Glenda Jackson: Two Oscars Then Politics

Glenda May Jackson, born May 9, 1936, in Birkenhead, Merseyside, was a prominent figure in British and international cinema, with a career spanning theater, film, and politics. Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she began her artistic career in theater, debuting on Broadway in 1966 with the play Marat/Sade, which earned her the first Tony Award nomination.

Her cinematic breakthrough came with the role of Gudrun Brangwen in Women in Love (1969), directed by Ken Russell, which won her the first Oscar for Best Actress in 1970. Jackson did not attend the awards ceremony, a choice she maintained when she won her second Oscar in 1973 for A Touch of Class, a romantic comedy directed by Melvin Frank.

Among her most significant works are Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), for which she received a BAFTA, and Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), which earned her another Oscar nomination. In the 1970s, she took on complex roles in films such as Hedda (1975), The Incredible Sarah (1976), and Stevie (1978), the latter bringing her an additional Oscar nomination.

Jackson also found success on television, especially with the BBC series Elizabeth R (1971), where she portrayed Elizabeth I, a role that won her two Emmy Awards. In subsequent years, she appeared in films like House Calls (1978) and Hopscotch (1980), demonstrating versatility in comedy as well.

In 1992, she left acting to enter politics, becoming a member of the British Parliament for the Labour Party representing Hampstead and Highgate. She held the seat for twenty-three years, serving as Under-Secretary of State for Transport from 1997 to 1999. She retired from politics in 2015.

Her return to theater came in 2016 with a production of King Lear in the West End, which later moved to Broadway in 2019. That same year, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, completing the “Triple Crown of Acting” with Oscars and Emmys.

In 2019, she returned to television with Elizabeth Is Missing, a BBC drama in which she played an elderly woman suffering from dementia, a role that earned her the BAFTA TV Award and the International Emmy Award.

Glenda Jackson’s last film was The Great Escaper, completed in 2022 and released in the UK in October 2023. In the film, alongside Michael Caine, she played Rene Jordan, wife of a war veteran. The film tells the true story of an elderly man who escaped from a nursing home in 2014 to attend the Normandy landing commemorations. In the United States, the film aired on PBS in November 2025.

Glenda Jackson passed away on June 15, 2023, leaving an artistic legacy spanning six decades across film, theater, television, and politics.

Main Glenda Jackson films available for streaming in the United States: Women in Love (Oscar Best Actress 1970); A Touch of Class (Oscar Best Actress 1973); Elizabeth Is Missing (BAFTA TV and International Emmy 2019); The Great Escaper (2023)