Michael Williams; Noted Shakespearean Actor, Married to Judi Dench

Michael Williams, a noted character and Shakespearean actor who performed frequently opposite his Oscar-winning wife, Dame Judi Dench, has died.

Williams died Thursday at the couple’s home in Surrey in southern England. He was 65, and the cause of death was lung cancer, which he had been fighting since 1999.

Joint stalwarts of the British stage, Williams and Dench also appeared together in the popular TV comedy “A Fine Romance,” playing a couple on the small screen as they were in life.

In the theater, the couple made a memorable team in such West End plays as “Pack of Lies” (1983), by Hugh Whitemore, and “Mr. and Mrs. Nobody” (1986), playing the quintessentially English Charles and Carrie Pooter.

In recent years, Williams’ career was eclipsed by that of his wife, who two years ago won an Academy Award for “Shakespeare in Love” and a Tony for “Amy’s View” in quick succession. She also had found increased international visibility through her role as M in several James Bond films.

Williams pursued his own career as a character actor specializing in Shakespearean roles: Puck, Troilus and Autolycus, as well as a personal favorite, the Fool in “King Lear.”

The Bard can be credited with bringing Williams and Dench together. The two first courted in the mid-1960s during a Stratford run of “Twelfth Night,” starring Dench, and were eventually married on Feb. 5, 1971.

On screen, he had supporting roles in such films as “Marat/Sade” (1966), “Educating Rita” (1982), Kenneth Branagh’s film of “Henry V” (1990), and “Tea With Mussolini” in 1998.

Born in Manchester, England, Williams attended St. Edward’s College and trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his stage debut in 1959 in “Take the Fool Away” at the Nottingham Playhouse Theater in Nottingham, England.

Last year, Williams received a papal knighthood for his contribution to Roman Catholic life in Britain, one of the highest honors bestowed by the Catholic Church.

The office of his agent, Tor Belfrage, said the funeral will be held next week.