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Glenda May Jackson, CBE, (born May 9, 1936) is a two-time Academy Award-winning British actress and politician, currently Labour Member of Parliament for the constituency of Hampstead and Highgate in the London Borough of Camden.

She was born at Birkenhead near Liverpool, into a working-class family, and it is a well-known piece of trivia that she once worked in a Boots pharmacy store. Having studied acting at RADA, Jackson made her professional stage debut in Terence Rattigan's Separate Tables in 1957 and her film debut in This Sporting Life in 1963.

Fame came with Jackson's starring role in the controversial Women in Love (1969) gaining her first Oscar, and another controversial role as Tchaikovsky's nymphomaniac wife in Ken 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 Queen Elizabeth I of England in the BBC's 1971 blockbuster serial, Elizabeth R. In this 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 history. Film maker Melvin Frank watched this and saw her comedic potential and offered her the lead female role in his next project. She accumulated a second Oscar for this particular comic role in A Touch of Class (1973), and Eric and Ernie apparently sent her a telegram saying: 'Stick with us kid, and we'll get you a third!'. She also portrayed Queen Elizabeth on 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.

She retired from acting in order to enter the House of Commons in the United Kingdom general election, 1992 as the Labour MP for the Hampstead & Highgate. After the United Kingdom general election, 1997, she was appointed a junior minister in the government of British 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 first Mayor of London in 2000. This was eventually gained by Frank Dobson, who lost the election to Ken Livingstone, the independent candidate. In the United Kingdom general election, 2005, she received 14,615 votes, representing 38.29% of the votes cast in the constituency.

As a high profile backbencher she has become a regular critic of Blair over his plans to introduce top-up fees. She also called for him to resign following the Judicial Enquiry by Lord Hutton in 2003 surrounding the reasons for going to war in Iraq and the death of government adviser Dr. David Kelly. Jackson is generally considered to be a traditional left-winger, often disagreeing with the dominant Blairite governing centre-right 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 does not stand down within a reasonable amount of time. Glenda Jackson is also seen as a possible dark horse contender to succeed tony blair when he leaves office.

She has one son by her ex-husband, Roy Hodges.

  A Wave of Passion: The Life of Alexandra Kollontai (1994) (TV) (voice) .... Alexandra Kollontai
"Querida Concha"
- Episode dated 13 June 1993 (1993) TV Episode
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax (1992) (TV) .... Harriet Cohen
The House of Bernarda Alba (1991) (TV) .... Bernarda Alba
A Murder of Quality (1991) (TV) .... Ailsa Brimley
T-Bag's Christmas Ding Dong (1990) (TV) .... Vanity Bag
The Real Story of Humpty Dumpty (1990) (V) (voice) .... Glitch the Witch

The Rainbow (1989) .... Anna Brangwen
Doombeach (1989) .... Miss
King of the Wind (1989) .... Queen Caroline
Salome's Last Dance (1988) .... Herodias/Lady Alice
Strange Interlude (1988) (TV) .... Nina Leeds
Beyond Therapy (1987) .... Charlotte
Business as Usual (1987) .... Babs Flynn
Turtle Diary (1985) .... Neaera Duncan
Sakharov (1984) (TV) .... Yelena Bonner (Sakharova)
Giro City (1982) .... Sophie
... aka And Nothing But the Truth
The Return of the Soldier (1982) .... Margaret Grey
The Patricia Neal Story (1981) (TV) .... Patricia Neal
... aka An Act of Love: The Patricia Neal Story
Hopscotch (1980) .... Isobel von Schonenberg
HealtH (1980) .... Isabella Garnell

Lost and Found (1979) .... Tricia
Stevie (1978) .... Stevie Smith
House Calls (1978) .... Ann Atkinson
The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978) .... Conor MacMichael
Nasty Habits (1977) .... Sister Alexandra
... aka The Abbess
The Incredible Sarah (1976) .... Sarah Bernhardt
... aka Sarah
The Romantic Englishwoman (1975) .... Elizabeth Fielding
... aka Une anglaise romantique (France)
Sorriso del grande tentatore, Il (1975) .... Sister Geraldine
... aka The Devil Is a Woman (USA)
... aka The Tempter (UK)
Hedda (1975) .... Hedda Gabler
The Maids (1974) .... Solange
A Touch of Class (1973) .... Vicki Allessio
A Bequest to the Nation (1973) .... Lady Hamilton
... aka The Nelson Affair (USA)
The Triple Echo (1972) .... Alice
... aka Soldier in Skirts
The Boy Friend (1971) (uncredited) .... Rita
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) .... Alex Greville
Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) .... Queen Elizabeth I
"Elizabeth R" (1971) (mini) TV Series .... Queen Elizabeth I
The Music Lovers (1970) .... Nina (Antonina Milyukova)
... aka Ken Russell's Film on Tchaikovsky and the Music Lovers
"Play of the Month"
- Howards End (1970) TV Episode

Women in Love (1969) .... Gudrun Brangwen
Salve Regina (1969) (TV) .... Marina Palek
Negatives (1968) .... Vivien
"Armchair Theatre"
- Home Movies (1968) TV Episode
"The Wednesday Play"
- Let's Murder Vivaldi (1968) TV Episode .... Julie
- Horror of Darkness (1965) TV Episode
Tell Me Lies (1968) .... Guest
Which of These Two Ladies Is He Married to? (1967) (TV) .... Claire Foley
Marat/Sade (1967) .... Charlotte Corday
... aka The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum at Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (UK: complete title)
Horror of Darkness (1965) (TV) .... Cathy
"Z Cars"
- By the Book (1963) TV Episode .... WPC Fernley
- Act of Vengeance (1963) TV Episode .... Hospital Nurse
This Sporting Life (1963) (uncredited) .... Singer At Party

The Extra Day (1956) (uncredited) .... Extra