Oliver Dench

Oliver Mayer (born 9 September 1993), known professionally as Oliver Dench, is an English actor and theatre maker. He is co-founding artistic director of the Revolve Theatre Company. On television, he is known for his roles in the CW series Pandora (2019–2020) and the BritBox period drama Hotel Portofino (2022–).

Oliver Dench
Born	Oliver Mayer (1993-09-09) 9 September 1993 (age 31) Reading, Berkshire, England
Years active	2013–present
Family	Jeffery Dench (grandfather) Judi Dench (great aunt)

Early life

Dench was born in Reading. His maternal grandfather was Jeffery Dench, actor and brother of Judi Dench.^[1] He attended Gillotts School^[2] and the Henley College.^[3][4] Dench has said he was "obsessed with Shakespeare as a child thanks to my granddad".^[5]

Career

In 2014, Dench formed the Henley-on-Thames-based Revolve Theatre Company with Joe Morris and Tom Smith. Their debut show at the Henley Fringe Festival was Dench in a one-man version of Hamlet playing all fifteen roles.^[6]

Dench made his television debut in 2016 as Will Palmerston in the Canadian YTV series Ride about an equestrian school in England.^[7] He made his London stage debut in School Play at Southwark Playhouse in 2017.^[8][9] He appeared in the 2018 Sky Kids series The Athena.

In 2019, Dench began starring in the CW science fiction series Pandora as Xander Duvall, a role he would play for both seasons.^[10] He played Iullus in the first season of Domina before the role was taken over by Joseph Ollman. As of 2022, Dench stars as Lucian Ainsworth in the period drama Hotel Portofino.^[11] He starred as Cliff in the Paris revival of Cabaret that December at Le Lido on the Champs-Élysées.^[12]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	One Night at the Aristo	Bartender	Short film
2018	Technology	Orphan
	Lifeline	Voice	Short film
TBA	Queen of the Redwood Mountains

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016–2017	Ride	Will Palmerston	Main role
2018–2019	The Athena	Sam Warner	Main role
2019	Noughts + Crosses	Anthony	1 episode
2019–2020	Pandora	Xander Duvall	Main role
2021	Domina	Iullus	2 episodes
	Whitstable Pearl	Max Azarov	Episode: "The Free Waters"
2022–present	Hotel Portofino	Lucian Ainsworth	Main role

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	A Christmas Carol	Young Scrooge	Reading Repertory Theatre
2013	Romeo and Juliet	Paris	Reading Minster
2014	One Man Hamlet	Various	Henley Fringe Festival
	The Witch of Edmonton	Morris	Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon / Royal Shakespeare Company
2015	Much Ado About Nothing	Borachio	St James's Church, Reading
	Romeo and Juliet	Romeo	The Boater, Bath
2017	School Play	Tom	Southwark Playhouse, London
2022	Cabaret	Cliff	Le Lido, Paris

References

1. Hegedüs, Eric; Rorke, Robert (12 July 2019). "'Pandora' star Oliver Dench follows great aunt Dame Judi's path". New York Post. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
2. Davies-Evitt, Dora (7 March 2023). "Oliver Dench, Judi Dench's great-nephew, is a face to know". Tatler. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
3. "Hamlet becomes 'dench' at Henley Fringe". Henley Standard. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
4. "Oliver makes a dashing Mr Darcy" (PDF). Henley Standard. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
5. "Oliver Dench". TresA Magazine. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
6. Cox, Anne (3 July 2014). "Oliver Dench goes solo with one-man Hamlet at Henley Fringe Fest". Stage Review. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
7. Vartanian, Henrick (30 August 2016). "Oliver Dench Saddles Up for his TV debut on YTV's RIDE". Brave New Hollywood. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
8. Cheesman, Neil (27 January 2017). "Interview with Oliver Dench – Tom in Alex MacKeith's School Play". London Theatre. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
9. Wood, Alex (8 February 2017). "Oliver Dench – Actor in School Play at the Southwark Playhouse". Theatre Bubble. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
10. Damore, Meagan (24 October 2020). "Pandora: Oliver Dench Explains the 'Optimistic Responsibility' of Season 2". CBR. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
11. Teti, Julia (5 August 2022). "Hotel Portofino Stars Oliver Dench & Lily Frazer Describe the 'Conflict' of Their Show the Best They Can". She Knows. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
12. Wood, Alex (12 October 2022). "Full cast for Paris revival of Cabaret announced". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 16 December 2022.

External links

• Oliver Dench at IMDb
• Oliver Dench at Eamonn Bedford