Editing Judi Dench (section)

=== 1957{{ndash}}1969: National Theatre ===
[[File:Judi Dench 1959.jpg|thumb|160px|upright|Dench during an [[Old Vic]] tour at [[Belgrade]], Serbia, in 1959]]

Dench made her first professional stage appearance in September 1957 with the [[Old Vic]] Company at the [[Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool|Royal Court Theatre]] in [[Liverpool]], as [[Ophelia (character)|Ophelia]] in ''[[Hamlet]]''. According to the reviewer for ''[[London Evening Standard]]'', Dench had "talent which will be shown to better advantage when she acquires some technique to go with it."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Judi Dench: With A Crack In Her Voice|last=Miller|first=John|publisher=[[Hachette UK]]|year=2013|isbn=978-1-78022-644-6|page=30}}</ref> Dench then made her London debut in the same production at the Old Vic. She remained a member of the company for four seasons, 1957–1961, her roles including Katherine in ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'' in 1958 (which was also her New York City debut) and Juliet in ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' in 1960, both directed and designed by [[Franco Zeffirelli]]. During this period, Dench toured the United States and Canada and appeared in [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] and at the [[Edinburgh Festival]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/play/2/hamlet/production/9a5|title=Production of Hamlet &#124; Theatricalia|website=Theatricalia.com|access-date=21 August 2020}}</ref> She joined the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] in December 1961, playing Anya in ''[[The Cherry Orchard]]'' at the [[Aldwych Theatre]] in London and made her [[Stratford-upon-Avon]] debut in April 1962 as Isabella in ''[[Measure for Measure]]''. She subsequently spent seasons in [[repertory]] both with the [[Nottingham Playhouse|Playhouse]] in [[Nottingham]] from January 1963 (including a West African tour as [[Lady Macbeth]] for the [[British Council]]), and with the [[Oxford Playhouse|Playhouse Company]] in [[Oxford]] from April 1964.

In 1960, Dench appeared on television as Anna in the very last episode ("Traviso Dam") of the TV series ''[[The Four Just Men (TV series)|The Four Just Men]]'', in 1964 as Valentine Wannop in [[Theatre 625]]'s adaptation of ''[[Parade's End]]'' (shown in three episodes), and also played a juvenile trouble maker in an episode of the police series ''[[Z-Cars]]''. That same year, she made her film debut in ''[[The Third Secret (film)|The Third Secret]]'', before featuring in a small role in the [[Sherlock Holmes]] thriller ''[[A Study in Terror]]'' (1965) with her Nottingham Playhouse colleague [[John Neville (actor)|John Neville]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Dench |first=Judi |title=And Furthermore |publisher=[[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]] |year=2012 |page=157 |isbn=978-1-78022-440-4}}</ref> She performed again in ''Theatre 625'' in 1966, as Terry in the four-part series ''[[Talking to a Stranger]]'', for which she won a BAFTA for Best Actress.<ref name=debrett>{{cite web |url=http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today-profile?person=12682 |title=Judith Olivia (Judi) Dench |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221085438/http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today-profile?person=12682 |archive-date=21 February 2014 |access-date=29 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/keyword-search?keywords=judi+dench |title=BAFTA Awards Search: Judi Dench |publisher=British Academy of Film and Television Arts |access-date=9 September 2018 }}</ref> The 1966 [[BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles]] was made to Dench for her performance in ''[[Four in the Morning (1965 film)|Four in the Morning]]'' and this was followed in 1968 by a BAFTA [[British Academy Television Award for Best Actress|Best Actress Award]] for her role in [[John Hopkins (screenwriter)|John Hopkins]]' 1966 BBC drama ''[[Talking to a Stranger]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Judith Olivia (Judi) Dench |url=http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today-profile?person=12682 |work=People of Today |publisher=Debrett's |access-date=29 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221085438/http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today-profile?person=12682 |archive-date=21 February 2014}}</ref>

In 1968, she was offered the role of Sally Bowles in the musical ''[[Cabaret (musical)|Cabaret]]''. As [[Sheridan Morley]] later reported: "At first she thought they were joking. She had never done a musical and she has an unusual croaky voice which sounds as if she has a permanent cold. So frightened was she of singing in public that she auditioned from the wings, leaving the pianists alone on stage".<ref>{{cite book |last=Morley |first=Sheridan |author-link=Sheridan Morley |title=The great stage stars: distinguished theatrical careers of the past and present |publisher=Angus & Robertson |location=London |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-207-14970-2}}</ref> But when it opened at the [[Palace Theatre, London|Palace Theatre]] in February 1968, [[Frank Marcus]], reviewing for ''Plays and Players'', commented that: "She sings well. The title song, in particular, is projected with great feeling."