Pictures

1.

As British star of stage and screen, Dame Judi Dench turns 80, we take a look back at her life in pictures.

2.

Back in 1968 Judi had a provocative role as the amoral Sally Bowles in Cabaret, the musical at the Palace Theatre, London.

3.

1971 was the year she married actor Michael Williams at St. Mary's church, Holly Place, Hampstead. In the same year the couple appeared together in the Royal Shakespeare' Company's production of London Assurance.

4.

At 37 Judi gave birth to a baby girl - Finty Williams at a London clinic.

5.

The much-loved actress became Dame Judi Dench in 1988 after being awarded a DBE from the queen.

6.

Dench played the part of Gertrude opposite Daniel Day-Lewis as Hamlet in the title role of the National Theatre's production of Hamlet in 1989.

7.

In 2005 the Queen invested Dame Judi Dench with the Insignia of a Companion of Honour at Buckingham Palace.

8.

Sadly her husband Michael died in January 2001 after a long battle with cancer.

9.

She found new love in conservationist, David Mills and here the couple are seen with her daughter Finty and grandson Sammy Williams.

10.

Dench famously played the part of Jean Hardcastle opposite Geoffrey Palmer as Lionel Hardcastle in the long-running TV comedy series, As Time Goes By.

11.

In 2001 film Iris, Judi played the lead role in the true story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.

12.

Taking over from Robert Brown in the iconic role of M in the James Bond film series, Dench is the only female to have played the character. She became the new M in GoldenEye with Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.

13.

In GoldenEye M is cold, blunt and initially dislikes Bond, whom she calls a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War."

14.

Judi played the part of M from 1995 to 2012. Here she stands alongside James Bond played by Daniel Craig in 2012's Skyfall.

15.

She makes for quite an intimidating character.

16.

For her role as Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love, Judi was awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the 71st annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles in 1999.

17.

Following that she was given a BAFTA for Best Actress for Iris in 2002.

18.

She frequently graces the stage between film roles and is seen here in Hay Fever at the Theatre Royal in London in 2006.

19.

Judi is seen here with her daughter Finty at the Globe Theatre in central London.

20.

Ever elegant, Dame Judi Dench is pictured at the Royal World premiere of Skyfall at the Royal Albert Hall in London.