Editing Judi Dench (section)

=== 1970{{ndash}}1989: Rise to prominence ===
[[File:KennethBranaghApr2011.jpg|thumb|left|160px|Dench's first collaboration with [[Kenneth Branagh]] was in ''[[Henry V (1989 film)|Henry V]]'' (1989)]]
After a long run in ''Cabaret'', Dench rejoined the [[Royal Shakespeare Company|RSC]], making numerous appearances with the company in Stratford and London for nearly twenty years, winning several "best actress" awards. Among her roles with the RSC, she was the Duchess in [[John Webster]]'s ''[[The Duchess of Malfi]]'' in 1971. In the Stratford 1976 season, and then at the Aldwych in 1977, she gave two comedy performances, first in [[Trevor Nunn]]'s musical staging of ''[[The Comedy of Errors]]'' as Adriana, then partnered with [[Donald Sinden]] as Beatrice and Benedick in [[John Barton (director)|John Barton]]'s "British Raj" revival of ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]''. As [[Bernard Levin]] wrote in ''[[The Sunday Times]]'': "...demonstrating once more that she is a comic actress of consummate skill, perhaps the very best we have."<ref>{{cite book |last=Tanitch |first=Robert |title=London stage in the 20th century |publisher=Haus Publishing |location=London |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-904950-74-5}}</ref> One of her most notable achievements with the RSC was her performance as Lady Macbeth in 1976. Nunn's acclaimed production of ''[[Macbeth]]'' was first staged with a [[minimalist]] design at [[The Other Place (theatre)|The Other Place]] theatre in Stratford. Its small round stage focused attention on the [[psychological]] dynamics of the characters, and both [[Ian McKellen]] in the title role, and Dench, received exceptionally favourable notices. "If this is not great acting I don't know what is", wrote [[Michael Billington (critic)|Michael Billington]] in ''[[The Guardian]]''. "It will astonish me if the performance is matched by any in this actress's generation", commented [[J. C. Trewin]] in ''[[The Lady (magazine)|The Lady]]''. The production transferred to London, opening at the [[Donmar Warehouse]] in September 1977, and was adapted for television, later released on VHS and DVD. Dench won the [[The Society of West End Theatre|SWET]] Best Actress Award in 1977.

Dench was nominated for a [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]] for her role as Hazel Wiles in the 1979 [[BBC]] drama ''[[On Giant's Shoulders]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dench's nomination for ''On Giant's Shoulders'' |url=http://www.bafta.org/search.html?pageNo=38&q=actress&w=true |publisher=[[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] |access-date=23 April 2012}}</ref> She had a romantic role in the BBC television film ''[[Langrishe, Go Down (film)|Langrishe, Go Down]]'' (1978), with [[Jeremy Irons]] and a screenplay by [[Harold Pinter]] from the [[Aidan Higgins]] novel, directed by [[David Jones (director)|David Jones]], in which she played one of three spinster sisters living in a fading Irish mansion in the [[County Waterford]] countryside. Dench made her debut as a director in 1988 with the [[Renaissance Theatre Company]]'s touring season, ''Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road'', co-produced with the [[Birmingham Rep]], and ending with a three-month repertory programme at the [[Phoenix Theatre (London)|Phoenix Theatre]] in London. Dench's contribution was a staging of ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'', set in the [[Napoleonic era]], which starred [[Kenneth Branagh]] and [[Emma Thompson]] as Benedick and Beatrice. She has made numerous appearances in the West End including the role of Miss Trant in the 1974 musical ''[[The Good Companions (musical)|The Good Companions]]'' at [[Her Majesty's Theatre]]. In 1981, Dench was due to play [[Grizabella]] in the original production of ''[[Cats (musical)|Cats]]'', but was forced to pull out due to a torn Achilles tendon, leaving [[Elaine Paige]] to play the role.<ref name="cats">{{cite news |title=Record-breaking Cats bows out |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/1761508.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=15 January 2002 |access-date=16 February 2009}}</ref>

From 1981 to 1984, Dench starred in Britain's BAFTA award-winning ''[[A Fine Romance (1981 TV series)|A Fine Romance]]'' with her husband [[Michael Williams (actor)|Michael Williams]]. In 1987, Dench played a supporting role in Columbia Pictures film ''[[84 Charing Cross Road (film)|84 Charing Cross Road]]'', with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins. The film dramatizes a delightful and tender correspondence, of the same title, between American writer, Helene Hanff and British bookshop manager, Frank Doel, which began after WWII, in 1949, and ended in 1969. She also acted with the [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]] in London where she played Cleopatra in ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (1987). In 1989, she appeared in David Tucker's ''[[Behaving Badly (TV serial)|Behaving Badly]]'' for Channel 4, based on Catherine Heath's novel of the same name. That same year, she was cast as Pru Forrest, the long-time silent wife of Tom Forrest, in the [[BBC]] soap opera ''[[The Archers]]'' on its 10,000th edition.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers/backstage/14000.shtml|title=The Archers Backstage|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=6 August 2010|archive-date=26 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126140858/https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers/backstage/14000.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>