The daughter of a doctor, Dench was born and raised in York and made her acting debut in the city's cycle of mystery plays, in which both her father and older brother Jeffrey also appeared. After graduating from London's Central School of Speech and Drama, she made an auspicious debut with the Old Vic Theatre Company as Ophelia in "Hamlet" in 1957. The following year, Dench made her only (to date) Broadway appearance with the Old Vic and remained with the troupe until 1961, excelling in such roles as Hermia in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1960) and Isabella in "Measure for Measure" (1962). Throughout the 1960s, she continued to add one strong characterization after another. As Sally Bowles in the 1968 London staging of "Cabaret", Dench delivered what many feel is the definitive interpretation of the role. Joining the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1969, she spent much of the next two decades amassing an impressive body of work and earning numerous accolades. Among her most notable roles were Lady Macbeth (opposite Ian McKellen) in "Macbeth" (1977-78), Lady Bracknell in "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1982), Cleopatra in "Antony and Cleopatra" (1987-88) and Ranyevskaya in "The Cherry Orchard" (1989-90). In 1996, Dench became the first actress to win two Olivier Awards in the same year, for the play "Absolute Hell" and for her musical turn as Desiree in "A Little Night Music.” In 1997, she earned raves as an aging actress in David Hare's acclaimed "Amy's View" (adding a Tony Award to her collection when she reprised the role in a 1999 Broadway outing), in the title role of "Filumena" (1998) and as the matriarch of a theatrical clan in the Peter Hall-directed revival of "The Royal Family" (2001).

In those rare instances when she did act in films as a young woman, Dench often delivered remarkable performances. She was memorable as a young wife in the little-seen "Four in the Morning" (1965) and was majestic as Titania in Peter Hall's filming of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1968). From the mid-80s on, Dench's screen presence increased. In David Hare's provocative "Wetherby" (1985), she and Ian Holm were a married couple who become caught up in the personal turmoil of their friend (Vanessa Redgrave). She demonstrated her range with diverse portrayals including a flighty romance novelist in "A Room With a View" (1986), Anthony Hopkins' jealous wife in "84 Charing Cross Road" (1987), Rupert Graves' materialistic mother in "A Handful of Dust" (1988) and the lusty Mistress Quickly in Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V" (1989).

Her casting as M, the superior of James Bond (Pierce Brosnan), in "GoldenEye" (1995) vividly demonstrated the producers' efforts to update the franchise for the 90s and she reprised the role in "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997), "The World Is Not Enough" (1999) and "Die Another Day" (2002). Remarkably, in a career that spanned some 40 years, Dench had never played the lead in a film until she was cast as the widowed Queen Victoria who embarks on a questionable relationship with her Scottish manservant (Billy Connolly) in the John Madden-directed "(Her Majesty) Mrs. Brown" (1997). The film was originally intended as a made-for-British-TV-movie with the role of the monarch earmarked for Elizabeth Taylor. When Taylor fell ill, Dench was cast and it was released theatrically. Her performance earned the actress some of the best reviews of her career to that date. Additionally, she received many accolades for the role, including a richly deserved Best Actress Academy Award nomination. As a follow-up, director Madden cast her as another venerable British monarch, this time Queen Elizabeth I, in "Shakespeare in Love" (1998). Although Dench only appeared in a handful of scenes totaling approximately eight minutes, she made such a strong impression as the Virgin Queen that she was awarded that year's Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Now recognized internationally, Dench returned to the New York stage for the first time in close to 40 years, reprising her triumphant portrayal of a famous actress clashing ideologically with her daughter in "Amy's View", for which she earned the Tony Award. Her run was briefly interrupted when she returned to England to care for her husband, Michael Williams, who had been diagnosed with cancer. By that time, she could be seen on the big screen as an eccentric artist living as an expatriate in 1930s Italy in "Tea With Mussolini" (1999). The following year, Dench headlined the HBO original "The Last of the Blonde Bombshells,” playing a feisty widow who looks back on her life as a saxophone player in a WWII-era swing band. The actress agreed to provide the narration for the affecting documentary "Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport" before gracing screens again in the pivotal role of a crusty villager who is welcoming to the free-spirited Juliette Binoche in the Lasse Hallstrom-directed "Chocolat" (both 2000). The latter netted Dench yet another Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress.

Following her husband's death in January 2001, she continued to work, turning in two rich, very different performances. Hallstrom cast her as another crusty oldster, this time a Canadian woman assisting her nephew on his journey of self-discovery in "The Shipping News" (2001). Dench then undertook the demanding role of British novelist Iris Murdoch in the biopic "Iris", based on the memoirs of Murdoch's husband John Bayley. The actress had the challenge of playing a vibrant, intelligent woman who gradually succumbed to the ravages of Alzheimer's disease. As with everything she has done, Dench offered an impeccable and deeply moving performance which the members of the Academy recognized with a Best Actress nomination. She was back in period clothing for her follow-up, portraying the indomitable Lady Bracknell in a remake of Oscar Wilde's classic play "The Importance of Being Earnest" (2002). Also in 2002, Dench returned as M in the James Bond action feature "Die Another Day," which starred Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry.

Once finished with a brief sabbatical from onscreen roles in which she lent her voice to the animated feature "Home on the Range" (2004) and James Bond video games, Dench made a welcome return to the big screen in 2004, albeit in the unlikely vehicle "The Chronicles of Riddick," director David Twohy's sci-fi/action sequel to his cult hit "Pitch Black" which helped launch Vin Diesel's career. Dench played Aereon, an ethereal Elemental who helps Riddick (Diesel) learn the secrets of his origin. She made for an appropriately imperious Lady Catherine de Bourg in 2005's "Pride and Prejudice," director Joe Wright's lively adaptation of the Jane Austen classic starring Keira Knightly, and that same year she headlined director Stephen Frears' "Mrs. Henderson Presents" as Laura Henderson, a widow who becomes a partner in Britain's Windmill Theater during World War II and, in attempt to provide a spark for her downtrodden nation, hopes to allow her actresses to perform in the nude. For her performance, Dench earned award nominations from SAG, the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards for Best Actress.

After providing her distinguished British voice to the little-seen animated feature, “Doogal” (2006), Dench revived M for a fifth time in “Casino Royale” (2006), her first opposite Daniel Craig, successor to the role after Pierce Brosnan left the franchise in 2002. Though she expressed missing having to work with Brosnan, she heaped praise upon the new keeper of the flame, telling The Evening Standard how “frighteningly good” Craig was in the role. For her part, Dench maintained her usually blunt and stiff-upper-lipped performance as the head of MI6, sending him on a mission to Montenegro in order to join a high-stakes poker game with Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), banker to the world’s terrorist organizations. Anticipation was high prior to the film’s November 2006 release, with many critics calling “Casino Royale” one of the best films in the series. Meanwhile, Dench made a startlingly decisive departure in “Notes on a Scandal” (2006), playing a treacherous school teacher who habitually stalks younger women in a desperate attempt to find love. Oscar talk was high for Dench before the film released in a few select theaters in late December 2006. Once again, Dench began accruing award nominations, including nods from the Golden Globes for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and the Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role – Theatrical Motion Pictures. Dench earned her umpteenth Academy Award nomination, joining fellow Brits Helen Mirren and Kate Winslet, as well as Penelope Cruz and Meryl Streep, in the Best Actress category. Mirren was considered the odds-on favorite, setting up Dench to once again remain seated when the winner’s name is to be called.