Two-time Oscar-winning actor and former UK politician Glenda Jackson has died peacefully after a short illness at the age of 87.
“Glenda Jackson, two-time Academy Award-winning actress and politician, 87, died peacefully at her home in London this morning after a short illness with her family by her side,” her agent Lionel Larner confirmed to CNN on Thursday.
“She recently completed filming ‘The Great Escaper’ in which she co-starred with Michael Caine.”
Larner also added a personal comment about his relationship with Jackson: “Today we lost one of the world’s greatest actresses and I have lost a best friend of over 50 years,” he said.
Born in the northwestern town of Birkenhead in England in 1936, Jackson joined an amateur theater group as a teenager before winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
After graduating she starred on London’s West End and made her Broadway debut in 1965 in a production of “Marat/Sade.”
Her second came soon after for the 1973 romantic comedy “A Touch of Class” – two years after her notable depictions of Queen Elizabeth I in both the BBC’s biographic film “Elizabeth R” and the historical drama “Mary, Queen of Scots.”
Fearless politician
In 1992 she turned to politics, becoming a Labour MP while the party was in opposition. She was an MP for 23 years, during which her party came to power in a landslide under Tony Blair.
In that time, Jackson was appointed a junior transport minister in 1997 and held the post for two years. She made a bid to become mayor of London in 2000, but lost out to independent candidate Ken Livingstone.
She never achieved high-ranking roles in politics but became known for her fearlessness.
Jackson fell out with Blair as he took Britain to war in Iraq, and was a bitter opponent of former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, memorably criticizing her on the day of her funeral in 2013.
“The first prime minister of female gender, ok. But a woman? Not on my terms,” she said.
The film star returned to the stage in 2016 by starring in a West End production of “King Lear.” Jackson received further accolades when she won a Tony Award in 2018 for her appearance in theBroadway production of “Three Tall Women.”
Her latest on-screen project, “The Great Escaper,” is in post-production, according to IMDb.