{"id":156,"date":"2025-12-02T12:51:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T12:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/?p=156"},"modified":"2025-12-02T12:51:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T12:51:34","slug":"judi-dench-90-gives-heartbreaking-health-update-and-reason-why-shes-not-on-screen-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/?p=156","title":{"rendered":"Judi Dench, 90, gives heartbreaking health update and reason why she\u2019s not on screen anymore"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of Dame Judi Dench’s last films was 2022’s Allelujah<\/h2>\n
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Dame Judi Dench has given a sad reason for why she’s not in films and TV shows anymore.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dench shot onto the acting scene<\/a>\u00a0in 1957 in Liverpool,\u00a0England<\/a>, where the then-22-year-old played Ophelia in an Old Vic Company production of\u00a0Hamlet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to today and Dench, 90, is said to have been in around 60 movies. One of her most famous roles was ‘M’ in the\u00a0<\/em>James Bond<\/em><\/a>\u00a0franchise alongside Daniel Craig.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, she has won an\u00a0Academy Award<\/a>\u00a0for her role in\u00a0Shakespeare in Love<\/em>\u00a0and BAFTAs for\u00a0Iris<\/em>,\u00a0Mrs Brown<\/em>, and\u00a0A Handful of Dust\u00a0<\/em>(as well as dozens of nominations over her decades-long career).<\/p>\n

But Dench has taken a step back from the spotlight in recent years after being diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).<\/p>\n

What is AMD?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\"AMD<\/div>\n

AMD typically affects people aged 50 and over (Getty Stock Image)<\/cite><\/div>\n

According to WebMD, AMD is an eye disease that may get worse over time. The website\u00a0adds<\/a>: “AMD happens when the central portion of your retina, called the macula, wears down. The retina is the light-sensing nerve tissue at the back of your eye.”<\/p>\n

AMD is said to be the leading cause of permanent vision loss in people aged over 50 and it affects around one in ten people in the\u00a0US<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The condition doesn’t lead to complete blindness but it does seriously affect a person’s vision.<\/p>\n

When did Judi Dench get AMD?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Dame Judi Dench has been battling the condition for more than a decade (Stuart C. Wilson\/Getty Images for BFI)<\/cite><\/div>\n

The actress was diagnosed with the condition in 2012. AMD can be hereditary and Dench’s mother happened to have suffered from vision loss as well.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Dench shared that she’s unable to leave the house by herself as a result of her worsening eyesight.<\/p>\n

“Somebody will always be with me,” she shared on the\u00a0Fearless<\/em>\u00a0podcast, adding: “I have to now because I can\u2019t see and I will walk into something or fall over.”<\/p>\n

The\u00a0James Bond\u00a0<\/em>icon continued: “I\u2019m always nervous before going to something. I have no idea why. I\u2019m not good at that at all. Not at all. Nor would I be now. And fortunately, I don\u2019t have to be now because I pretend to have no eyesight.”<\/p>\n

Dench’s health update<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\"Dench's<\/div>\n

Dench’s AMD has left her unable to read or watch TV (ITV News)<\/cite><\/div>\n

In recent days, Dench was interviewed by ITV News where she addressed her lack of roles in\u00a0TV shows and films<\/a>\u00a0of late.<\/p>\n

“We don’t often see you on camera these days,”\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0the reporter.<\/p>\n

Dench replied: “No you don’t because I can’t see anymore. I’ve got, you know, that thing.”<\/p>\n

Sat next to Ian McKellen, she told her friend and fellow actor that she could ‘see his outline’ and the scarf he was wearing, but other than that it’s extremely hard for her.<\/p>\n

“I can’t recognize anyone anymore,” Dench went on. “I can’t see the television. I can’t see to read.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of Dame Judi Dench’s last films was 2022’s Allelujah Dame Judi Dench has given a sad reason for why she’s not in films and TV shows anymore. Dench shot … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=156"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156\/revisions\/158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}