Throughout Dame Judi Dench's lengthy and acclaimed acting career, her incredible skills have earned her millions of fans who've been captivated by her performances. Now, many of Dench's fans are learning that the beloved actor has given the world an update on her health that took many by surprise
Judi Dench Has Revealed the Extent of Her Vision Loss
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In November 2025, Dame Judi Dench spoke publicly during an event that was held at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds, where she is a patron. According to the London Evening Standard, Dench revealed during that appearance that her vision had diminished to the point that she can no longer see what is happening if she attends a live play.
“I can’t see any more. When I go to the theater, I can’t see. Hopeless.”
The current state of Dench's vision has also resulted in her not being able to see television shows. However, during her appearance at the Theatre Royal, she joked about continuing to keep tabs on her friend Celia Imrie as she was notably competing on The U.K.'s The Celebrity Traitors. As Dench explained, she has been given updates on The Celebrity Traitors' drama.
“Somebody told me what was happening. I want to hear the dirt that went on.”
In February 2012, Dench told the Daily Mirror that she wasn't capable of reading scripts anymore at that time after being diagnosed age-related macular degeneration. "I can't read scripts any more before because of the trouble with my eyes. And so somebody comes and reads them to me, like telling me a story. It’s usually my daughter or my agent or a friend, and actually, I like that, because I sit there and imagine the story in my mind. I've got what my ma had, macular degeneration, which you get when you get old."
According to the National Institutes of Health, age-related macular degeneration is an eye disease that makes a person's central vision blurry. A YouTube video from the American Macular Degeneration Foundation shows that someone with AMD will still have peripheral vision, but it is impossible for them to make out anything they try to focus on.
Judi Dench Has Spent Years Acting in and Championing the Theater
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During Judi Dench's incredible acting career, she became one of the most widely respected actors of all time. Truly an iconic performer, Dench will go down in history for her roles in movies like the James Bond franchise, Philomena, Shakespeare in Love, Henry V, Belfast, and more. Dench also is an Academy Award winner and she was nominated for an additional seven Oscars.
While there is no doubt that Dench left a substantial mark on Hollywood, it can still be argued that her greatest achievements came as a live theater actor. After all, Dench is an eight-time Olivier Award winner who first took home the highly coveted trophy in 1977 and most recently in 2016. As impressive as that is, it should also be noted that Dench is a Tony Award winner. Dench's most impressive theater achievement has to be the fact that a December 2010 BBC article revealed that industry insiders who'd responded to a poll had named her the greatest stage actor of all time.
In addition to earning accolades while performing onstage, Dench has also long been an outspoken supporter of theater, as evidenced by the fact that she is a patron of the Theatre Royal. Dench has also spent years championing the industry and calling out issues she sees with it, as she did when she decried plays featuring trigger warnings. Given how strong her connections to the theater are, it is significant that Dench can no longer see plays. Of course, that obviously doesn't mean that she can't enjoy theater any longer. Instead, she would simply experience plays in a different way.
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/ZF5DJHj
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