- Glenda Jackson, Oscar-winning actress and former Labour Party member, passes away at 87.
- Jackson had a successful career in acting before devoting herself to politics.
- Tributes pour in for her as a powerful politician and outstanding actress.
Following Glenda Jackson’s passing, tributes have been paid to a “powerful politician” and an “outstanding actress.” Before devoting her life to politics in the 1990s and later returning to acting, she was a stage and screen sensation.
The Oscar-winning actress and former Labour Party member Glenda Jackson has passed away at the age of 87.
Glenda Jackson, the two-time Academy Award-winning actress, and politician, died peacefully at her home in Blackheath, London, this morning after a brief illness with her family by her side,” her agent Lionel Larner said in a statement.
She recently wrapped production on The Great Escaper, in which she starred alongside Michael Caine.
In 1970 and 1973, Jackson won the best actress Oscar for A Touch Of Class.
On both occasions, she declined to attend the Hollywood ceremony. In the 1990s, she devoted herself to politics despite her successful career in the entertainment industry, during which she won two Emmys and a Tony. She never had any interest in the social and glamorous aspects of the industry.
She also stated that she would “probably” decline a damehood if offered one, stating, “What does it mean?”
After more than three decades on stage and screen, Jackson took her no-nonsense, straightforward approach to politics, incensed by the harm she believed former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher was inflicting on the working classes.
She was elected Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate in 1992 and served as deputy transport minister from 1997 to 1999 during Sir Tony Blair’s premiership, despite becoming a prominent critic of his New Labour initiative.
“We must work for the poor, the homeless, the unemployed, the frail, and the sick,” she told her supporters as she was sworn into office.
After resigning as a member of parliament in the 2015 general election, she returned to acting and won several awards. She won the TV BAFTA for best actress in 2020 for playing a dementia patient in Elizabeth Is Missing. She also received acclaim for her performance as King Lear on stage.
The ‘extremely kind’ politician with ‘cutting wit’ and ‘general disdain’
After Jackson’s death, Labour’s Hampstead and Kilburn lawmaker Tulip Siddiq paid homage.
“Devastated to hear that my predecessor Glenda Jackson has died,” she wrote on Twitter. “A formidable politician, an incredible actress, and a very helpful mentor to me.” Glenda, Hampstead, and Kilburn will mourn you.”
Jackson’s demise was described as “extremely sad news” by Downing Street, which added that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s “thoughts will be with her friends and family at this time.”
In her social media tribute, Diane Abbott, a Labour MP since 1987, called Jackson a “kind and extremely principled woman.”
Lucy Powell, a Labour MP and shadow culture minister who worked with Jackson, recalls his “extremely kind” sense of humour.
“These are very sorrowful tidings. In my early twenties, I worked for Glenda; a decade later, our respective parliamentary offices were adjacent,” she wrote on Twitter.
“She was always so kind and supportive to me. I will also recall her acerbic wit and a general disdain for most things while she smoked.”
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer also paid tribute, stating that Jackson had left “a void in our cultural and political life that will never be filled” and that she had “performed numerous roles with distinction, passion, and dedication.”
From Boots to Oscar-winning
Jackson met with fellow double Oscar winner Sir Michael Caine before her death.
The upcoming film The Great Escaper is based on actual events and tells the tale of a Second World War veteran who escaped his care home in Hove, East Sussex, to attend a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France.
Jackson, born in Birkenhead in 1936, claimed she started acting after failing her school diploma and working at 16.
After joining a YMCA amateur dramatics company with a friend while working at Boots, she trained at RADA. She auditioned and was offered a position at the prestigious school, but she could not afford the fees.
And she told the Big Issue in a 2022 interview that a Boots manager wrote to the county council at the time, and the local government assisted with the costs, paving the way for her ascension to fame.
Other notable film roles include Sunday Bloody Sunday with Peter Finch, directed by John Schlesinger.
She also played Queen Elizabeth in the film Mary, Queen of Scots, opposite Vanessa Redgrave.
Jackson was married to theatrical director Roy Hodges from 1958 to 1976. Their son, Daniel, who was born in 1969, survives her.
