Respected actress Dame Judi Dench is at the top of her profession - spurred on by the loss of her beloved husband Michael Williams.

Williams passed away just over a year ago (2001) from cancer after a 30-year marriage, and Dame Judi insist her successes in films like Iris (2001) - for which she won a Best actress BAFTA award - and Shipping News, The (2001) is just her way of coping with the loss.

She says, "Grief produces more energy and it all needs to be burned up. Without work I would have to confront the slience of Michael's absence. Grief prodcues incredible adrenaline and in a way my work is running the adrenaline out. It's a use for a whole lot of emotions. "

Source: WENN