figured out what gift to give the “man that has everything” with whom she credits with helping to launch her Hollywood career. Dench dropped her pants revealing “JD loves HW.”
She Got A Real Tattoo For Her 81st Birthday
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Dench celebrated her 81st birthday with some new ink. The actress had the words “Carpe Diem” – translated as “Seize The Day” – tattooed on the inside of her wrist at the urging of her daughter, Finty.
She Made Her Debut As A Snail
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A 5-year-old Dench made her stage debut as a snail complete with a shell made by her dad. All I had to do was crawl across the stage under this shell. When my parents came to it, I can remember standing up – and I can also remember somebody at the side of the stage saying ‘Get down! Get down!’ My first critic,” she said.
She Didn’t Always Want To Be An Actress
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Dench first trained as a set designer before becoming interested in drama after her older brother Jeffrey attended the Central School Of Speech And Drama. She applied and was accepted into the school, becoming classmates with Vanessa Redgrave – her future co-star in the 1985 film “Wetherby”. Dench graduated with a first class degree in drama and four acting prizes, including the Gold Medal as Outstanding Student.
She’s Losing Her Sight
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The Oscar-winning actress has been open about suffering from age-related macular degeneration, a condition that will eventually rob her of her sight. Dench revealed she relies on friends and family to read her scripts, tell her where stairs are and describe scenes in movies to her.
She Made The Best-Dressed List At Age 78
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In 2013, Dench made The Guardian’s list of the 50 best-dressed people over the age of 50. Dench favours Indian-inspired designs and is a long-time fan of designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla.
She’s Been A Dame For 30 Years
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She was crowned Dame Judi Dench in 1988, but was previously made an Officer Of The Order Of The British Empire in 1970.
She Has All Of The Awards
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An Oscar. A Tony. Six Oliviers. Ten BAFTAs. Dame Judi Dench has been raking in the accolades for her film and TV awards, earning her fist BAFTA in 1966 as “Most Promising Newcomer”. A nod for “Victoria & Abdul” would be her eighth Oscar nomination in 20 years.
She Had A Storybook Romance
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Dench met her husband Michael Williams in the early 1960s while performing in “A Winter’s Tale” in Australia. Her wedding ring is inscribed with the Shakespeare quote, “He will weep you, an ’twere a man born in April.” Williams sent his wife a single red rose every Friday during their nearly 30-year marriage, up until his death in 2001.

She’s been in a relationship with conservationist David Mills since 2010. The pair met when Dench opened a new badger and red-squirrel enclosure a few fields from her home.
She Embroiders For Her Co-Stars
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Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFayden revealed their “Pride And Prejudice” co-star Dench made needlework embroideries for the cast as a gift. The beautiful works were always embroidered with insults including a few choice curse words.

10 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Judi Dench

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