Janet Dale
Timothy Dalton
Charles Dance
The Dance of Death
Ron Daniels
The Danton Affair
Nick Darke
Daughter of the Air
Shaun Davey
Alan David
Howard Davies
Rudi Davies
Daniel Day-Lewis
Days in the Trees
Days of the Commune
The Dead Monkey
Nick Dear
Deathwatch/The Maids
Thomas Dekker
Robert Delamere
A Delicate Balance
Frances de la Tour
Robert Demeger
Jeffery Dench
Judi Dench
The Desert Air
Desire Under the Elms
Destiny
The Devil is an Ass
The Devil's Disciple
The Devils
Ann Devlin
Es Devlin
Mark Dignam
Stephen Dillane
The Dillen
Lisa Dillon
Dingo
The Dispute
Divine Gossip
Joe Dixon
Doctor Faustus
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
The Dog in the Manger
Monica Dolan
A Doll's House
Don Carlos
Donmar Warehouse
Declan Donnellan
Gregory Doran
Simon Dormandy
Roy Dotrice
John Dougall
Wayne Dowdeswell
Downchild
Penny Downie
Kevin Doyle
A Dream of People
Dreamplay
Amanda Drew
Darrell D'Silva
Kate Duchêne
The Duchess of Malfi
Duck Song
William Dudley
The Dumb Waiter
Lindsay Duncan
Jeremy Dunn
Marguerite Duras
Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Susan Dury
Dutch Uncle
The Dybbuk
Charles Dyer
Chris Dyer
One of the RSC's most committed and dependable character actors, Jeffery Dench has spent nearly all of his working life with the Company. The older brother of Judi Dench, he trained at Central and gained his early experience on regional stages (York, Hull, Scarborough, Leeds, Canterbury, Dundee and Bristol). He made his London debut as Buckingham in The Rehearsal, a transfer from the Bristol Old Vic (1959/60).
The rest of Dench's career is essentially described by his RSC work, a huge quilt made up of relatively small moments, each created with exemplary care and craftsmanship: Ligarius in Julius Caesar (John Blatchley, RST, 1963); Bassett/Second Keeper/Derby in The Wars of the Roses (Peter Hall/John Barton, RST, 1963); Green/Scroop in Richard II (Hall/Barton/Clifford Williams, RST, 1964); Scroop in Henry IV (Hall/Barton/Williams, 1964); Jamy in Henry V (Hall/Barton, RST, 1964); The Wars of the Roses (Hall/Barton, RST, 1964); First Knight in The Jew of Malta (Williams, RST, 1965); Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice (Williams, RST, 1965); Angelo in The Comedy of Errors (Williams, RST, 1965); Head of Senate/Banker in Timon of Athens (John Schlesinger, RST, 1965); Marcellus/English Ambassador in the David Warner Hamlet (Hall, RST, 1965, Aldwych, 1965, RST, 1966); Fistov in The Government Inspector (Hall, Aldwych, 1966); York in Henry IV (Barton/Nunn/Williams, RST, 1966); Battle of Agincourt (Barton, Theatregoround, 1966); Charles VI in Henry V (Barton/Nunn, RST, 1966); Antonio in The Revenger's Tragedy (Nunn, RST, 1966, RST, 1967); First Roman Senator in Coriolanus (Barton, RST, 1967); Old Man/Scottish Doctor in Macbeth (Hall, RST, 1967, Aldwych, 1968); Escalus in Romeo and Juliet (Karolos Koun, RST, 1967); Artemidorus/Lucilius in Julius Caesar (Barton, RST, 1968, Aldwych, 1968); Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Terry Hands, RST, 1968, Aldwych, 1968, RST, 1969, Japanese Tour, 1970, RST, 1975, Aldwych, 1976); Buntline/Dawes in Indians (Jack Gelber, Aldwych, 1968); Coupler in The Relapse (Nunn, Aldwych, 1968); God Bless (Geoffrey Reeves, Aldwych, 1968); Henry IV/Pistol in When Thou Art King (Barton/Gareth Morgan, Theatregoround, 1969, 1970); Lord Cardinal in Women Beware Women (Hands, RST, 1969); Norfolk in Henry VIII (Nunn, RST, 1969, Aldwych, 1970); Harkaway in London Assurance (Ronald Eyre, Aldwych, 1970, New Theatre, 1972, Albery, 1975); Tubal in The Merchant