Movies

JUDI DENCH’S SIGHT LOSS HAS ‘COMPLETELY ALTERED HER LIFE’

BBG News

Judi Dench has disclosed that the progression of her vision loss is now severe enough that she requires a companion when stepping outside her home.

In 2012, the seasoned actress, now 90 years old, disclosed that she had been diagnosed with macular degeneration, a condition affecting her eyes which may lead to irreversible and swift central vision impairment. It’s worth noting that it is the leading cause of vision loss among individuals over the age of 50.

Judi recently revealed a troubling development about her health on an episode of Trinny Woodall’s Bold Conversations podcast, stating: “I always need companionship now. My sight is gone, so I could stumble or walk into something unintentionally.

‘I’m always nervous before going to something.

‘I have no idea why… I’m not good at being on my own at all, nor would I be now.

‘And fortunately, I don’t have to now because I pretend to have no eyesight.’

At a 2021 gathering hosted by the forward-thinking Vision Foundation in London, I candidly shared my personal battle with reading as my sight rapidly diminishes.

She suggested: “You discover means to navigate through and overcome the challenging situations that seem particularly tough for you.

Instead of memorizing my lines alone, I’ve resorted to a unique method: repeatedly having my trusted friends recite the lines for me multiple times.

I need to memorize by repeatedly going over it, and I can only pray that my attempts won’t be too obvious if they’re all quite dismal!”

In this version, I tried to maintain the original meaning while using more natural language and a slightly different structure. The phrase “completely hopeless” was changed to “quite dismal,” which retains the negative connotation but might seem less harsh to some readers. Additionally, the repetition of the word “all” was replaced with a similar construction (“my attempts”) to make the sentence flow more smoothly.

Additionally, Judi shared with The Graham Norton Show that she now struggles with memorizing lines because she once relied heavily on her exceptional memory, often likened to a photograph.

She mentioned: ‘I’m looking for a device that not only helps me memorize my lines, but also indicates their location on the script.’

In the past, memorizing lines and remembering them was effortless for me. To this day, I could recite the entire play Twelfth Night if asked.

After Judi expressed concerns about her future in the film industry due to her struggle with age-related macular degeneration affecting her vision.

Since the movie “Allelujah” in 2022, the seasoned actress has primarily been seen on screen in documentaries, usually playing herself.

In May, she openly acknowledged that she doesn’t have any upcoming projects at the moment, as she battles with deteriorating eyesight.

At the Chelsea Flower Show, when asked about potential future acting roles, Judi responded to a journalist saying, “No, no, my vision isn’t what it used to be!

However, as 2022 drew to a close, she resolutely declined to retire and maintained her stance that she wasn’t planning on doing so in the near future, acknowledging that her situation at that time was quite challenging.

She shared with Louis Theroux during his BBC program that she has no intentions of retiring, as she currently isn’t engaged in many activities due to her poor eyesight, which is quite unfortunate for her.

‘I have a photographic memory so a person saying to me, ”This is your line…” I can do that .’

At approximately the same period, Judi disclosed an incident where, during a dinner with her partner David Mills, she found herself unable to see her food on the plate, and thus, he had to help by cutting it up for her.

‘He cut it up and handed something to me on a fork and that’s the way I ate it,’ she explained. 

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2025-01-23 03:51

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