Glenda May Jackson, CBE, (born 9 May 1936) is a British actress and politician, currently Labour Member of Parliament for the constituency of Hampstead and Highgate in the London Borough of Camden.
Having studied acting at RADA, Jackson made her professional stage debut in Terence Rattigan's Separate Tables in 1957, and her film debut in This Sporting Life in 1963. Subsequently a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, she worked for director Peter Brook in several productions, including of Peter Weiss' Marat/Sade as Charlotte Corday. Jackson also appeared in the film version.
Glenda Jackson in A Touch of Class.
Fame came with Jackson's starring role in the controversial Women in Love (1969) for which she won her first Academy Award for Best Actress, and another controversial role as Tchaikovsky's nymphomaniac wife in Ken Russell's The Music Lovers added to her image of being prepared to do almost anything for her art. She confirmed this by having her head shaved in order to play Queen Elizabeth I of England in the BBC's 1971 blockbuster serial, Elizabeth R. Her portrayal of Elizabeth I is considered unparalled in accuracy by Elizabethan scholars.She received two Emmy Awards for her work in this series. In the same year, she also appeared in a BBC Morecambe and Wise Show, playing Cleopatra in a comedy sketch which is generally recognised as one the funniest sequences in British TV history.
Filmmaker Melvin Frank watched this and saw her comedic potential and offered her the lead female role in his next project. She earned a second Academy Award for Best Actress for this particular comic role in A Touch of Class (1973), and Eric and Ernie apparently sent her a telegram saying: 'Stick with us kid, and we'll get you a third!'. She also portrayed Queen Elizabeth in a film about the life of Mary, Queen of Scots and she has been recognised as one of Britain's leading actresses. In 1978, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Until recently, a theatre and arts academy in Borough Road, Birkenhead was named after her. It has been demolished by Wirral Council and replaced with flats.
Career in politics
She retired from acting in order to enter the House of Commons in the 1992 general election as the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate. After the 1997 general election, she was appointed a junior minister in the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair, with responsibility for London Transport, a post she resigned before an attempt to be nominated as the Labour Party candidate for the election of the first Mayor of London in 2000. The nomination was eventually won by Frank Dobson, who lost the election to Ken Livingstone, the independent candidate. In the 2005 general election, she received 14,615 votes, representing 38.29% of the votes cast in the constituency.
As a high profile backbencher she became a regular critic of Blair over his plans to introduce top-up fees. She also called for him to resign following the Judicial Enquiry by Lord Hutton in 2003 surrounding the reasons for going to war in Iraq and the death of government adviser Dr. David Kelly. Jackson was generally considered to be a traditional left-winger, often disagreeing with the dominant Blairite governing centre-left faction in the Labour Party.
By October 2005, her problems with Blair's leadership swelled to a point where she threatened to challenge the Prime Minister as a stalking horse candidate in a leadership contest if he didn't stand down within a reasonable amount of time. On 31 October 2006, Jackson was one of 12 Labour MPs to back Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for an inquiry into the Iraq War.
Her constituency boundaries will change dramatically at the next election. Gospel Oak and Highgate wards will become part of Holborn & St Pancras, and the new Hampstead & Kilburn ward will cross the border into Brent to include Brondesbury, Kilburn and Queens Park wards (from the old Brent East and Brent South seats). It is not yet known whether she intends to stand again.
Filmography
Year
Film
Role
Other notes
1963
This Sporting Life
Extra
Uncredited
1963
This Sporting Life
Singer at party
Uncredited
1967
Benefit of the Doubt
Bit part
Marat/Sade
Inmate portraying Charlotte Corday
1968
Tell Me Lies
Guest
The Wednesday Play
Julie
Let's Murder Vivaldi
Negatives
Vivien
1969
Women in Love
Gudrun Brangwen
Academy Award for Best Actress;
Nominated - BAFTA Award; Nominated - Golden Globe
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
Marina Palek
Salve Regina
1970
Play of the Month
Howards End; Nominated - BAFTA TV Award
The Music Lovers
Nina (Antonina Milyukova)
1971
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Alex Greville
BAFTA Award;
Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress
The Boy Friend
Rita
Uncredited
Mary, Queen of Scots
Queen Elizabeth I
Nominated - Golden Globe
Elizabeth R
Queen Elizabeth I
TV mini-series; Emmy Award;
Nominated - BAFTA TV Award
1972
The Triple Echo
Alice
