Thursday 17 May 2012
Judy Dench
Dame Judith Olivia “Judi” Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA (born 9 December 1934) is an English film, stage and television actress.
Dench was born in Heworth, York, England, the daughter of Eleanora Olave (née Jones), a native of Dublin, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor who met Judi's mother while studying medicine at Trinity College, Dublin. Dench attended The Mount School, a Quaker Independent Secondary school in York, and became a Quaker.Her brothers, one of whom is actor Jeffery Dench, were born in Tyldesley, Lancashire. Notable relatives also include her niece, Emma Dench, a Roman historian and professor previously at Birkbeck, University of London, and currently at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 1971, Dench married British actor Michael Williams and they had their only child, Tara Cressida Frances Williams, known professionally as Finty Williams, on 24 September 1972.
Dench and her husband starred together in several stage productions, and the Bob Larbey British television sitcom, A Fine Romance (1981–84). Michael Williams died from lung cancer in 2001, aged 65.
Judy Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. She branched into film work, and won a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer; however, most of her work during this period was in theatre. Not generally known as a singer, she drew strong reviews for her leading role in the musical Cabaret in 1968.
During the next two decades, she established herself as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. In television, she achieved success during this period, in the series A Fine Romance from 1981 until 1984 and in 1992 began a continuing role in the television romantic comedy series As Time Goes By.
Her film appearances were infrequent until she was cast as M in GoldenEye (1995), a role she has played in each James Bond film since. She received several notable film awards for her role as Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown (1997), and has since been acclaimed for her work in such films as Shakespeare in Love (1998), Chocolat (2000), Iris (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) and Notes on a Scandal (2006), and the television production The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2001).
Judy Dench has received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film and television; her awards include ten BAFTAs, (including the Bafta Fellowship in 2001) seven Laurence Olivier Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. In June 2011, she received a fellowship from the British Film Institute (BFI).
She was married to actor Michael Williams from 1971 until his death in 2001. They are the parents of actress Finty Williams.
Dench was born in Heworth, York, England, the daughter of Eleanora Olave (née Jones), a native of Dublin, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor who met Judi's mother while studying medicine at Trinity College, Dublin.[4] Dench attended The Mount School, a Quaker Independent Secondary school in York, and became a Quaker.[5][6] Her brothers, one of whom is actor Jeffery Dench, were born in Tyldesley, Lancashire. Notable relatives also include her niece, Emma Dench, a Roman historian and professor previously at Birkbeck, University of London, and currently at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 1971, Dench married British actor Michael Williams and they had their only child, Tara Cressida Frances Williams, known professionally as Finty Williams, on 24 September 1972.
Dench and her husband starred together in several stage productions, and the Bob Larbey British television sitcom, A Fine Romance (1981–84). Michael Williams died from lung cancer in 2001, aged 65.
Dench was born in Heworth, York, England, the daughter of Eleanora Olave (née Jones), a native of Dublin, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor who met Judi's mother while studying medicine at Trinity College, Dublin.[4] Dench attended The Mount School, a Quaker Independent Secondary school in York, and became a Quaker. Her brothers, one of whom is actor Jeffery Dench, were born in Tyldesley, Lancashire.[5][6] Notable relatives also include her niece, Emma Dench, a Roman historian and professor previously at Birkbeck, University of London, and currently at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 1971, Dench married British actor Michael Williams and they had their only child, Tara Cressida Frances Williams, known professionally as Finty Williams, on 24 September 1972.
