Judi Dench on an actor’s life

November 8, 2026 / 10:11 AM EST / CBS News

Judi Dench has made a career out of delivering just the right words, such as ait ("It's an island in a river"). During a game of Bananagrams with a friend, we saw the 91-year-old is still very much in command. "Don't expect any vowels, because I've got them all," she laughed.

Although she can barely see the letters. "It's tricky if you're playing with an almost-blind person," she said.

Her eyesight is almost gone, robbed by macular degeneration, but there's no diminishing Dame Judi Dench.

She got her start on stage in 1957 as Ophelia in "Hamlet" at London's Old Vic Theatre. Her first starring role in film came 40 years later, in "Mrs. Brown." But her loyalties are clear. "Oh, theater, theater, theater, theater," Dench said.

Asked what she loves so much about the theater, she replied, "I love the fact of a group of people trying to get it better every night, whereas in film, they say 'Cut,' and you can't make it better."

A meeting with a movie producer early on was not encouraging: "'I'm sorry,' he said, 'you have every single thing wrong with your face.'

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/