What’s a cause you support?
Any cause that encourages children to read. Also more funding for the arts in schools.
Who should be the next James Bond?
A young actor we’ve not yet heard of.
What did your school reports say about you?
I was quite a wild child: setting off fire extinguishers, tying my classmates to their chairs during Quaker meetings. A later report said, “She’d make a good pupil if she lived in this world.” I was obviously a bit of a dreamer.
What’s your biggest vice?
There are so many. How do I choose?
What’s your party trick?
When I was young I could make a high-pitched squeaking sound without moving my lips. My father would stop the car thinking there was something wrong with it. Nowadays I’m very good at making comedy teeth out of satsuma skins.
And the last time you were starstruck?
Meeting Paul McCartney last year. As he walked towards me, he sang “Hey Jude”. I’ve got goose bumps thinking about it.
What is the most-worn item in your wardrobe?
A soft white cotton T-shirt that I’ve had for more than 40 years. It’s pretty threadbare now.
Whose wardrobe would you most like to raid?
Somebody short and very, very wealthy.
Who makes the best sunglasses?
No idea – I just pick up the nearest pair. You’ll have to ask my daughter, Finty, because I’m forever stealing hers.
What is your beauty regime?
Hope and denial. I have quite a few allergies so I have to be very careful what I use. What I can’t do without is La Mer moisturiser. It was developed by a scientist who suffered severe burns after a laboratory experiment went wrong. He then set about developing a cream to alleviate the pain. I always think of him when I apply it.
What’s the best thing about being a grandparent?
Being around someone who makes me laugh, tells me rude jokes and keeps me grounded by giving me an honest review of my work. He also introduces me to new things, such as silent discos.
What did writing your memoir teach you?
That my co-author is a nosy parker who has got far too much out of me. It’s also revived vivid childhood memories that I’d long forgotten.
‘Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?’ by Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea
Tell us something surprising about yourself.
I can still get my leg up on the kitchen table.
Most memorable restaurant meal of your life?
When my late husband, Mikey [actor Michael Williams], proposed to me on a beach in Adelaide. Not quite a restaurant, it was a picnic. I turned him down because I thought it was too romantic a setting. If I said yes, it was doomed to fail. I told him to ask me again on a rainy day in London.
Whose ghost would you like to be haunted by?
A great horde of people. But I feel their presence around me. And Mikey’s in every room of this house. I’d also like to see my cat, Lawford, again.