Glenda Jackson

Actor

Glenda Jackson

Born May 9, 1936 in Wirral, England, UKDied June 15, 202346 films

Glenda May Jackson CBE (9 May 1936, Birkenhead, Cheshire – 15 June 2023) was an English actress and politician. She was one of the few artists to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. She was made a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1978.

Read more

She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: for her roles in Women in Love (1970) and A Touch of Class (1973). She won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971). Her other notable roles include Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), Hedda (1975), The Incredible Sarah (1976) and Hopscotch (1980). She won two Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as Elizabeth I in the BBC series Elizabeth R (1971). She received the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for her role in Elizabeth Is Missing (2019).

Jackson studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). She made her Broadway debut in Marat/Sade (1966). She received five Laurence Olivier Award nominations for her West End roles in Stevie (1977), Antony and Cleopatra (1979), Rose (1980), Strange Interlude (1984) and King Lear (2016), the later being her first role after a 25 year absence from acting, which she reprised on Broadway in 2019. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role in the revival of Edward Albee's Three Tall Women (2018).

Jackson took a hiatus from acting to take on a career in politics from 1992 to 2015, and was elected as the Labour Party MP for Hampstead and Highgate in the 1992 general election. She served as a junior transport minister from 1997 to 1999 during the government of Tony Blair, later becoming critical of Blair. After constituency boundary changes, she represented Hampstead and Kilburn from 2010. At the 2010 general election, her majority of 42 votes, confirmed after a recount, was the narrowest of that parliament. Jackson stood down at the 2015 general election and returned to acting.

Start here

The best way into Glenda Jackson's work
Hopscotch posterFirst watchHopscotch19807.0as IsobelA leading role in one of the best-rated films of their career.When CIA operative Miles Kendig deliberately lets KGB agent Yaskov get away, his boss threatens to retire him. Kendig beats him to it, however, destroying his own records and traveling to…View film

Essential films

Ranked by role, acclaim and reach

Filmography

46 films as actor
  1. TBAMidnight Men: A John Schlesinger and Michael Childers Story
  2. 2023The Great EscaperIrene Jordan
  3. 2021Mothering SundayJane (Older)
  4. 2019Elizabeth Is MissingMaud Palmer Horsham
  5. 1992The Secret Life of Arnold BaxHarriet Cohen
  6. 1991The House of Bernarda AlbaBernarda
  7. 1991A Murder of QualityAlisa Brimley
  8. 1990King of the WindQueen Caroline
  9. 1990The Real Story of Humpty DumptyGlitch the Witch (voice)
  10. 1989The RainbowAnna Brangwen
  11. 1989DoombeachMiss Ricketts
  12. 1988Salome's Last DanceHerodias / Lady Alice
  13. 1987Beyond TherapyCharlotte
  14. 1987Business as UsualBabs Flynn
  15. 1985Turtle DiaryNeaera Duncan
  16. 1984SakharovYelena Bonner
  17. 1983The Return of the SoldierMargaret Grey
  18. 1982Giro CitySophie
  19. 1981The Patricia Neal StoryPatricia Neal
  20. 1980HopscotchIsobel
  21. 1980HealtHIsabella Garnell
  22. 1979Lost and FoundTricia
  23. 1978The Class Of Miss MacMichaelConor MacMichael
  24. 1978StevieStevie Smith
  25. 1978House CallsAnn Atkinson
  26. 1977Nasty HabitsSister Alexandra
  27. 1976The Incredible SarahSarah Bernhardt
  28. 1975HeddaHedda
  29. 1975The Romantic EnglishwomanElizabeth
  30. 1975The MaidsSolange
  31. 1974The TempterSister Geraldine
  32. 1973A Touch of ClassVicki Allessio
  33. 1973Bequest to the NationLady Hamilton
  34. 1972The Triple EchoAlice Charlesworth
  35. 1971Mary, Queen of ScotsQueen Elizabeth
  36. 1971The Boy FriendRita Monroe
  37. 1971Sunday Bloody SundayAlex Greville
  38. 1971The Music LoversAntonina 'Nina' Milyukova
  39. 1969Women in LoveGudrun Brangwen
  40. 1968NegativesVivien
  41. 1968Let's Murder VivaldiJulie
  42. 1967Which of These Two Ladies Is He Married To?Claire Foley
  43. 1967The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de SadeCharlotte Corday
  44. 1965Horror of DarknessCathy
  45. 1963This Sporting LifeSinger at Party (uncredited)
  46. 1956The Extra DayExtra (uncredited)