biography
| sex:
| female
|
| lived:
| (1936– )
|
| biography:
| Actress and politician, born in Birkenhead, Merseyside, NW England, UK. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and became a leading member of the Royal Shakespeare Company before appearing in films in 1967, winning Oscars for Women in Love (1969) and A Touch of Class (1973). She continued to portray complex characterizations on stage and screen, such as the poet Stevie Smith, whom she played first in the theatre and then in the film Stevie (1979), and made several television appearances. Later films include Beyond Therapy (1985), Business as Usual (1986), and The Rainbow (1989). A director of British Artists in 1983, she became a Labour MP in 1992 after which she devoted herself full-time to politics. In 1997 she was appointed Transport minister in the new Labour government. In 1999 she resigned from government to run as Labour candidate for the post of Lord Mayor of London, but was not selected by the party. |
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