Judi Dench battling blindness, diagnosed with macular degeneration

Dame Judi Dench has revealed she is battling to save her eyesight.

The James Bond Star, 77, has been diagnosed with macular degeneration which can lead to blindness.

In a deeply moving interview, Dame Judi said her sight is already so bad she cannot see faces in front of her and friends have to read scripts to her so she can learn her lines.

But she said she is determined not to let the condition beat her and hopes recent treatment has stopped the progressive decline.

She confessed: “I can’t read scripts any more because of the trouble with my eyes.

"And so somebody comes in and reads them to me, like telling me a story.

"It’s usually my daughter or my agent or a friend and actually I like that, because I sit there and imagine the story in my mind.

“I’ve got what my ma had, macular degeneration, which you get when you get old.

"I had wet in one eye and dry in the other and they had to do these injections and I think it’s arrested it. I hope so.”

Premiere: Judi at the first screening of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel SPLASH

Meeting the Mirror in a trendy London hotel, Dame Judi said: “I can’t see your face at all now, but I can see your outline.

More: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dame-judi-denchs-eyesight-battle-689976

That's sad... I wish her well. :(

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/people/10731027-421/judi-dench-battling-blindness-diagnosed-with-macular-degeneration.html

Quote :

Judi Dench, in London Feb. 7, 2012 | Jonathan Short~AP
LONDON — Actress Judi Dench is battling to save her sight.

The James Bond star said in an interview published Saturday that she had been diagnosed with macular degeneration, an eye condition which can cause blindness, and that her eyesight was already so bad that she couldn’t even read her own scripts.

The 77-year-old told the Daily Mirror that she was relying on friends and family to keep her up to speed with her lines.

“It’s usually my daughter or my agent or a friend and actually I like that, because I sit there and imagine the story in my mind,” she told the newspaper during an interview at a London hotel. “The most distressing thing is in a restaurant in the evening I can’t see the person I’m having dinner with.”

The Mirror didn’t say exactly where or when the interview took place. Messages left for Dench’s agent were not immediately returned Saturday.

Dench made her Shakespearean debut in 1957 at London’s Old Vic and has since taken on a vast number of theater, film and television roles.

She won an Academy Award for her role as Queen Elizabeth I in “Shakespeare in Love” and is best known to international audiences as intelligence boss M in the James Bond series.

Sorry to hear that. We tend to take things like eyesight for granted. It's only when we have problems in those areas that we become grateful if we regain full acuity.

That is a shame. I hope she recovers from it.

I wear shades all the time unless it's raining. I am so afraid of damaging my eyes. Not that she didn't take care, but it's just something I do consciously.

Welcome back, kitts!

:)

Why, thank you, Mr. Khan. Nice to see so many familiar names. :)

What a shame. I know someone who is undergoing the same thing right now, and the injections aren't much fun. I'm glad to hear that Dench has folks willing to help her out.