Glenda Jackson, double Oscar-winning actress turned politician, dies aged 87

By Ellie Iorizzo, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter

Veteran British actress and former politician Glenda Jackson has “died peacefully” after a brief illness at the age of 87, her agent has confirmed.

The screen star and former Labour MP for Hampstead in London won the Oscar for best actress in 1970 for Women In Love and again three years later for A Touch Of Class – although opted not to attend the ceremony on either occasion.

Her agent Lionel Larner said: “Glenda Jackson, 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 at her side.

“She recently completed filming The Great Escaper in which she co-starred with Michael Caine.”

Despite her successful career, which also included two Emmy Awards and a Tony, Jackson previously said she never had any interest in the social and glamorous aspects of the industry.

The double Oscar-winner gave up acting for politics more than a quarter of a century ago and served as a Labour MP for 23 years.

Tulip Siddiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, which was Jackson’s constituency from 2010 to 2015 after she previously held the old seat of Hampstead and Highgate from 1992 to 2010, paid tribute to her predecessor as a “very supportive mentor” and “formidable politician”.

She tweeted: “Devastated to hear that my predecessor Glenda Jackson has died.

“A formidable politician, an amazing actress and a very supportive mentor to me. Hampstead and Kilburn will miss you Glenda.”

In 1992, Jackson was elected as the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate and served as a junior transport minister from 1997 to 1999 during Tony Blair’s government.

Jackson stood down as an MP at the 2015 UK general election and returned to acting.

She won a Bafta for best actress in 2019 for her role in Elizabeth Is Missing, which followed the story of a woman suffering from dementia.

Jackson had just finishing filming The Great Escaper alongside fellow double Oscar-winner Michael Caine, who she had last acted with 48 years ago in The Romantic Englishwoman.

Their new film tells a story, inspired by true events, of a second World War veteran who escaped his care home in Hove, East Sussex, to attend a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France.

Jackson said she only started acting after she failed her school certificate, leaving her with no option but to start working at the age of 16.

She previously told the Times magazine of her childhood on the Wirral: “Listen, I come from a family where if you didn’t work, you didn’t eat. That was the class structure.”

After joining a friend at the YMCA amateur dramatics society while she was working at her local Boots store, she went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada).

She also played Egyptian queen Cleopatra in 1971 for an episode of The Morecambe & Wise Show with comedy duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise.

Speaking to the Radio Times about working with the late duo, whose popular show consisted of a mixture of sketches and stand-up comedy, Jackson said: “Oh, I loved working with them.

“I found it extremely difficult to restrain my laughter when we were doing Cleopatra.”

Jackson also remembered her experience of working with the late theatre director Peter Brook, who she worked with on a 1967 production of Marat/Sade and described as a “genius”.

Jackson also once said she would “probably” turn down a damehood if she were to be offered one, because “what does it actually mean?”.