Glenda Jackson, one of the best and most popular British actresses of all time, has died at the age of 87. The star of Women in Love and A Romantic English Woman had returned to acting in recent years.
In a period marred by mourning that grieves fans of cinema, literature, comics (John Romita), in short those who make life worth living, the great English actress also passed away at the age of 87 Glenda Jackson, twice Oscar winner, winner of three Emmys, and exponent of that generation of British cinema which was among the most innovative and interesting in the world in terms of quality in the 1960s and 70s, with its wonderful interpreters, unfortunately today remembered only by the elderly our. Although she had retired from acting years ago to devote herself to political commitment for the Labor Party (she had entered Parliament in 1992) she had returned to the theater in 2015 and with the pièce Three Tall Womenhe had added the prestigious Tony to his awards 5 years ago.
Glenda Jackson: A Career Between Drama and Comedy, Theater and Film
Born into a low-class family, Glenda Jackson is the eldest of four sisters and began acting in high school before winning a scholarship to the prestigious RADA acting academy and moving to London. Despite her undoubted talent and her first theatrical rehearsals, she struggles to establish herself and is unemployed for a long time, so much so that to support herself she works as a switchboard operator, sales assistant and waitress. She made her film debut in 1963 with a role in I am a champion by Lindsay Anderson, followed by two collaborations with Peter Brook, in Marat/Saidwhich he had already performed in the theater, and Tell me Lies. In 1967 he struck the public and critics as the Ophelia of Hamlet by another great theater director, sir Peter Hall. But the director who knows how to enhance it the most is the brilliant and eccentric Ken Russellwhich makes them win the first Oscar for best protagonist per Women in love“scandalous” transposition of the novel by D.H. Lawrence, where she appears nude, like co-stars Alan Bates and Oliver Reed. With her Russell she will go back to work in The other side of lovecrazy “biography” of Tjajkovsky, in the musical Il Boy Friend and late The Ultimate Salome e Life is a rainbow. In the Seventies she was one of the most requested actresses by British directors and not only: she plays Sunday, damned Sunday by John Schlesinger Mary Stuart Queen of Scots, Triple Eco. In 1974 comes the according to Oscars thanks to the comedy A touch of class, with George Segal. In the same year she is a ne nun The smile of the great tempter by Damiano Damiani.
Another memorable interpretation is offered by director Joseph Losey, playing alongside Helmut Berger, in A romantic Englishwoman. She is then the protagonist of the biopic Sarah Bernhardt – The greatest actress of all time and she plays alongside Walter Matthau the American comedy Home visits. Also in America with Matthau is the star of 2 under the sofa. Directed by Robert Altman appears in films Health e in Group therapywhile another successful film is from 1985, Tortoise I will love you, alongside Ben Kingsley. Then he gradually abandons acting, after the last two Ken Russell films, to devote himself to a political career. After this career, in 2015 he returned to his first love with a series of radio dramas and TV films, he won the Tony in 2018 for Three Tall Women and in April 2019 he plays none other than the role of King Lear in a Broadway production. The last movie we’ll see her in will be The Great Escaper with Michael Caine (his partner in A romantic Englishwoman), which he had just finished shooting. Fortunately, the British had not forgotten her and in 2022 they dedicated a retrospective to her at the British Film Institute in London, which also saw her on her stage retracing her career in a live interview.