Judi Dench, the famous James Bond actress, is going blind.

Judi Dench

Oscar-winning actress and James Bond star Judi Dench has revealed that her loss of sight, caused by an eye condition called macular degeneration, means she can no longer see faces clearly. Speaking on her 91st birthday on Tuesday, she called the condition a "crusher."

The experienced film and theatre star, who became world famous for playing "M" in eight Bond movies, has been struggling with this progressive eye problem for over ten years.

Last year, she said the condition had worsened to the point where she was essentially forced to give up acting.

Since then, her eyesight has deteriorated further, meaning she can now only see faces—even very close up—as "in a fog."

She still turns on the television, but only so she can listen to it, she explained in an interview with the Radio Times magazine to celebrate her birthday.

Dench, who has been nominated for seven Oscars, won the Best Supporting Actress award in 1998 for her short, eight-minute performance as Queen Elizabeth I in the film Shakespeare in Love.

She is also a highly respected stage actress. She mentioned that while she can still remember huge amounts of Shakespeare, she "can’t remember what I’m doing tomorrow" and admitted she worries about her memory getting worse.

When asked about her long-time friend, Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey, whom she acted with in the 2001 film The Shipping News, Dench quickly offered him her support.

Spacey is currently involved in a non-criminal court case in the UK regarding claims of sexual assault, after being found not guilty of similar charges in a criminal trial in 2023.

“Kevin has been exonerated and I hear from Kevin, we text,” she said.

She was more careful about talking about the disgraced film boss Harvey Weinstein, whose terrible sexual behaviour she had criticised before.

Weinstein was the producer of “Shakespeare in Love” and became a friend.

“I imagine he’s done his time,” she said.

“I don’t know, to me it’s personal – forgiveness. I just think…,” she said, her voice trailing off.