Gielgud - A Theatrical Life
by Jonathan Croall
Books -- 2001

With Dorothy Tutin (left) and Judi Dench in The Cherry Orchard, 1961

First published 2001 by Metheun. ISBN: 0-413-77129-6

Excerpts that pertain to Dame Judi ...

During The Cherry Orchard he became a kind of father-figure to some of the younger actors. Judi Dench had been bullied and mocked by Saint-Denis in rehearsal, and was extremely nervous on the first night. As she prepared to go on again after the first act, Gielgud told her: 'If you had been doing that for me I'd be delighted.' From that moment she played it for him, and settled into the role. Dorothy Tutin also remembers his warmth: 'John was very sweet with Judi and me on stage, the way he put his arms around us, the way he looked at us,
always in tears. Although he wasn't usually a physical actor, he was with us, he looked upon and treated us as children, and it was easy to nestle up to him and put your head on his shoulder.'

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In January 1975 he revived Pinero's The Gay Lord Quex. "It' s a ridiculous play, terribly snobbish, entirely about money and class" he explained with his usual   tact just before rehearsals began. 'I once gave it to Gertrude Lawrence in New York but I don't think she ever read it' The story, which concerned the efforts of a Bond Street manicurist to expose the wicked past of the aristocratic hero, involved a lot of spying behind bushes, listening through keyholes and jumping in and out of windows. It had been one of his mother's favourite plays, and this influenced his choice.

For what proved to be his last production as a director the cast included Judi Dench, Sian Phillips and Daniel Massey. His compulsion to experiment continued to the end, as Judi Dench recalls: 'Although he was always changing his mind rehearsals weren't stressful, in fact they were very funny. But he couldn't resist interrupting. He also committed further gaffes. Sian Phillips was very conscious of her height, and after a disagreement over whether she should sit or stand after her entrance, Gielgud said: 'I know it's dreadful, but you're so terribly tall when you're standing up.' But some gaffes were less painful than others. When Judi Dench came on in costume at the dress rehearsal, Gielgud called out: 'Oh, no, no, no. God, Judi, you look just like Richard the Third,' leaving her weeping with laughter on the stage.

Despite such remarks, Judi Dench enjoyed being directed by him: 'He was divinely witty and had a wicked sense of humour, she recalls. 'But he was also a very kind man. I think his dropped bricks came out of an incredible shyness.'  His delight in the eccentricities of human behaviour burst out during one rehearsal, which was being held in the crypt of St James's Church in Piccadilly. In a scene more Feydeau than Pinero, two men suddenly and unaccountably ran screaming out of the lavatory, one clutching the other's trousers in his hands.   Gielgud was unable to stop laughing, and rehearsals had to be suspended.

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Some of his conversational gambits surprised even those who knew him.  Judi Dench remembers meeting him at the BBC while he was filming J.B Priestlay's 'Summer's Day Dream': 'He invited several of us to join him for lunch, all devotees. We sat down and waited for him to say something. There was a pause, and then he said: 
"Have any of you had any obscene phone calls?"

A Big Thanks to Lisa S. -- UK -- for scanning and sending this to us.