PUPILS at a York girl's school are celebrating the birthday of their most famous old girl - Oscar-winning actress Dame Judi Dench, who is 70 today.

Among the cards arriving on Dame Judi's doormat this morning will be an extra special one signed by more than 400 girls from the Mount School in Dalton Terrace, where she went to school as a girl and started acting.

Head teacher Diana Gant said Dame Judi was a role-model to many of the girls at the school, especially those who enjoy drama, and they wanted to find a fitting way to mark the occasion.

The A4-sized card has a booklet attached to the back that has been signed by pupils from the reception class up to the sixth form, and was lovingly hand-made by Francesca Mikola, 16, who lives near York.

The school still has photographs of Dame Judi's performances as an angel in the Mystery Plays in the Museum Gardens in 1951 and as Titania in the school production of a Midsummer Night's Dream in 1953.

Dame Judi was born Judith Olivia Dench in York on December 9, 1934. Her mother, Olave, hailed from Dublin, while her father, Reginald, studied medicine at Trinity College and then worked as a doctor in York.

Inadvertently, he introduced Judi to the world of theatre, as she would accompany him backstage at York's Theatre Royal when he was busy as the company's GP.

Dame Judi attended The Mount between 1945 and 1953 and Mrs Gant said many of the older alumni who went to school with her remember her as a "happy, giggly person, full of fun and always extremely good at acting". Dame Judi still maintains strong links with the school, returning in 1998 to become patron of the Mount School Foundation, set up to raise funds for the school and to help raise the money to build a new sports hall.

In 2001 Dame Judi came back to open the sports hall when it was finished, and she has presented Dame Judi Dench rose bushes to the school, which are planted in the grounds. An award-winning actress, Dame Judi also won a best supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare In Love.

Updated: 10:15 Thursday, December 09, 2004