Dench and her husband starred together in several stage productions, and the Bob Larbey British television sitcom, A Fine Romance (1981–84). Michael Williams died from lung cancer in 2001, aged 65.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second novel in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, during which a series of messages on the walls on the school's corridors warn that the "Chamber of Secrets" has been opened and that the "Heir of Slytherin" will kill all pupils who do not come from all-magical families. These threats are followed by attacks which leave residents of the school "petrified".Throughout the year, Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger investigate the attacks, and Harry is confronted by Lord Voldemort, who is attempting to regain full power,and with the help of his friends thwarts an attempted comeback by the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents when Harry was one year old.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second novel in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, during which a series of messages on the walls on the school's corridors warn that the "Chamber of Secrets" has been opened and that the "Heir of Slytherin" will kill all pupils who do not come from all-magical families. These threats are followed by attacks which leave residents of the school "petrified" Throughout the year, Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger investigate the attacks, and Harry is confronted by Lord Voldemort, who is attempting to regain full power and with the help of his friends thwarts an attempted comeback by the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents when Harry was one year old.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets begins as Harry spends a miserable summer with his only remaining family, the Dursleys. During a dinner party hosted by his uncle and aunt, Harry is visited by Dobby, a house-elf. Dobby warns Harry not to return to Hogwarts, the magical school for wizards that Harry attended the previous year, explaining that terrible things will happen there. Harry politely disregards the warning, and Dobby wreaks havoc in the kitchen, infuriating the Dursleys. The Dursleys angrily imprison Harry in his room for the rest of the summer. Harry is rescued by his friend Ron Weasley and his brothers in a flying car, and spends the rest of the summer at the Weasley home.While shopping for school supplies with the Weasleys, Harry encounters Gilderoy Lockhart, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, a wizard famous for all manner of deeds, who demands to be in a photo shoot with Harry. Harry then encounters Lucius Malfoy, a Hogwarts governor and the father of his school enemy, Draco, who gets into a fight with Ron's father when he insults the Weasley family. As Harry prepares to return to Hogwarts, he finds that he and Ron are unable to go through the secret entrance to Platform 9 ¾, so they fly the Weasley car to Hogwarts. They land messily, and both boys are given detentions.Lockhart quickly proves to be an incompetent teacher, more concerned with students learning about his personal accomplishments. On Halloween, someone petrifies the school caretaker's cat and writes a message declaring that "The Chamber of Secrets" has been opened. Before the cat is attacked, Harry twice hears an eerie voice. He hears it first during his detention and second during a party, moments before the cat is attacked. Everybody in the school is alarmed. Harry, Ron and their other friend, Hermione Granger, learn that during the founding of Hogwarts one of the founders, Salazar Slytherin, left the school, disagreeing with the decision to teach magic to Muggle-born students. According to legend, Slytherin secretly built the Chamber of Secrets, which supposedly houses a monster only Slytherin's heir can control.Suspecting that Draco is the heir of Slytherin, the trio start making Polyjuice Potion, a brew which allows them to take on another's form. During the school's first game of Quidditch, Harry is pursued continually by a Bludger, an enchanted ball that knocks players off their brooms, despite their purpose being to unseat as many players as possible. As a result, Harry's arm is broken, and Lockhart then proceeds to unintentionally remove the broken bones. That night, as he recovers from the injury, Harry is visited by Dobby, who admits to having orchestrated the platform incident and the rogue Bludger, both of which were attempts to keep Harry away from Hogwarts. Soon after, a first year student is attacked.Lockhart begins a dueling club; and during the first meeting Harry terrifies his fellow students by speaking in Parseltongue to a snake. Harry's ability frightens the others because Salazar Slytherin was also able to speak Parseltongue, and his heir would also have this ability. Harry comes under further suspicion when he stumbles upon the petrified bodies of Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick.At Christmas, Harry and Ron use the finished Polyjuice Potion to disguise themselves as Draco's friends Crabbe and Goyle. They find out that Draco is not the heir of Slytherin, but he does reveal that the Chamber was last opened fifty years ago. No more attacks occur for a while, and right before Valentine's Day, Harry finds a diary in a flooded bathroom and takes it. He writes in the diary, which responds by writing back. Through this dialogue, Harry meets Tom Riddle, a boy who many years before had accused Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, of first opening the Chamber of Secrets. Some time later, Harry's room is ransacked and the diary is stolen.Later on, Hermione and a Ravenclaw girl are petrified. Harry and Ron venture out of the castle to question Hagrid. Before they can question him, however, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, takes Hagrid to Azkaban as the supposed previous culprit; while at the same time Lucius Malfoy orchestrates the removal of Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore for his failure to stop the attacks. As Hagrid is led away, he instructs the boys to "follow the spiders", as they will be able to provide more information. Harry and Ron then sneak into the Forbidden Forest to follow the spiders. They discover the monster who killed the girl fifty years before was not a spider, that the girl's body was found in a bathroom, and that Hagrid is innocent. The boys are almost killed by the colony of giant spiders. As they escape, Harry and Ron realize that Moaning Myrtle, the ghost who haunts the bathroom where they made the Polyjuice Potion, must have been the girl killed by the monster.
