Dame Judi Dench’s Career of 66 Years Brings Many Wacky Wigs, but This One Takes the Cake

Dame Judi Dench is no stranger to the odd wig thanks to her 66-year career…but this one may be her wackiest yet.

Here is fun-loving national treasure Judi Dench, 88, wearing a wig made out of…shredded paper?!

This may seem out of the ordinary to us, but Judi says her family have had a tradition of making clothing out of packaging.

Speaking at the Barbican Hall to promote her new memoir, Shakespeare, The Man Who Pays The Rent, Judi said: ‘That packing stuff holds its shape rather well.’

Friend and co-author Brendan O’Hea quipped: ‘Your grandson Sammy calls you the most childish person he knows.’

What’s on her head? Dame Judi Dench is no stranger to the odd wig thanks to her 70-year career…but this one may be her wackiest yet 

That’s better: Judi as she normally looks – pictured in 2022 

Judi also recalled that she used to play pranks on actor Geoffrey Palmer on the set of the TV series As Time Goes By. 

‘We used to get there early, before the director. When you are rehearsing for TV, the sets are huge, with lots of different rooms with furniture everywhere. We used to go and hide in the furniture and jump out on Geoffrey Palmer.’

Shakespeare, The Man Who Pays The Rent is Judi’s first book release in nine years, following her 2014 photograph-driven autobiography Behind The Scenes.

The book is autobiographical, too, but instead centres around the various Shakespearean characters Judi has played during her enviable career.

Her first Shakespeare portrayal, Ophelia in Hamlet, was only Judi’s second-ever professional performance.

Coincidentally, this year marks 400 years since the majority of Shakespeare’s plays were first published in the First Folio.

To mark this occasion, Judi and a host of other celebrities will feature in the BBC’s three-part boxset entitled Shakespeare: Rise Of A Genius.

It will air on BBC 2 and iPlayer on 8 November.