Dame Judi Dench is one of the foremost actresses of her generation. Today in the news there were reports that she is suffering from age-related macular degeneration or AMD, a condition that eventually could lead to blindness. Apparently she is struggling to read scripts and even to recognise faces, but she plans to soldier on acting despite the difficulties of her illness. The actress known for winning an academy award for her role in Shakespeare in Love in 1998 as well as starring as “M” in the James Bond films, is due to continuing to shoot the latest one in the series “Skyfall”.