Short answers, pulled from the story.
Judi Dench was born in the Heworth area of York on the 9th of December 1934. Her father Reginald Arthur Dench practiced medicine there while her mother Eleanora Olave Jones served as wardrobe mistress at the York Theatre Royal.
Dench attended the Mount School which is an independent Quaker secondary school in York. She later applied to the Central School of Speech and Drama where she graduated with four acting prizes including the Gold Medal as Outstanding Student.
Producers brought Dench to take over the role of M in GoldenEye released in 1995. The character was reportedly modeled on Dame Stella Rimington who served as head of MI5 between 1992 and 1996, making Dench the first woman to portray M succeeding Robert Brown.
Dench won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love released in 1998. The romantic comedy drama depicted a love affair involving playwright William Shakespeare played by Joseph Fiennes while he wrote Romeo and Juliet.
By 2024 it was reported that her eyesight had deteriorated to the point where she is effectively retired from acting due to macular degeneration. Her eyesight problems prevent her from going out alone though she expressed a desire to continue working in some capacity.