Screen legend and one-time Labour MP Glenda Jackson has died at the age of 87.
On Thursday morning, her agent Lionel Larner said in a statement: “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.”
Over the course of her illustrious acting career, Glenda received a number of prestigious awards, most notably two Oscars, two Baftas (including a win as recently as 2019), three Emmys and a Tony.
However, she declined to attend the Academy Awards both times she won, and famously declared she was more interested in acting itself than the more social and glamorous aspects of the film industry.
Glenda began performing in her late teens, joining her local YMCA amateur dramatics society after leaving school.
Her breakthrough moment came in the late 1960s, when she starred in the Ken Russell film Women In Love, earning her the first of two Oscar wins.
From there, Glenda appeared in the BBC period drama Elizabeth R and the films Sunday Bloody Sunday, A Touch Of Class and Hedda.
In 1992, she was elected as the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate and went on to serve as a junior transport minister from 1997 to 1999 during Tony Blair’s government.
She eventually stood down as an MP in 2015, and picked up acting again.
Her most recent stand-out role was in the 2019 TV drama Elizabeth Is Missing, in which she played a woman living with Alzheimer’s.
Glenda received rave reviews for Elizabeth Is Missing, scooping a TV Bafta and International Emmy for her performance.
She is survived by her son, newspaper columnist Dan Hodges.
