Oscar, Tony, and Emmy awards winner Glenda Jackson has died at the age of 87 years old, after a brief illness.
Her death was reported by her agent, Lionel Larner.
“One of the world’s greatest actresses has died, and one of my best friends has died as well,” Larner said. Jackson died Thursday morning at her home in London.
Her agent also told CNN how the actress died. “Glenda Jackson, two-time Academy Award-winning actress and politician, 87, died peacefully at her home in London this morning after a short illness with her family by her side,” she said.
“She recently completed filming ‘The Great Escaper’ in which she co-starred with Michael Caine.”
Glenda Jackson was also a member of Parliament’s House of Commons for her London district for 23 years.
Jackson was then appointed a junior transport minister in 1997 which she headed for two years. She contested to become mayor of London in 2000, but lost to independent candidate Ken Livingstone. Despite her loss, she was known for her fearlessness.
Jackson who entered the political space under Tony Blair, subsequently fell apart with the UK Prime Minister when he took Britain to war in Iraq.
She was also a strong critic of former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, criticizing her on the day of her funeral in 2013.
“The first prime minister of female gender, ok. But a woman? Not on my terms,” she said.
Jackson was born in the northwestern town of Birkenhead in England in 1936. She joined an amateur theater group as a teenager before winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
After graduating she starred on London’s West End and made her Broadway debut in 1965 in a production of “Marat/Sade.”
She won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1969 movie “Women in Love.”
She would win her second for her role in the 1973 romantic comedy “A Touch of Class” – two years after her notable depictions of Queen Elizabeth I in both the BBC’s biographic film “Elizabeth R” and the historical drama “Mary, Queen of Scots.”
