Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

sl8

(16,245 posts)
Tue May 28, 2024, 05:35 AM May 2024

'I can't even see': Judi Dench suggests retirement from acting due to blindness

https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/may/28/judi-dench-retirement-from-acting-due-to-blindness

‘I can’t even see’: Judi Dench suggests retirement from acting due to blindness

The actor suggests her extraordinary stage, film and TV career has come to an end due to age-related macular degeneration

Catherine Shoard
Tue 28 May 2024 05.24 EDT

Judi Dench has suggested she has retired from acting because of her worsening eyesight. Asked by a reporter over the weekend at the Chelsea flower show if she had plans for future roles, Dench responded: “No, no, I can’t even see!”

Representatives for the actor, 89, have indicated that there is nothing further to add. In Chelsea, Dench continued by saying she did have other projects in the pipeline, saying: “Our book has come out [Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent], we’re going to Cheltenham book fair and then I’m going to do three shows with Gyles Brandreth.”

Dench lives with age-related macular degeneration, which affects more than 700,000 people in the UK. She has been open about her diminishing vision, telling Louis Theroux in 2022: “I don’t want to retire. I’m not doing much at the moment because I can’t see. It’s bad.”

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

[...]

8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
'I can't even see': Judi Dench suggests retirement from acting due to blindness (Original Post) sl8 May 2024 OP
I hope she will benefit from a CRISPR gene-editing solution for japple May 2024 #1
CRISPR technology will be revolutionary in 10 years FarPoint May 2024 #5
* Dame Oopsie Daisy May 2024 #2
she shd do audio books of shakespeare. mopinko May 2024 #3
Some of her Shakespeare audio recordings bmichaelh May 2024 #6
If her eyesight is failing, that also may be difficult to do. Fla Dem May 2024 #7
i've seen her rip from memory. mopinko May 2024 #8
I am so sorry to hear this. A truly remarkable woman. niyad May 2024 #4

japple

(10,292 posts)
1. I hope she will benefit from a CRISPR gene-editing solution for
Tue May 28, 2024, 06:37 AM
May 2024

her AREDS (age related eye disease.) It's on the horizon, but may not be ready yet for use in humans. I, too, am anxious for this cure as one with AREDS, though mine hasn't yet started robbing my sight. I have the dry form and it may never develop into the wet form so I am hopeful.

FarPoint

(13,578 posts)
5. CRISPR technology will be revolutionary in 10 years
Tue May 28, 2024, 07:42 AM
May 2024

I so look forward to all this gene editing stuff will bring to humanity.

mopinko

(71,652 posts)
3. she shd do audio books of shakespeare.
Tue May 28, 2024, 07:17 AM
May 2024

get a few friends to play along. do the great works.
dont leave us yet, dame judy.

bmichaelh

(589 posts)
6. Some of her Shakespeare audio recordings
Tue May 28, 2024, 07:51 AM
May 2024

Last edited Tue May 28, 2024, 08:25 AM - Edit history (1)

This is some Shakespeare audio recordings she did:

Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream with Seiji Ozawa and Boston Symphony
Hamlet with Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet); Dench (Gertrude)
King Lear with Kenneth Branagh (Edmund); Gielgud (Lear); Dench (Goneril)
Romeo & Juliet with Kenneth Branagh (Romeo); Samantha Bond (Juliet); Dench (Nurse)
Titus Andronicus with Michael Hordern (Titus); Dench (Lavinia)

Some of the recordings were also with her husband Michael Williams: (Horatio) in Hamlet, (Fool) in King Lear

Fla Dem

(25,624 posts)
7. If her eyesight is failing, that also may be difficult to do.
Tue May 28, 2024, 08:28 AM
May 2024

A great actress and woman; Dame Judi Dench.

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»Showbiz»'I can't even see': Judi ...