On this day we're celebrating the birthday of Broadway royalty, the star of King Lear, Glenda Jackson.
Glenda Jackson made a triumphant return to Broadway last year after a 30-year absence, winning every possible award for her performance in the smash hit revival of Edward Albee's Three Tall Women, including the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award and Outer Critics Circle Award. Jackson's return to Broadway was hailed by critics and audiences as the theatrical event of the season, and the production broke the Golden Theatre's house record five times.
Jackson's first Academy Award came in 1970 with Ken Russell's film Women in Love. She went on to star in film classics such as Sunday Bloody Sunday, for which she received an Academy Award nomination and a BAFTA Award, and A Touch of Class, for which she won her second Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Her films also include Mary, Queen of Scots; The Romantic Englishwoman; Hedda (Academy Award nomination); The Incredible Sarah; House Calls; and Stevie.
In 1971, Ms. Jackson starred as Queen Elizabeth I in the BBC serial "Elizabeth R," for which she received two Emmy Awards. She was also nominated for Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for "The Patricia Neal Story." Ms. Jackson began her stage career as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She made her Broadway debut in 1965 in 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, and went on to star in Rose (1981), Strange Interlude (1985), and Macbeth (1988), receiving a Tony Award nomination for each performance.
Ms. Jackson spent 23 years as a Member of Parliament and in 2016, returned to acting, playing the title role in Shakespeare's King Lear at The Old Vic, for which she received the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress, and a Critics Circle Award for Best Shakespearean Performance. Ms. Jackson was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1978.
Videos