Oscar-winning actress and politician Glenda Jackson died Thursday at the age of 87.
Jackson’s death was confirmed by her agent, Lionel Larner. “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, he wrote, according to The New York Post. “She recently completed filming ‘The Great Escaper’ in which she co-starred with Michael Caine,” Larner said. The exact cause of her death was not reported.
“Be honest come on!”
Glenda Jackson gets her sand dance and wonderful comic timing on with Eric & Ernie in 1971.
THE MORECAMBE AND WISE SHOW#RIPGlendaJackson
pic.twitter.com/L8Ql432gIu— Michael Warburton (@MichaelWarbur17) June 15, 2023
Jackson was considered to be one of the biggest British stars of the 1960s and 70s . Her long list of accolades includes two Academy Awards, for “Women in Love” and “A Touch of Class.”
She was a five-time nominee for the Laurence Olivier Award for her work in various productions including “Antony and Cleopatra,” and most recently, “King Lear,” in 2017.
Her work on the big screen includes Oscar wins for her roles in “Women in Love,”” and “A Touch of Class” and Academy Award nominations for “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” and “Hedda.”
Jackson’s small-screen success included her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I in the 1971 BBC series “Elizabeth R,” for which she won two Emmys, according to The New York Post.
“Thatcherism was wreaking…the most heinous social, economic and spiritual damage on this country.”
Following the death of Glenda Jackson, watch her absolutely tear into the destruction Thatcherism imposed on Britain – two days after Maggie died. pic.twitter.com/CdVs3x82qO
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) June 15, 2023
Jackson left her successful Hollywood career in 1992, in pursuit of her passion for politics, and won a Labor seat in the UK’s House of Commons.
“Both sides of the house expected me to be an airhead or a diva,” she told The Post in a previous interview. (RELATED: Jacklyn ‘Jacky Oh’ Smith Laid To Rest In Elaborate Funeral)
“Either I was going to fall flat on my face or I was going to demand a great deal of attention all the time,” she said.
Jackson became known as an outspoken politician whose tenure lasted 23-years. She gained attention by roasting her own prime minister, Tony Blair, when he joined the United States in the war against Iraq, and attacked Margaret Thatcher’s legacy just a few days after her passing, in 2013, according to The New York Post.
She departed politics in 2015 and returned to theatre, where her acting career first began.