Born in Birkenhead, England; educated at RADA, London. A bricklayer's daughter, she left school at 16 to join an amateur theatrical group. For a decade she alternated between repertory plays and odd jobs as a waitress, receptionist and pharmacy assistant. Her break came in 1964 when she was invited by Peter Brook to join his Theater of Cruelty revue. This led to her triumphant portrayal of the mad Charlotte Corday on both the London and the New York stages in Brook's haunting The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis De Sade. She made her film debut in the same role and later established herself as an intriguing screen personality in two Ken Russell films, WOMEN IN LOVE and THE MUSIC LOVERS. She won the best actress Academy Award for the former as well as the New York Film Critics Award. In SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY she finally broke away from the mold in which she had been typecast in her early films, that of a bitchy, neurotic nymphomaniac. She won a second Oscar for her performance in A TOUCH OF CLASS (1973), and an Emmy Award in 1972 for the role of Elizabeth I in a six-part BBC-TV drama series. She was also nominated for Oscars for SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY (1971) and HEDDA (1975). Defying the advancing years, she continued in the 80s to play leading-lady roles on the stage (Strange Interlude in 1985 and Macbeth in 1988 on Broadway), TV movies (title role in "The Patricial Neal Story" in 1981, Dr. Elena Bonner in "Sakharov" in 1984), and in films (BEYOND THERAPY, 1987). In 1989, she played in another Ken Russell film from D. H. Lawrence, THE RAINBOW, in which she portrayed the mother of the character that she won her first Oscar playing 20 years earlier.

Glenda Jackson, M.P. (2000)

She announced retirement from acting in 1992 when she was elected to an MP seat in the House of Commons. She was appointed Junior Transport Minister in 1997. She has a London theatre named after her.  Actress 1970: WOMEN IN LOVE  Nominated for Actress 1971: SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY  Actress 1973: A TOUCH OF CLASS Nominated for Actress 1975: HEDDA 4 nominations, 2 Awards