![\"English](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_147739334-113e.jpg\")
\n\t\tJudi Denchshared a mischievous anecdote (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tJudi Denchshared a mischievous anecdote (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
She\u2019s played James Bond<\/a>\u2019s boss, two real-life Queens, and been a Dame of the British Empire since 1988 \u2013 but Judi Dench<\/a> isn\u2019t above a bit of mischief.<\/p>\n The veteran actress, 91, is one of the UK\u2019s most beloved stars of stage and screen, rising to prominence with roles in Mrs Brown, Pride & Prejudice, and the James Bond franchise.<\/p>\n Sending people dead rats in the post is more the domain of actors like Jared Leto, if (subsequently denied and debunked<\/a>) rumours of his method acting are to be believed.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s a prank Dame Judi has admitted to, in an interview with the BBC<\/a>\u2019s This Natural Life<\/a> podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n Speaking to host Martha Kearney, the Casino Royale star said that she once shoved a dead rat through a neighbour\u2019s letterbox as a child.<\/p>\n \u2018This is a terrible story,\u2019 she admitted, as she detailed what had happened.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t According to the national treasure, she had done so on the behalf of her brothers, who\u2019d lost one too many cricket balls to a neighbour\u2019s garden.<\/p>\n \u2018The 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,\u2019 Dame Judi started.<\/p>\n She continued: \u2018And once the boys found a dead rat in the barn, and they parcelled it up, and they said to me, \u201cJudi, will you just go round and put this through Miss Lazenby\u2019s door?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018So I did go and squeeze it through Miss Lazenby\u2019s door. Miss Lazenby was rather red about it saying, \u201cplease give us our balls back.\u201d We wrote this message, it was tied on the dead rat.\u2019<\/p>\n When asked whether she was successful in retrieving her brothers\u2019 balls, Dame Judi replied: \u2018Probably not.\u2019<\/p>\n Furthermore, she says that they were forbidden from playing cricket again.<\/p>\n \t\t As an actress, Dame Judi won an Oscar for her performance in the 1998 romcom Shakespeare in Love, where she played Queen Elizabeth I.<\/p>\n Other Oscar-nominated performances include recognition for her turns in Mr. Brown, Chocolat, Iris, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Notes on a Scandal, Philomena and Belfast.<\/p>\n In addition to her Academy Award<\/a> win, Dame Judi\u2019s career has also garnered her a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards<\/a>, and seven Olivier Awards.<\/p>\n In 2024, she suggested that she has quietly retired due to poor health<\/a>.<\/p>\n During an appearance at the Chelsea Flower Show, she was asked whether she had any new work on the horizon, to which she replied: \u00a0\u2018No, no, I can\u2019t even see!\u2019<\/p>\n She has age-related\u00a0macular degeneration\u00a0(AMD), which causes\u00a0gradual deterioration of eyesight<\/a> in old age.<\/p>\n \t\t Dame Judi grew up in York, with her older brothers Jeffrey and Peter.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Peter worked as a GP in York for several decades before he too died in 2017.<\/p>\n Dame Judi credited Jeffrey for her decision to become an actor, telling The Times<\/a> in 2014: \u2018I\u2019d never have thought of being an actress if it wasn\u2019t for Jeff.\u2019<\/p>\n She added: \u201cThat\u2019s why I hate it when someone says to him: \u201cAre you anything to do with Judi?\u201d Because acting was his idea in the first place, I think that kind of comment is very unkind.\u2019<\/p>\n She also said that her family did not own a television until the Queen\u2019s Coronation in 1953.<\/p>\n![\"LONDON,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_277496610-41bf.jpg\")
\n\t\tDame Judi reflected on her childhood in a recent podcast (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Editorial](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_271460508-7ed8.jpg\")
\n\t\tDame Judi played spymaster M in the James Bond films (Picture: Shutterstock)<\/p>\n![\"LONDON,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_128804701-4a3a.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe actress has scaled back her acting work in recent years (Picture: WireImage)<\/p>\n![\"English](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_175827263-2fa0.jpg\")
\n\t\tDame Judi says she caught the acting bug from her big brother (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n