📍Heworth, York YO31, UK
1934 – 1953“Judi Dench was born in Heworth, a suburb of York, in December 1934, the youngest of three children. Her father, Reginald, was a doctor, and her mother, Olave, came from Dublin. Both loved the theatre: her father was the GP for York Theatre Royal, and her mother looked after the wardrobe for productions, and actors often stayed in the family's house. With her older brothers, Peter and Jeff, she grew up in a home full of laughter, books and drama, in the historic city with its walls, cathedral and medieval streets. She went to the Mount School, a Quaker girls' school in York, where she became a Quaker herself, a faith that has stayed with her all her life. At first she wanted to be a ballet dancer and then a stage designer, but York's revival of its medieval Mystery Plays drew her on stage. In 1951 she was chosen from her school to play an angel; she returned in 1954 as the young man in white at the tomb, and in 1957 as the Virgin Mary, performed in the ruins of St Mary's Abbey in the open air. Following her brother Jeff, she trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and made her professional debut in 1957 as Ophelia at the Old Vic. She went on to become one of Britain's greatest actors, on stage and screen, playing M in the James Bond films and winning an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love. York has made her an honorary freeman, and she has often returned to the city she calls home.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today