English Actress Judi Dench remains one of the biggest names of her generation. It is not only her versatile work in films and television programs that marked her out as one of the best but her determination and passion.
At 86, the starlet has not lost an iota of her passion for the stage, and neither does she have any plans to retire, even though her health is declining.
The actress is battling her eyesight, as she can no longer see. Recently, Dench spoke about her failing eyesight, recalling an incident during an important dinner. In Dench’s words (via The Sun):
“It was so dark that I said to my partner David, next to me, ‘Have I anything on my plate?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Does it need cutting up?’ So he said, ‘Yes,’ and I said, ‘Would you do it?’ He cut it and handed something to me on a fork, and that’s how I ate it.”
But although the actress cannot see, she revealed that she has another way to work with her deteriorating eyesight. According to Dench, she has a photographic memory which helps her picture what people say to her.
In addition to her photographic memory, the “Victoria & Abdul” star told David Tennant during a podcast that she has great and reliable friends who can help her.
Meanwhile, Dench’s health is not the only problem she faces these days. The actress’s home, where she lived with her late husband of 30 years, is on the verge of collapse. Here are the details.
The “James Bond” actress has been living a low-key life in a historic, picturesque farmhouse in Outwood, Surrey, built-in 1497.
Finty said she went inside afterward, and surprisingly, Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” a song that always moved her father to tears, began playing on the radio.
The house boasts a separate cottage, a pond, a swimming pool, wonderful gardens, barns, and workshops. Nearly three decades after Dench moved in; the property is now a shadow of itself.
Recently, Dench admitted that she is sharing the house with rodents. According to the movie star, the mice moved in during the lockdown, and since then, they have gradually overtaken the home.
Meanwhile, the mice infestation is only one of the problems Dench is facing in her home. While discussing her house woes, she confessed that her house was collapsing. In the words of the Hollywood icon:
“My house is falling down a bit here and there.”
But despite everything going on in the house, Dench appears to have no plans of moving out. The property holds many beautiful memories for the actress, as it was home to her and her husband of three decades, Michael Williams.
The latter passed away in 2001, and Dench has still not come to terms with her husband’s passing. The actress opened up about Williams’ demise, noting that it changed who she was.
Dench further revealed that she might never get used to his Williams, as there were things that always reminded her of him. According to the actress:
“Suddenly, you’ll walk in somewhere, and there’s a photograph or something. I don’t expect you ever get used to it.”
Dench also noted that she believes her husband visits their home. She said sometimes; she thinks he has come into the house whenever the door opens.
In another detailed conversation with presenter Gaby Roslin, the actress recalled various experiences that made her believe Williams’s presence was still in the 17th-century house.
On one occasion, Dench mentioned that she came into the house from the garden and said something to her husband because she could feel his presence. Then, she went upstairs only to see the curtain in her bathroom flicked open somehow.
According to the showbiz legend, she adjusted it properly, but when she looked back at it, she heard a bang on the wall. To Dench’s greatest surprise, she found a round tin on the floor with the words “I love you” written on it.
The actress said although many people might consider it a figment of her imagination, she was convinced it has something to do with Williams because the tin was not there initially. Relatively, Dench’s daughter, Finty, shared her mother’s sentiments.
During the same interview with Roslin, she shared her experiences in her London home. Finty said her father never saw the property before he died; she recalled speaking out loud to his spirit while standing in her garden in Stockwell.
According to Finty, she asked Williams to assure her that everyone in the family would successfully get through a certain problem.
Finty said she went inside afterward, and surprisingly, Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” a song that always moved her father to tears, began playing on the radio. Although one might think of it as a coincidence, Finty was convinced that it was not ordinary but magical.