Glenda Jackson, Oscar-winning British actor and politician, dies at 87


London — Glenda Jackson, a two-time Academy Award-winning performer who had a second career in politics as a British lawmaker, has died at 87.

Jackson’s agent Lionel Larner confirmed her death to CBS News, saying she died she died peacefully at her home in London early Thursday after a short illness.

“She recently completed filming ‘The Great Escaper’ in which she co-starred with Michael Caine,” he said.

Jackson was one of the biggest British stars of the 1960s and 70s and won two Academy Awards, for “Women in Love” and “A Touch of Class.”

FILE PHOTO: 72nd Annual Tony Awards - Show - New York, U.S.
Glenda Jackson poses with her award for Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play for “Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women” at the 72nd annual Tony Awards in June 2018.

BRENDAN MCDERMID / REUTERS


She then went into politics, was elected to Parliament and spent 23 years as a Labour Party lawmaker, serving as a minister for transport in Prime Minister Tony Blair’s first government in 1997.

She came to be at odds with Blair over the 2003 invasion of Iraq, saying Blair’s decision to enter the U.S.-led war without United Nations authorization left her “deeply, deeply ashamed.”

“The victims will be as they always are, women, children, the elderly,” she told The Associated Press before the invasion.

Jackson returned to acting after leaving Parliament in 2015 and had some of her most acclaimed roles, including the title character in Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” She spoke about it with CBS News.


Glenda Jackson: Full interview with “CBS This Morning” co-host John Dickerson

39:30

Jackson had her first film role in a quarter century in the 2019 movie “Elizabeth is Missing.” She won a BAFTA award, Britain’s equivalent of an Oscar, for her performance as a woman with Alzheimer’s trying to solve a mystery.

Tulip Siddiq, Jackson’s successor as Labour lawmaker for the London seat of Hampstead and Kilburn, said she was “devastated to hear that my predecessor Glenda Jackson has died.”

“A formidable politician, an amazing actress and a very supportive mentor to me. Hampstead and Kilburn will miss you Glenda,” Siddiq wrote on Twitter. 



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