Glenda Jackson won Oscars in 1971 and 1974. AFP
Glenda Jackson won Oscars in 1971 and 1974. AFP
Glenda Jackson won Oscars in 1971 and 1974. AFP
Glenda Jackson won Oscars in 1971 and 1974. AFP

Oscar winner and former MP Glenda Jackson dies


Simon Rushton
  • English
  • Arabic

Oscar-winning actress Glenda Jackson, who enjoyed a second career as a British MP, has died aged 87.

She died at her home in Blackheath, London, after a brief illness, her agent Lionel Larner said.

When she returned to acting in her eighties, she took on a male role and one of theatre's most challenging – that of King Lear – for which she won high praise.

One of four daughters of a bricklayer and a cleaning lady in north-west England, Jackson never forgot her roots even as she made her name as one of the greatest female actors of her generation.

Growing up in Birkenhead, Cheshire, Jackson left school at the age of 15 and found work in a shop, before winning a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

She won her first Academy Award in 1971 as lead actress for her role as a headstrong artist in director Ken Russell's film of DH Lawrence's novel Women in Love.

Her second Oscar came three years later for A Touch of Class, a romantic comedy directed by Melvin Frank in which Jackson played a harried fashion designer caught up in a catastrophic love affair with an American businessman in London.

Despite the successes and awards, including two Emmy Awards and a Tony, she gave up acting for politics 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, paid tribute to her predecessor, describing her as a “very supportive mentor” and “formidable politician”.

"Devastated to hear that my predecessor Glenda Jackson has died," Ms Siddiq said on Twitter.

Actor Hugh Grant with Glenda Jackson, minister of transport for London at the time, on the set of the film Notting Hill. PA
Actor Hugh Grant with Glenda Jackson, minister of transport for London at the time, on the set of the film Notting Hill. PA

“A formidable politician, an amazing actress and a very supportive mentor to me. Hampstead and Kilburn will miss you Glenda.”

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's thoughts are with Jackson's friends and family, Downing Street 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,” the Prime Minister's spokesman said.

In 1992, Jackson was elected as the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate and served as a junior transport minister from 1997 to 1999 during Tony Blair's government.

Jackson stood down as an MP at the 2015 general election and returned to acting.

She won a Bafta for best actress in 2019 for her role in Elizabeth Is Missing, which followed the story of a woman with dementia.

She recently completed filming The Great Escaper, in which she stars alongside Michael Caine.

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How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed

Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.

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One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.

That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.

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If you go

The flights

There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.

The trip

Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.

The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.

 

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Updated: June 15, 2023, 12:32 PM