Jeffery Dench

Jeffery Danny Dench (29 April 1928 – 27 March 2014) was an English actor, best known for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was the elder brother of actress Judi Dench.

Jeffery Dench
Born
Jeffery Danny Dench

(1928-04-29)29 April 1928
Tyldesley, Lancashire, England
Died27 March 2014(2014-03-27) (aged 85)
Birmingham, England
Spouse(s)
Betty Martin
(m. 1953; died 2002)

Ann Curtis
(m. 2005)
Children3, including Emma Dench
RelativesJudi Dench (sister)
Finty Williams (niece)
Rebekah Elmaloglou (cousin)
Sebastian Elmaloglou (cousin)

Personal life

Jeffery Dench was born in Tyldesley, Lancashire to Eleanora Olive (née Jones), a native of Dublin, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a physician who met his future wife while studying medicine at Trinity College, Dublin.[1] Jeff lived in Tyldesley with his brother Peter; later the family moved to York where his sister, Judith, was born.

Dench attended St Peter's, York, where he began acting with the role of Cleopatra in George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra.[2]

He spent his national service at an army theatre in Catterick before attending the Central School of Speech and Drama. It was here that he met Betty, his first wife, who was working as a speech therapist. He moved to Clifford Chambers and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963, where he worked for many years.[2]

With his wife Betty, Dench had three daughters: Sarah, a teacher who lives in Brailes; Clare, who lives in Shiplake; and Emma, a Roman historian previously at Birkbeck, University of London, and currently at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[3]

Betty died from a heart attack on 11 January 2002. Dench then married Ann Curtis, a costume designer for the RSC and a longtime family friend.[4] They lived in Stratford-upon-Avon and in 2012 he became the President of Stratford-upon-Avon Choral Society.

On 27 March 2014 it was announced that Jeffery Dench had died.[5] Writing after his death, Sylvia Morris said:

When not playing grotesque old men, he brought humour, warmth and integrity to his parts. As a member of the audience, seeing Jeffery Dench's name on the cast list was a guarantee of quality. Shakespeare did write brilliant leading roles for Burbage and others, but he also wrote for a known company of talented professionals. The RSC has been fortunate to have among its regulars a number of high-quality actors, safe hands that could carry the plays along with distinction. Jeffery Dench was one of those, and if there were to be a late twentieth-century version of the page in the First Folio 'The Names of the Principal Actors in all These Plays', his name would be on the list.[6]

The RSC's artistic director, Gregory Doran, said he was, "the kind of actor that made the RSC what it is: he did not necessarily always play the leading roles, but proved by his presence that the company’s vitality lies in its strength in depth".[7]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1995First KnightElder #1

Television appearances
Year Programme Role Other notes
1955BBC Sunday Night Theatre – The Merchant of VeniceLauncelot Gobbo
1982The Life and Adventures of Nicholas NicklebyMr. Cutler/Landlord/Mr. Blightey/Arthur GrideMini Series
1985Cyrano de BergeracMarquis 1
1986What a Way to Run a Revolution
1987Rumpole of the BaileyDenis DriscollAppeared in one episode, entitled Rumpole and the Old, Old Story
1989The Lady and the HighwaymanMagistrate
1996The Brittas EmpireWarwick NewmarkAppeared in one episode, entitled Surviving Christmas
2000Empires: The Greeks - Crucible of CivilizationPericlesUncredited

Selected theatre appearances
Year Play Role Theatre
1964Henry IV Part 1 by William ShakespeareRichard Scrope, Archbishop of YorkRoyal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
1965Hamlet by William ShakespeareMarcellus/Ambassador from EnglandAldwych Theatre, London
1969/71/72Twelfth Night by William ShakespeareAndrew AguecheekRoyal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon[8]
1971Toad of Toad Hall by A. A. MilneRattyRoyal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
2002Henry V – The Battle of Agincourt by William Shakespeare, adapted by John BartonChorusVarious, including King Edward VI School
2006Merry Wives – The Musical by William ShakespeareRobert ShallowRoyal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

References
  1. "The Importance of Dame Judi". 6 September 2002.
  2. Profile Archived 8 November 2007 at Archive.today, WorcesterNews.co.uk; accessed 19 March 2016.
  3. Harvard University: Emma Dench, fas.harvard.edu; accessed 19 March 2016.
  4. Judi Dench and her brother Jeffery, timesonline.co.uk; accessed 19 March 2016.
  5. Jeffrey Dench, actor brother of Dame Judi Dench, dies, telegraph.co.uk; accessed 19 March 2016.
  6. Morris, Sylvia. "Veteran Shakespeare actor, Jeffery Dench". The Shakespeare Blog. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  7. Quinn, Michael (14 April 2014). "Jeffery Dench". The Stage. London. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  8. Twelfth Night, rscshakespeare.co.uk; accessed 19 March 2016.
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