A few days later, Ron and Harry discover a piece of paper with a description of a Basilisk, a giant serpent that kills all who look it directly in the eye, in Hermione's petrified hand. They deduce that the Chamber's monster is indeed a Basilisk, since as a snake it speaks Parseltongue, which Harry can understand. As for the petrifications, these were due to the victims looking at the Basilisk's eyes indirectly. Before the boys can act on their knowledge, the teachers announce that Ron's sister Ginny Weasley has been taken into the Chamber. Lockhart arrives, and is pressured by the other teachers into venturing into the Chamber and dealing with the Basilisk. Harry and Ron go to give him their information, only to discover that he is a fraud. Regardless, they force him to accompany them to the Chamber.The trio discovers that the entrance to the Chamber is in Myrtle's bathroom, and Harry's Parseltongue is able to open it. Inside the Chamber, Lockhart steals Ron's wand, and attempts to wipe the memories of the other two, in order to keep his secrets safe. However, Ron's wand, which has been broken since the car crash at the start of the year, deflects the spell back at Lockhart, wiping his memory. A cave-in then separates him and Ron from Harry, who is forced to proceed alone.Harry finds Ginny's unconscious body, as well as the almost-physical form of Riddle. Riddle explains that Ginny has been talking with him via his diary. Through this, Riddle was able to possess Ginny, and use her to control the Basilisk. Ginny eventually became suspicious of the diary and tried to dispose of it in a toilet, where it was picked up by Harry, but stole it back for fear Harry would find out her role in the attacks. Riddle forced her to enter the Chamber, and possessing her soul was able to obtain a physical form. Riddle reveals that he is actually Lord Voldemort, the wizard who murdered Harry's parents eleven years ago, and sets the Basilisk on Harry.Just when it seems Harry will be killed by the Basilisk, Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix, appears and blinds the Basilisk, depriving it of its deadly stare. Fawkes also drops the school Sorting Hat, from which Harry draws a sword and uses it to kill the Basilisk. Harry then stabs the diary with a Basilisk fang, killing Riddle and saving Ginny. The five of them later leave the Chamber. Back at Hogwarts, they discover that Dumbledore has been reinstated as Headmaster.After Harry finishes explaining things to Dumbledore, Lucius Malfoy suddenly bursts in to Dumbledore's office. It is implied that he had planted Riddle's diary on Ginny in the first place, in the hopes of discrediting Dumbledore and the Weasleys. Discovering that Mr. Malfoy is Dobby's master, Harry then tricks him into freeing Dobby by concealing a sock in the diary (clothing being the only object able to free a house elf). All the petrified people are revived by the Mandrake Draught potion, Lockhart is forced to resign whilst he regains his memories, and Hagrid returns to the school.Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second novel in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, during which a series of messages on the walls on the school's corridors warn that the "Chamber of Secrets" has been opened and that the "heir of Slytherin" will kill all pupils who do not come from all-magical families. These threats are followed by attacks which leave residents of the school "petrified" (that is, frozen). Throughout the year, Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger investigate the attacks, and Harry is confronted by Lord Voldemort, who is attempting to regain full power.
Harry Potter : Gillian Hammerton.
Potter books fly off shelves
J.K. Rowling cried after writing scene
New Potter book debuts in Britain; U.S. waits
LONDON (AP) — With a jangle of cash registers and a whoosh of witches' capes, bookstores across Britain rang up the first official sales of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" just after the stroke of midnight Saturday, bringing the boy wizard's fifth magical adventure to a legion of adoring fans.
