Glenda Jackson dead: Women in Love star and former Labour MP dies aged 87

Double Oscar-winning actress and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson has died aged 87 ‘after a brief illness’ her agent said today.

The Women in Love Star, who gave up her acting career in 1992 to serve in Parliament for more than 20 years, died after a ‘brief illness’ at her home in Blackheath, south-east London. 

After stepping down as an MP in 2015, she made a triumphant return to TV screens in 2019 production Elizabeth Is Missing, in which she portrayed an elderly woman suffering from the early stages of dementia. 

The much praised Bafta-winning performance demonstrated why she had been showered with awards during her glittering career. 

She won the first of two Academy Awards for 1970 romantic drama Women in Love, in which she starred alongside Oliver Reed and Alan Bates. The second came after her star turn in 1973 British romantic comedy A Touch of Class. 

She also famously played Egyptian queen Cleopatra in 1971 for an episode of The Morecambe & Wise Show with comedy duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. 

Jackson had just finishing filming The Great Escaper alongside fellow double Oscar-winner Sir Michael Caine, who she had last acted with 48 years ago in The Romantic Englishwoman. 

In the final 15 years of her life, Jackson lived in a basement flat beneath the home of her son, Mail On Sunday columnist Dan Hodges.

Her agent Lionel Larner said: ‘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.

‘She recently completed filming The Great Escaper in which she co-starred with Michael Caine.’

Reacting to news of her death, a spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: ‘This is extremely sad news, his thoughts will be with her friends and family at this time.’ 

Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, who took over Jackson’s Hampstead and Kilburn seat after she stepped down, said: ‘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.’ 

Chris Bryant, Ms Siddiq’s party colleague, added: ‘Really saddened to hear that Glenda Jackson has died. 

‘She was a great actor and I loved campaigning for her in Hampstead and Highgate.’

American-British playwright Bonnie Greer said it was a ‘privilege to be old enough to have see[n] the utter revolution in acting she was.’ 

Calling Jackson a ‘genius’, she said she portrayed ‘total truth’ and ‘flawless craft’, and pointed how she was one of the few stars to have won the ‘Triple Crown’ of acting – an Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award. 

Despite her successful career, which also included two Emmy Awards and a Tony, Jackson previously said she never had any interest in the social and glamorous aspects of the industry.

She opted not to attend the Oscars ceremony on either of the occasions that she won an Academy Award.  

She gave up acting for politics more than a quarter of a century ago and served as a Labour MP for 23 years.

In 1992 she was elected as the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate and served as a junior transport minister from 1997 to 1999 during Sir Tony Blair’s government.

Jackson said she only started acting after she failed her school certificate, leaving her with no option but to start working at the age of 16.

After joining a friend at the YMCA amateur dramatics society while she was working at her local Boots store, she went on to study at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada).

Speaking to the Radio Times about working with Morecambe and Wise, whose popular show consisted of a mixture of sketches and stand-up comedy, Jackson said: ‘Oh, I loved working with them.

‘I found it extremely difficult to restrain my laughter when we were doing Cleopatra.’

Jackson also remembered her experience of working with the late theatre director Peter Brook, who she worked with on a 1967 production of Marat/Sade and described as a ‘genius’.

Jackson also once said she would ‘probably’ turn down a damehood if she were to be offered one, because ‘what does it actually mean?’.

The Great Escaper, which will be released later this year, tells the story of a Second World War veteran who escaped his care home in Hove, East Sussex, to attend a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France. 

Jackson’s first role after stepping down as an MP was in a stage production of Shakespeare’s King Lear, which received positive reviews. 

She went on to star in a 2018 version of Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, before she made her return to television the following year. 

Her first film role since coming out of acting retirement was in 2021 production Mothering Sunday, in which she portrayed maid Jane Fairchild in later life.