On Thursday, it was announced by her agent that Glenda Jackson, a British actress who won two Oscars and later dedicated herself to politics in the Labor Party, has passed away at the age of 87.
Lionel Larner said: “Glenda Jackson, a two-time Oscar-winning actress and politician, passed away peacefully at her home in Blackheath, London, after a short illness, surrounded by her family.”
“She finally finished filming The Great Escape with Michael Caine,” he added.
A favorite of director Ken Russell, Jackson won her first Oscar in 1970 for “Women in Love,” an adaptation of David Herbert Lawrence’s gritty novel about the love affair between two sisters and their lovers.
In 1973, she won her second Oscar for A Touch of Class, thanks to her portrayal of a divorced woman in an impossible romance with a married man.
Glenda Jackson was born on May 9, 1936 in Birkenhead, a small coastal town opposite Liverpool (northwest England), to a construction worker father and a domestic worker mother.
And began her career as a clerk in a pharmacy, and pursued lessons in amateur drama, and despite the absence of family support, Jackson enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and participated with her in an art tour.
During this tour, director Peter Brook discovered her talent and hired her in 1963 to play the role of Ophelia in Hamlet.
Glenda Jackson switched to a career in politics after spending 35 years in the theater and film industry. One of her motivations was to challenge Margaret Thatcher, who had accused her of contributing to the decline of British society.
In 1992 she was elected Labor MP for the suburbs of London, holding her seat until 2015. She has distinguished herself by her special concern for “the poor, the unemployed and the sick”.
Jackson was appointed Minister of Transport in Tony Blair’s government between 1997 and 1999, and became a fierce opponent of government policies after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