of Venice (Hands, RST, 1971); Sir Andrew Aguecheek, succeeding Barrie Ingham, in Twelfth Night (Barton, RST, 1971, International Tour, 1972); Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing (Eyre, RST, 1971, Aldwych, 1971); Brabantio in Othello (Barton, RST, 1971); Water Rat in Toad of Toad Hall (Euan Smith, RST, 1972, RST, 1973); Capulet in Romeo and Juliet (Hands, RST, 1973); Gremio in The Taming of the Shrew (Williams, RST, 1973); Cardinal Pandulph in King John (Barry Kyle, RST, 1974, Aldwych, 1975); Gloucester in King Lear (Buzz Goodbody, TOP, 1974, The Place, 1974, US Tour, 1975); Lucifer in Doctor Faustus (Barton, Aldwych, 1974); Saranieff in The Marquis of Keith (Eyre, Aldwych, 1974); Cornelius in Cymbeline (Kyle/Barton, Aldwych, 1974); Sir Nathaniel in Love's Labour's Lost (David Jones, US Tour and Aldwych, 1975); Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Hands, RST, 1975, Aldwych, 1976); Edward IV/Tyrrel in Richard III (Kyle, TOP, 1975); Archbishop of Canterbury/Gower, succeeding Derek Smith, in Henry V (Hands, International Tour, 1976); Mortimer/Sir William Lucy/Bedford/Lord Clifford in Henry VI (Hands, RST, 1977, Aldwych, 1978); Pistol in Henry V (Hands, RST, 1977, Aldwych, 1978); Adam in As You Like It (Nunn, RST, 1977, Aldwych, 1978); Cominius in Coriolanus (Hands, RST, 1977, Aldwych, 1978); Carter in Saratoga, or, Pistols for Seven (Eyre, Aldwych, 1978); Antiochus/Pandar in Pericles (Ron Daniels, TOP, 1979, Warehouse, 1980); the title role in Cymbeline (Jones, RST, 1979); Brabantio/Lodovico in Othello (Eyre, RST, 1979, Aldwych, 1980); Cinna/Lucilius in Julius Caesar (Kyle, RST, 1979); Mr Cutler/Mr Blightey/Arthur Gride in Nicholas Nickleby (Nunn/John Caird, Aldwych, 1980, 1981, New York, 1981); Franklin in Arden of Faversham (Hands, TOP, 1982, Pit, 1983); Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing (Hands, RST, 1982, Barbican, 1983, International Tour, 1984); Troll King/Cotton in Peer Gynt (Daniels , TOP, 1982, Pit, 1983); Sebastian in The Tempest (Daniels, RST, 1982, Barbican, 1983); Marquis in Cyrano de Bergerac (Hands, Barbican, 1983, US Tour, 1984); Harry Trevor/Baptista in Kiss Me Kate (Adrian Noble, RST, 1987); Duke Senior in As You Like It (David Thacker, RST, 1992, Barbican, 1993); Old Shepherd in The Winter's Tale (Noble, RST, 1992, Barbican, 1993); Shallow in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Thacker, RST, 1992); Vermandero in The Changeling (Michael Attenborough, Swan, 1992, Pit, 1993); Montague in Romeo and Juliet (Noble, RST, 1995, Barbican, 1996); Belardo in The Painter of Dishonour (Laurence Boswell, TOP, 1995, Pit, 1996); God/The Emperor in Faust (Michael Bogdanov, Swan, 1995, Pit, 1996); and Shallow in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Gregory Doran, RST, 2006-07).
Screen appearances: the RSC's Nicholas Nickleby and Cyrano de Bergerac (1985); The Lady and the Highwayman (1989); and the movie First Knight (1995).
Education: Central School of Speech and Drama
RSC: Joined 1963; Associate Artist, 1965-1998
Seasons: 1963 (Strat.); 1964 (Strat.); 1965 (Strat.)-65/66 (Lond.); 1966 (Strat.); 1967 (Strat.)-68 (Lond.); 1968 (Strat.)-68/69 (Lond.); 1969 (Strat.)-70 (Lond.); 1971/72 (Strat./Lond.); 1973 (Strat.); 1974 (Strat./Lond.); 1975 (US Tour/Lond.); 1975 (Strat.)-76 (Lond.); 1977 (Strat.)-78 (Lond.); 1979 (Strat.)-80/81 (Lond.); 1982 (Strat.)-83 (Lond.); 1984 (US Tour); 1987 (Strat./Lond.); 1992 (Strat.)-93 (Lond.); 1995 (Strat.)-96 (Lond.); 2006/07 (Strat., Complete Works)
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