- Glenda Jackson
Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = Glenda Jackson
honorific-suffix =MP
constituency_MP = Hampstead and Highgate
parliament =
majority = 3,729 (9.8%)
predecessor =Geoffrey Finsberg
successor =Incumbent
term_start =9 April 1992
term_end =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1936|5|9|df=yes
birth_place =Wirral ,England
death_date =
death_place =
nationality =United Kingdom
spouse = Roy Hodges (1958-1976)
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =
religion =
website =
footnotes =Glenda May Jackson, CBE, (born
9 May ,1936 ) is a British actress andpolitician , currently LabourMember of Parliament for the constituency of Hampstead and Highgate in theLondon Borough of Camden .Biography
She was born into a working-class family in
Birkenhead , Wirral, then Cheshire nowMerseyside , across theRiver Mersey fromLiverpool and her father was abricklayer . She attended the West Kirby County Grammar School for Girls, then worked for two years in a Boots pharmacy store, before studying at RADA inBloomsbury .She has one son by her ex-husband, Roy Hodges whom she married in 1958 and divorced in 1976.
Career in acting
Infobox actor
name = Glenda Jackson
birthname= Glenda May Jackson
birthdate = birth date and age|1936|5|9
location =Birkenhead ,England
academyawards = Best Actress
1970 "Women in Love"
1973 "A Touch of Class"
baftaawards = Best Actress
1971 "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
emmyawards = Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series
1972 "Elizabeth R "
Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or Movie
1972"Elizabeth R "
goldenglobeawards = Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy
1974 "A Touch of Class"Having studied acting at
RADA , Jackson made her professional stage debut inTerence Rattigan 's "Separate Tables " in 1957, and her film debut in "This Sporting Life " in 1963. Subsequently a member of theRoyal Shakespeare Company for four years, she worked for directorPeter Brook in several productions, including ofPeter Weiss ' "Marat/Sade " asCharlotte Corday . Jackson also appeared in the film version.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 inKen 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 QueenElizabeth I of England in theBBC 's 1971 blockbuster serial, "Elizabeth R ". Her portrayal of Elizabeth I is considered unparalled in accuracy by Elizabethan scholarsFact|date=January 2008.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 historyFact|date=January 2008.Filmmaker
Melvin Frank watched this and saw her comedic potential and offered her the lead female role in his next project. She earned a secondAcademy Award for Best Actress for this particular comic role in "A Touch of Class" (1973), andEric 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 firstMayor of London in 2000. The nomination was eventually won byFrank Dobson , who lost the election toKen Livingstone , the independent candidate. In the 2005 general election, she received 14,615 votes, representing 38.29% of the votes cast in theconstituency .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 byLord Hutton in 2003 surrounding the reasons for going to war inIraq and the death of government adviserDr. David Kelly . Jackson was generally considered to be a traditional left-winger, often disagreeing with the dominantBlairite 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. On31 October ,2006 , Jackson was one of 12 Labour MPs to backPlaid Cymru and theScottish National Party 's call for an inquiry into theIraq War . [cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6104310.stm | title=Labour MPs who rebelled on Iraq |date=31 October 2006 | accessdate=2006-10-31 | work=BBC News]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
References
External links
* [http://www.glenda-jackson.co.uk MPs website]
* [http://www.camdenlabour.org.uk Local party website]
*
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-2669,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics — Ask Aristotle: Glenda Jackson]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/glenda_jackson/hampstead_and_highgate TheyWorkForYou.com — Glenda Jackson]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/298.stm BBC Politics]###@@@KEY@@@###incumbent succession box
title =Member of Parliament for Hampstead and Highgate
start = 1992
before =Geoffrey Finsberg succession box
title =NYFCC Award for Best Actress
years = 1970
for" Women in Love"
before=Jane Fonda
for "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
after =Jane Fonda
for "Klute "succession box
title = NYFCC Award for Best Actress
years = 1981
for" Stevie"
before=Sissy Spacek
for "Coal Miner's Daughter
after =Meryl Streep
for "Sophie's Choice"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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