Brothers Phillip, 11, left, and Joseph, 7, Bainton start to read the new Harry Potter book at Waterstone's bookstore in London.
By Adam Butler, AP
"I love it so much I get goose bumps," said 12-year-old Lisa Brummett of Mesa, Ariz., after hours of waiting at the WH Smith bookstore at London's King's Cross rail station to buy the thick new book, J.K. Rowling's first in three years.
"Harry Potter is the most magic thing there is," Lisa said, clutching the book to her chest and grinning from ear to ear. "Once I get out of here, I will start reading."
"It's kind of nice to escape to a place a bit more magical," said Stephanie, 16, looking forward to the 768-page British edition, the longest yet in the tales of Harry and his pals at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (The American edition runs 870 pages, but has the same content.)
The girls' family had rescheduled their two-week tour of Europe to be in London for the launch.
Rowling, looking relaxed and happy, paid a visit to a Waterstone's bookshop in her home town of Edinburgh, Scotland, and gave out signed copies of her book to 40 school children.
"Much of the pleasure of being published for me is meeting the children who are reading the books," she said.
Paying homage to its King's Cross location, the WH Smith store re-created the gateway to Platform 9 3/4, where Harry, Ron and Hermione catch the magical Hogwarts Express to school.
A line of 100 or so eager fans trailed from the store into the station's cavernous arrival hall. Entertainers dressed in multicolored capes and magical sorting hats juggled and performed tricks for delighted youngsters, and a painter created Harry Potter scars and glasses on the children's faces.
"She has made a hero of somebody who could have become a victim," said graying Gillian Hammerton, coyly declining to disclose her age. Like Harry, she was orphaned at an early age. "It's marvelous for someone to have empathy with how a child can feel when they are not in the bosom of a family," she said.
The book was being launched in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand at the same time as in Britain. And a Paris branch of WH Smith held a special late-night opening with a magician performing tricks and staff dressed as wizards.
Anticipation built in the United States, where the book was to be released at 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday.
Aspiring young wizards visiting a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Henderson, Nev., received a pair of Harry Potter glasses and were placed under the famed Sorting Hat to determine which house they belong to at Hogwarts. At a Borders in Chicago, youngsters made owl puppets and got their faces painted as they awaited the midnight hour.
The twists and turns in the book's plot were guarded closely by the British publisher, Bloomsbury. Rowling insisted on preserving her surprises for readers. She did reveal that one of the central figures dies in the book, but said she has not even told her husband who the doomed character is.
Yet leaks occurred. A store in Fishers, Ind., and a New York health food store were among those that mistakenly put copies out for sale. The Daily News in New York City, which bought a copy and published a preview, is now facing a $100 million lawsuit from Rowling and her publishers.
In England, 7,680 copies of the book were stolen from a truck parked outside a warehouse late Sunday night. Earlier this month, a print worker was sentenced to 180 hours community service for attempting to sell three chapters of the book to a tabloid newspaper.
Rowling said she was pleased that so little about the story has gotten out. "I think it's miraculous, given the number of books that we produced and the number of people involved," she said Saturday.
Harry is 15 in the new book, and Rowling has disclosed that he will get to be a real adolescent, with his share of anger and some confusion over girls. There is much emotional interplay in the new book, which goes well beyond the children's genre.
Early reviews praised the fifth installment. USA TODAY cited Rowling's "wonderful, textured writing." The Associated Press said, "It was worth the wait. And then some."
Harry was 11 in the first volume, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone— released in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Published in 1997, it was followed each year by another adventure —Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Rowling's four Potter books have sold an estimated 192 million copies worldwide and have been published in at least 55 languages and distributed in more than 200 countries. Blockbuster movies were made of the first two books and the movie stemming from the third will be released next year.
Amazon.com had 1 million advance orders for the fifth book. Scholastic, the book's U.S. publisher, has a first printing of 8.5 million.
