Veteran actress Glenda Jackson, who died this week, had recently completed shooting a film based on the story of Hove runaway war veteran Bernard Joran and his wife Irene.
The actress and former politician “died peacefully” after a brief illness at the age of 87, her agent confirmed today.
She had recently finished filming The Great Escaper alongside fellow double Oscar-winner Sir Michael Caine, with whom she last acted 48 years ago in The Romantic Englishwoman.
Their new film tells the story, inspired by true events, of a Second World War veteran who escaped from his care home in Hove, East Sussex, to attend a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France.
It is based on the story of Bernard Jordan, a former Hove mayor, who left The Pines nursing home in 2014 aged 89 to travel to Normandy.
He died the next year, followed a week later by Irene, 86, who is played by Glenda Jackson in the film.
Her agent, Lionel Larner, said: “Glenda Jackson, two-time Academy Award-winning actress and politician, died peacefully at her home in Blackheath, London, this morning after a brief illness, with her family at her side.
“She recently completed filming The Great Escaper in which she co-starred with Michael Caine.”
Despite her successful career, which also included two Emmy Awards and a Tony, Jackson previously said she never had any interest in the social and glamorous aspects of the industry.
The double Oscar-winner gave up acting for politics more than a quarter of a century ago and served as a Labour MP for 23 years.
Tulip Siddiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, which was Jackson’s constituency from 2010 to 2015 after she previously held the old seat of Hampstead and Highgate from 1992 to 2010, paid tribute to her predecessor as a “very supportive mentor” and “formidable politician”.
She tweeted: “Devastated to hear that my predecessor Glenda Jackson has died.
“A formidable politician, an amazing actress and a very supportive mentor to me. Hampstead and Kilburn will miss you Glenda.”
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Obviously that’s extremely sad news and obviously his thoughts will be with her friends and family at this time, but I’m sure we will have more to say.”
Jackson was elected as the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate in 1992, and served as a junior transport minister from 1997 to 1999 during Sir Tony Blair’s government.
Diane Abbott, who became a Labour MP in 1987, paid tribute to Jackson on Twitter.
Tagging Jackson’s son, Mail on Sunday columnist Dan Hodges, she wrote: “Very sad to hear of the death of Glenda Jackson.
“I served alongside her in Parliament for many years. She was a kind and extremely principled woman.”
Jackson stood down as an MP at the 2015 general election and returned to acting.
She won a Bafta for best actress for her 2019 role in Elizabeth Is Missing, which followed the story of a woman suffering from dementia.
Jackson said she only started acting after failing her school certificate, leaving her with no option but to start working at the age of 16.
She previously told the Times magazine of her childhood on the Wirral: “Listen, I come from a family where if you didn’t work, you didn’t eat. That was the class structure.”
After joining a friend at the YMCA amateur dramatics society while she was working at her local Boots store, she went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada).
She also played Egyptian queen Cleopatra in 1971 for an episode of The Morecambe & Wise Show with comedy duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise.
Speaking to the Radio Times about working with the late pair, whose popular show consisted of a mixture of sketches and stand-up comedy, Jackson said: “Oh, I loved working with them.
“I found it extremely difficult to restrain my laughter when we were doing Cleopatra.”
Jackson also recalled her experience of working with late theatre director Peter Brook on a 1967 production of Marat/Sade, describing him as a “genius”.
She also once said she would “probably” turn down a damehood if she were to be offered one, because “what does it actually mean?”
Huge thanks to Dame Glenda Jackson for a lifetime of giving us such wonderful performances both as an actor and such a genuine politician. Oh how many more of her we need!