Jeffery Dench

Jeffery Dench was born, on 29 April 1928{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/jeffery-dench-2gcmrdl7vfd|title=Jeffery Dench|date=3 April 2014|website=www.thetimes.com}} 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.{{cite news|title=The Importance of Dame Judi|date=6 September 2002}} He 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.[http://archive.worcesternews.co.uk/2002/4/18/274491.html Profile] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20071108090516/http://archive.worcesternews.co.uk/2002/4/18/274491.html |date=8 November 2007 }}, WorcesterNews.co.uk; accessed 19 March 2016.

He carried out 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.

With his wife Betty, Dench had three daughters, including Emma, a Roman historian.[http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~classics/people/dench.html Harvard University: Emma Dench], fas.harvard.edu; accessed 19 March 2016.

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.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070217200727/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article641440.ece Judi Dench and her brother Jeffery], timesonline.co.uk; accessed 19 March 2016. They lived in Stratford-upon-Avon. In 2012 he became the President of Stratford-upon-Avon Choral Society.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

On 27 March 2014 it was announced that Jeffery Dench had died.{{Where|date=March 2016}}[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/10728366/Actor-brother-of-Judi-Dench-dies.html Jeffrey Dench, actor brother of Dame Judi Dench, dies], telegraph.co.uk; accessed 19 March 2016. 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.{{cite web|last=Morris|first=Sylvia|title=Veteran Shakespeare actor, Jeffery Dench|url=http://theshakespeareblog.com/2014/03/veteran-shakespeare-actor-jeffery-dench|work=The Shakespeare Blog|accessdate=27 March 2014}}

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".{{cite news |last= Quinn |first= Michael|title= Jeffery Dench |url= https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/2014/jeffery-dench/| date= 14 April 2014|newspaper= The Stage |location=London| accessdate=22 August 2017 }}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|0218930|Jeffery Dench}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170823021000/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bad391e3b Jeffery Dench] at the British Film Institute
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080512084933/http://www.rsc.org.uk/newsandevents/events/3537.aspx Merry Wives – The Musical] at [http://www.rsc.org.uk/ the RSC]; accessed 19 March 2016.

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Category:1928 births

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Jeffery

Category:English male film actors

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Category:Male actors from Manchester

Category:Male actors from York

Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members

Category:People educated at St Peter's School, York

Category:People from Tyldesley