1973
A Touch of Class
Vicki Allessio
Academy Award for Best Actress;
Golden Globe; Nominated - BAFTA Award
A Bequest to the Nation
Lady Hamilton
1974
The Maids
Solange
1975
The Romantic Englishwoman
Elizabeth Fielding
Il Sorriso del grande tentatore
Sister Geraldine
Hedda
Hedda Gabler
Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress;
Nominated - Golden Globe
1976
The Incredible Sarah
Sarah Bernhardt
Nominated - Golden Globe
1977
Nasty Habits
Sister Alexandra
1978
House Calls
Ann Atkinson
Stevie
Stevie Smith
Nominated - Golden Globe
The Class of Miss MacMichael
Conor MacMichael
1979
Lost and Found
Tricia
1980
Hopscotch
Isobel von Schonenberg
HealtH
Isabella Garnell
1981
The Patricia Neal Story
Patricia Neal
TV - Nominated - Golden Globe
1982
The Return of the Soldier
Margaret Grey
Giro City
Sophie
1984
Sakharov
Yelena Bonner (Sakharova)
TV - Nominated - Golden Globe
1985
Turtle Diary
Neaera Duncan
1987
Beyond Therapy
Charlotte
Business as Usual
Babs Flynn
1988
Strange Interlude
Nina Leeds
TV
Salome's Last Dance
Herodias/Lady Alice
1989
The Rainbow
Anna Brangwen
King of the Wind
Queen Caroline
Doombeach
Miss
1990
T-Bag's Christmas Ding Dong
Vanity Bag
TV
The Real Story of Humpty Dumpty
Glitch the Witch (voice)
1991
The House of Bernarda Alba
Bernarda Alba
TV
A Murder of Quality
Ailsa Brimley
TV
1992
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
Harriet Cohen
TV
1994
A Wave of Passion: The Life of Alexandra Kollontai
Alexandra Kollontai (voice)
TV
References
^ "Labour MPs who rebelled on Iraq". BBC News (31 October 2006). Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
External links
MPs website
Glenda Jackson at the Internet Movie Database
Guardian Unlimited Politics — Ask Aristotle: Glenda Jackson
TheyWorkForYou.com — Glenda Jackson
BBC Politics
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Geoffrey Finsberg
Member of Parliament for Hampstead and Highgate
1992 – present
Incumbent
Awards
Preceded by
Jane Fonda
for They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
NYFCC Award for Best Actress
1970
for Women in Love
Succeeded by
Jane Fonda
for Klute
Preceded by
Sissy Spacek
for Coal Miner's Daughter
NYFCC Award for Best Actress
1981
for Stevie
Succeeded by
Meryl Streep
for Sophie's Choice
v • d • e
Academy Award for Best Actress
Sophia Loren (1961) · Anne Bancroft (1962) · Patricia Neal (1963) · Julie Andrews (1964) · Julie Christie (1965) · Elizabeth Taylor (1966) · Katharine Hepburn (1967) · Katharine Hepburn / Barbra Streisand (1968) · Maggie Smith (1969) · Glenda Jackson (1970) · Jane Fonda (1971) · Liza Minnelli (1972) · Glenda Jackson (1973) · Ellen Burstyn (1974) · Louise Fletcher (1975) · Faye Dunaway (1976) · Diane Keaton (1977) · Jane Fonda (1978) · Sally Field (1979) · Sissy Spacek (1980)
Complete list · (1928–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)
v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series
Helen Hayes (1952) · Loretta Young (1954) · Loretta Young (1956) · Loretta Young (1959) · Barbara Stanwyck (1961) · Barbara Stanwyck (1966) · Barbara Bain (1967) · Barbara Bain (1968) · Barbara Bain (1969) · Susan Hampshire (1970) · Susan Hampshire (1971) · Glenda Jackson (1972) · Michael Learned (1973) · Michael Learned (1974) · Jean Marsh (1975)
Complete list: (1952-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)
v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie
Judith Anderson (1954) · Mary Martin (1955) · Claire Trevor (1956) · Polly Bergen (1957) · Julie Harris (1959) · Ingrid Bergman (1960) · Judith Anderson (1961) · Julie Harris (1962) · Kim Stanley (1963) · Shelley Winters (1964) · Lynn Fontanne (1965) · Simone Signoret (1966) · Geraldine Page (1967) · Maureen Stapleton (1968) · Geraldine Page (1969) · Patty Duke (1970) · Lee Grant (1971) · Glenda Jackson (1972) · Cloris Leachman (1973) · Susan Hampshire / Cicely Tyson / Mildred Natwick (1974) · Katharine Hepburn / Jessica Walter (1975)
Complete list: (1954-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)
Persondata
NAME
Jackson, Glenda
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Jackson, Glenda May
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Actress, politican
DATE OF BIRTH
9 May 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH
Wirral, Merseyside
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenda_Jackson"
Categories: 1936 births | Living people | Actor-politicians | Best Actress Academy Award winners | Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners | BAFTA winners (people) | British female MPs | Commanders of the Order of the British Empire | Emmy Award winners | English film actors | English stage actors | English television actors | Labour MPs (UK) | Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies | People from Birkenhead | Royal Shakespeare Company members | UK MPs 1992-1997 | UK MPs 1997-2001 | UK MPs 2001-2005 | UK MPs 2005-Hidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since January 2008
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