Oscar winner, former MP Glenda Jackson has died
Two-time Oscar winner Glenda Jackson died just weeks after filming her final movie with Sir Michael Cane. She was 87.
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Double Academy Award-winning actress and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson has died after a brief illness, at the age of 87.
Ms Jackson died with her family at her bedside at her home in Blackheath, south-east London, her agent said.
The screen star and former Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate 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 the slightest interest in the red carpet 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.
In 1992 she was elected as the Labour MP for London’s Hampstead and Highgate and served as a junior transport minister from 1997 to 1999 during Sir Tony Blair’s government.
She stood down as an MP at the 2015 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.
‘BEST OF OUR GENERATION’
Tributes poured in for the star, who paused her acting career 20 years ago to serve in parliament before filming what proved to be her final movie just weeks ago alongside Michael Caine, The Great Escaper.
Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Jackson was “the best actress of our generation”, while opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer added, “we will never see talent like what she has got again”.
“[She] leaves a space in our cultural and political life that can never be filled,” he said.
“She played many roles with great distinction, passion and commitment.”
“From award-winning actor to campaigner and activist to Labour MP and government minister, Glenda Jackson was always fighting for human rights and social justice.
“Of course, no tribute to Glenda could fail to mention her role as Cleopatra in that most famous and loved of all the Morecambe and Wise sketches.”
Comedian David Baddiel said he will always remember Jackson for “unironically” saying the height of her acting career was performing with Morecambe and Wise, a long-running British comedy duo.
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I know she achieved extraordinary heights in many fields, but the thing I will always love Glenda Jackson for is unironically saying in a radio interview that she felt the height of her acting career was performing with Morecambe And Wise. pic.twitter.com/LWPdEn32lF
— David Baddiel (@Baddiel) June 15, 2023
Originally published as Oscar winner, former MP Glenda Jackson has died
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