Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Judi Dench Says Shakespeare Verses Stay Clear as Sight and Short-Term Memory Fade

Her remarks precede a Channel 4 documentary revisiting her Shakespeare roots through fresh family research.

Overview

  • In a Radio Times interview ahead of her 91st birthday, Dench says she can recite large sections of Shakespeare yet often forgets next‑day plans.
  • She says both eyes are in the progressed “wet” stage of age-related macular degeneration, leaving her reliant on others and effectively unable to watch television.
  • She notes she remains in contact with Kevin Spacey, calling him “exonerated,” following his 2023 acquittal in London and a 2022 not‑liable verdict in a New York civil case.
  • Speaking about Harvey Weinstein, she acknowledges his convictions yet describes forgiveness as a personal matter, saying she imagines he has “done his time.”
  • Channel 4’s forthcoming Judi Dench: Shakespeare, My Family and Me features an unrehearsed soliloquy and presents research suggesting an ancestor may have met Shakespeare in 1606.