J.K. Rowling cried after writing scene
New Potter book debuts in Britain; U.S. waits
LONDON (AP) — With a jangle of cash registers and a whoosh of witches' capes, bookstores across Britain rang up the first official sales of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" just after the stroke of midnight Saturday, bringing the boy wizard's fifth magical adventure to a legion of adoring fans.
Brothers Phillip, 11, left, and Joseph, 7, Bainton start to read the new Harry Potter book at Waterstone's bookstore in London.
By Adam Butler, AP
"I love it so much I get goose bumps," said 12-year-old Lisa Brummett of Mesa, Ariz., after hours of waiting at the WH Smith bookstore at London's King's Cross rail station to buy the thick new book, J.K. Rowling's first in three years.
"Harry Potter is the most magic thing there is," Lisa said, clutching the book to her chest and grinning from ear to ear. "Once I get out of here, I will start reading."
"It's kind of nice to escape to a place a bit more magical," said Stephanie, 16, looking forward to the 768-page British edition, the longest yet in the tales of Harry and his pals at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (The American edition runs 870 pages, but has the same content.)
The girls' family had rescheduled their two-week tour of Europe to be in London for the launch.
Rowling, looking relaxed and happy, paid a visit to a Waterstone's bookshop in her home town of Edinburgh, Scotland, and gave out signed copies of her book to 40 school children.
"Much of the pleasure of being published for me is meeting the children who are reading the books," she said.
Paying homage to its King's Cross location, the WH Smith store re-created the gateway to Platform 9 3/4, where Harry, Ron and Hermione catch the magical Hogwarts Express to school.
A line of 100 or so eager fans trailed from the store into the station's cavernous arrival hall. Entertainers dressed in multicolored capes and magical sorting hats juggled and performed tricks for delighted youngsters, and a painter created Harry Potter scars and glasses on the children's faces.
"She has made a hero of somebody who could have become a victim," said graying Gillian Hammerton, coyly declining to disclose her age. Like Harry, she was orphaned at an early age. "It's marvelous for someone to have empathy with how a child can feel when they are not in the bosom of a family," she said.
The book was being launched in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand at the same time as in Britain. And a Paris branch of WH Smith held a special late-night opening with a magician performing tricks and staff dressed as wizards.
Anticipation built in the United States, where the book was to be released at 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday.
Aspiring young wizards visiting a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Henderson, Nev., received a pair of Harry Potter glasses and were placed under the famed Sorting Hat to determine which house they belong to at Hogwarts. At a Borders in Chicago, youngsters made owl puppets and got their faces painted as they awaited the midnight hour.
The twists and turns in the book's plot were guarded closely by the British publisher, Bloomsbury. Rowling insisted on preserving her surprises for readers. She did reveal that one of the central figures dies in the book, but said she has not even told her husband who the doomed character is.
Yet leaks occurred. A store in Fishers, Ind., and a New York health food store were among those that mistakenly put copies out for sale. The Daily News in New York City, which bought a copy and published a preview, is now facing a $100 million lawsuit from Rowling and her publishers.
In England, 7,680 copies of the book were stolen from a truck parked outside a warehouse late Sunday night. Earlier this month, a print worker was sentenced to 180 hours community service for attempting to sell three chapters of the book to a tabloid newspaper.
Rowling said she was pleased that so little about the story has gotten out. "I think it's miraculous, given the number of books that we produced and the number of people involved," she said Saturday.
Harry is 15 in the new book, and Rowling has disclosed that he will get to be a real adolescent, with his share of anger and some confusion over girls. There is much emotional interplay in the new book, which goes well beyond the children's genre.
Early reviews praised the fifth installment. USA TODAY cited Rowling's "wonderful, textured writing." The Associated Press said, "It was worth the wait. And then some."
Harry was 11 in the first volume, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone— released in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Published in 1997, it was followed each year by another adventure —Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Rowling's four Potter books have sold an estimated 192 million copies worldwide and have been published in at least 55 languages and distributed in more than 200 countries. Blockbuster movies were made of the first two books and the movie stemming from the third will be released next year.
Amazon.com had 1 million advance orders for the fifth book. Scholastic, the book's U.S. publisher, has a first printing of 8.5 million.
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