She’s played James Bond’s boss, two real-life Queens, and been a Dame of the British Empire since 1988 – but Judi Dench isn’t above a bit of mischief.
The veteran actress, 91, is one of the UK’s most beloved stars of stage and screen, rising to prominence with roles in Mrs Brown, Pride & Prejudice, and the James Bond franchise.
Sending people dead rats in the post is more the domain of actors like Jared Leto, if (subsequently denied and debunked) rumours of his method acting are to be believed.
However, it’s a prank Dame Judi has admitted to, in an interview with the BBC’s This Natural Life podcast.
Speaking to host Martha Kearney, the Casino Royale star said that she once shoved a dead rat through a neighbour’s letterbox as a child.
‘This is a terrible story,’ she admitted, as she detailed what had happened.
According to the national treasure, she had done so on the behalf of her brothers, who’d lost one too many cricket balls to a neighbour’s garden.
‘The boys used to play cricket in the garden, and they used to be always batting the balls over into the other gardens, and there was a lady called Miss Lazenby, and she never ever would throw the ball back, or give us the balls back,’ Dame Judi started.
She continued: ‘And once the boys found a dead rat in the barn, and they parcelled it up, and they said to me, “Judi, will you just go round and put this through Miss Lazenby’s door?”
‘So I did go and squeeze it through Miss Lazenby’s door. Miss Lazenby was rather red about it saying, “please give us our balls back.” We wrote this message, it was tied on the dead rat.’
When asked whether she was successful in retrieving her brothers’ balls, Dame Judi replied: ‘Probably not.’
Furthermore, she says that they were forbidden from playing cricket again.
As an actress, Dame Judi won an Oscar for her performance in the 1998 romcom Shakespeare in Love, where she played Queen Elizabeth I.
Other Oscar-nominated performances include recognition for her turns in Mr. Brown, Chocolat, Iris, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Notes on a Scandal, Philomena and Belfast.
In addition to her Academy Award win, Dame Judi’s career has also garnered her a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards, and seven Olivier Awards.
In 2024, she suggested that she has quietly retired due to poor health.
During an appearance at the Chelsea Flower Show, she was asked whether she had any new work on the horizon, to which she replied: ‘No, no, I can’t even see!’
She has age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which causes gradual deterioration of eyesight in old age.
Dame Judi grew up in York, with her older brothers Jeffrey and Peter.
Like his sister, Jeffrey was a prominent figure in the world of theatre, and achieved recognition for his extensive stage work with the Royal Shakespeare Company before his death in 2014.
Meanwhile, Peter worked as a GP in York for several decades before he too died in 2017.
Dame Judi credited Jeffrey for her decision to become an actor, telling The Times in 2014: ‘I’d never have thought of being an actress if it wasn’t for Jeff.’
She added: “That’s why I hate it when someone says to him: “Are you anything to do with Judi?” Because acting was his idea in the first place, I think that kind of comment is very unkind.’
She also said that her family did not own a television until the Queen’s Coronation in 1953.