Oscar-Winning British Actress, MP Glenda Jackson Dies at 87

The publicist of two-time Academy Award-winning actress Glenda Jackson has announced her death at 87.

In a statement Thursday, her agent Lionel Larner said Jackson "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," the statement added.

Jackson was survived by her son, Daniel Hodges.

Jackson, as Actor and Politician

Jackson began acting in the late 1950s after joining an amateur dramatics group as a teenager while working in Boots near her hometown of Birkenhead in Merseyside.

She won the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) scholarship in London and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963.

Jackson was known for her Oscar-winning roles in "Women In Love" and "A Touch of Class" in the 1970s, as well as receiving two further nominations.

She did not attend either ceremony to accept the awards, saying she was busy. "All awards are very nice to have," she told the BBC last year. "But they don't make you any better."

She also entered politics as a Labour Party MP for Hampstead and Kilburn at the House of Commons from 1992 to 2015, including her stint as a junior frontbencher in Tony Blair's government from 1997.

Upon retiring from politics, Jackson returned to acting, winning a BAFTA for her comeback role in the TV drama "Elizabeth Is Missing" in 2020.

Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, Jackson's successor to her former Westminster seat, called her "[a] formidable politician, an amazing actress, and a very supportive mentor."

"Devastated to hear that my predecessor Glenda Jackson has died," she tweeted. "Hampstead and Kilburn will miss you Glenda."