December 9th is apparently the day to be born if you want to be bestowed with acting prowess and an intimidating amount of power over us mere mortals. Not only is today the 79th birthday of the one and only Dame Judi Dench, but it happens to be John Malkovich’s 60th birthday and Kirk Douglas’ 97th as well. While the men are undoubtedly noteworthy, let’s talk about the lady of the hour for the moment.
Judi Dench has a career that’s transcended decades, starting in a small scale in the late 1950s and steadily gaining steam ever since. It seems insane that one person could tackle that much in one life, but Dench has done it all, starring in a series of prestigious classical roles (like a truly disturbing and stirring rendition of Lady Macbeth opposite Ian McKellen in the 1970s) to anything as far away from Shakespeare as The Chronicles of Riddick. Today, she’s perhaps best known and most beloved for her long-held role as M in the Bond franchise; the secret agent in the center of the story may change, but M has stayed the same for almost 20 years.
Currently, Dench is starring in Philomena, the story of a woman seeking the son she was forced to give up for adoption as a young girl years ago. And it doesn’t look like she’ll be slowing down any time soon. She is, after all, the woman who cross stitches dirty phrases on pillows during her downtime on sets to give to her coworkers.
Whatta dame.
