Distinguished actress to be honoured by University

Distinguished British actress Dame Judi Dench is to be honoured by the University of St Andrews.

Dame Judi, an award-winning actress of the stage and screen, will be awarded an honorary degree by the University this summer.

The actress has played some of the greatest leading ladies in theatre history, from Juliet to Cleopatra to Lady Bracknell.  On television, she starred in A Fine Romance, with her husband, the late Michael Williams, and the long-running television series As Time Goes By. 

On the big screen, she is probably best known for her portrayal of Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown and her recurrent role as ‘M’ in the James Bond films.  Other credits include roles in Iris, Chocolat, Notes on a Scandal, Mrs Henderson Presents and Shakespeare in Love, for which she won an Academy Award.  More recently, Dame Judi appeared in the popular period BBC drama Cranford.

Born in York and trained for the stage at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, Dame Judi began her career at the Old Vic and forged a long association with The Royal Shakespeare Company in 1961.  Following a distinguished career, which has included theatre directing, she was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1988 and a Companion of Honour in 2005.

Dame Judi will be made a Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) during the University’s summer graduations in June this year (Tuesday 24 June 2008).

She said, “I am thrilled to be coming to St Andrews and I am looking forward to it enormously.”

ENDS

NOTE TO EDITORS:

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Issued by the Press Office, University of St Andrews
Contact Gayle Cook, Press Officer on 01334 467227 / 462529, mobile 07900 050 103, or email [email protected]
Ref:  Judi Dench 210508
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