Dame Judi Dench, the Oscar-winning actress and national treasure, has confessed to a childhood prank that involved shoving a dead rat through a neighbour's letterbox. The 91-year-old revealed the story on the BBC's This Natural Life podcast, recounting how her older brothers, Jeffery and Peter, orchestrated the act.
The Dead Rat Delivery
Dench explained that the incident stemmed from a neighbour named Miss Lazenby, who refused to return cricket balls that landed in her garden. The actress said: "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."
When the brothers found a dead rat in the barn, they wrapped it up and asked a young Judi to deliver it. "They said to me, 'Judi, will you just go round and put this through Miss Lazenby’s door?'" Dench recalled. She complied, squeezing the rat through the letterbox with a note attached that read: "Please give us our balls back."
Miss Lazenby's Reaction
Dench described Miss Lazenby as "rather red" about the incident. When asked if the prank succeeded in retrieving the balls, Dench admitted, "Probably not." The brothers were subsequently banned from playing cricket.
Dench grew up in York and later built an illustrious career, playing iconic roles such as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love, for which she won an Oscar despite only eight minutes of screen time, and Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown. She also portrayed M in three James Bond films and Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride & Prejudice. Her accolades include ten BAFTAs, two Golden Globes, two SAG awards, seven Oliviers, and a Tony.
Retirement and Health
Dench quietly retired in 2024 due to age-related macular degeneration, which has severely affected her eyesight. She stated at the Chelsea Flower Show, "No, no, I can't even see." Her brother Jeffery Dench, a renowned stage actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, died in 2014 at 85, while her other brother, Peter Dench, became a GP and died in 2017 at 91.
