Two-time Oscar-winning actor Glenda Jackson dies at 87

WASHINGTON: Glenda Jackson, two-time Academy Award-winning actress and politician, 87 died Thursday, reported Variety. Jackson was a major British star in the 1960s and 1970s, winning two Academy Awards for 'Women in Love' and 'A Touch of Class.'

Jackson died at her home in London after a brief illness, her agent Lionel Larner told to Variety. "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," Larner said in a statement.

Apart from her award-winning roles, Jackson delivered memorable performances in films such as 1967's 'Marat/Sade' as Charlotte Corday, 1971's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' as a member of a bisexual love triangle, and on television in 'The Patricia Neal Story,' a 1981 work about the actor's stroke and recovery with husband Roald Dahl.

Queen Elizabeth I in the six-episode 1971 TV miniseries 'Elizabeth R,' in which the character aged from an adolescent to an elderly woman, was a defining role in Jackson's career. That same year, she starred as Elizabeth in 'Mary, Queen of Scots,' alongside Vanessa Redgrave. In 'Hedda Gabler,' 'Strange Interlude,' and 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf,' she triumphed as other complex women.

Some were sceptical when she announced her intention to enter politics. Many actors were activists, but some questioned whether an actress could make a living as one. Jackson defied expectations once more, serving as a member of Parliament from 1992 to 2015, as per Variety. Meanwhile, under Prime Minister Tony Blair, she was appointed parliamentary undersecretary of state (a junior minister). In 2000, she ran unsuccessfully for Labour's nomination as the party's first Mayor of London election candidate.

In 2015-16, Jackson returned to acting with "Blood, Sex, and Money," a mash-up of 20 Emile Zola novels for the BBC's Radio 4. In 2019, she won the BAFTA for leading actress for her performance in the TV film "Elizabeth Is Missing." She was most recently seen in the 2021 film "Mothering Sunday," which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. According to Variety, her son, newspaper columnist Dan Hodges, survived Jackson.