FROM ONE THEATRE TO ANOTHER

Chris Hallam celebrates the life of actress turned politician Glenda Jackson

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The year was 1971 and Glenda Jackson was nervous. Then in her 30s, Jackson was already one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation. Her most recent triumph had seen her bringing Tudor history into the living rooms of the nation in the acclaimed BBC series Elizabeth R. Now she was to play another legendary historical ruler, but the show was very different. She was to send herself up playing the Egyptian queen in a hilarious rewrite of Antony and Cleopatra as part of The Morecambe & Wise Show.

Would she be funny enough? Would she damage her hard-earned reputation as a serious dramatic actress? Would she be able to resist breaking into laughter on screen? In the end, she needn’t have worried. She and Eric and Ernie got along famously. “Oh, I loved working with them,” she remembered, more than 50 years later. “They had this reputation for being intensely funny, and they were.”

Jackson’s appearance saw her deliver the line (supposedly crafted by the extremely amateur playwright Ernie Wise): “All men are fools and what makes them so is not having beauty like what I have got.” Jackson’s comedy success led directly to her being cast opposite George Segal in A Touch of Class (1973), the role which led to her second Oscar. “Stick with us,” cabled Morecambe on hearing the news, “and we will get you another one.” Today her stint as Cleo is remembered fondly by more people than anything she ever did and paved the way for later celebrated Morecambe & Wise guest appearances from Andre Previn and Angela Rippon.