Judi Dench reveals a clairvoyant chose her name

Actor to play medium in new film Blithe Spirit

Judi Dench has revealed that her name was chosen for her in a very unconventional way.

The Oscar-winning actor has recalled the story ahead of the release of Blithe Spirit, the film adaptation of Noël Coward’s comedy about the afterlife and ghosts.

“A very strange thing happened at the time that I was born,” Dench told The Observer, explaining that her father, who was a doctor, went to see a “famous medium” the day after she was born in 1934.

According to Dench, the clairvoyant said to her father: “I’m very pleased to hear about Judith.”

The actor continued: “My parents had no idea what I would be called and so I was called Judith which – fortunately – now I’m never called.”

She added: “There was great belief in the 1930s in mediums. They toured and people went to the shows.”

On whether she believes in the afterlife, Dench said: “I think it’s difficult for us to say that there is nothing. There is a huge world that we don’t know about. I implicitly believe that, because all sorts of things have happened to me.”

In the forthcoming movie, Dench plays an eccentric medium named Madame Arcati.

Blithe Spirit will be released by Sky Original in cinemas and on Sky Cinema from 15 January.