Gordon Jackson (actor)
Gordon Jackson OBE | |
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Born | Glasgow, Scotland | 19 December 1923
Died | 15 January 1990 London, England | (aged 66)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1942–1990 |
Spouse | Rona Anderson (1951–1990) |
Gordon Cameron Jackson, OBE (19 December 1923 – 15 January 1990) was a Scottish Emmy Award-winning actor best remembered for his roles as the butler Angus Hudson in Upstairs, Downstairs and as George Cowley, the head of CI5, in The Professionals. He also portrayed Flt. Lt. Andrew MacDonald, "Intelligence", in The Great Escape.[1]
Early life
Gordon Jackson was born in Glasgow in 1923, the youngest of five children. He attended Hillhead High School, and in his youth he took part in BBC radio shows including Children's Hour.[2] He left school aged 15 and became a draughtsman for Rolls-Royce.[3]
Acting career
His film career began in 1942, when producers from Ealing Studios were looking for a young Scot to act in The Foreman Went to France[3] and he was suggested for the part. After this, he returned to his job at Rolls-Royce, but he was soon asked to do more films, and he made the decision to make acting his career.[4] Jackson soon appeared in other films, including Millions Like Us, San Demetrio London, The Captive Heart, Eureka Stockade and Whisky Galore!. In the early years of his career, Jackson also worked in repertory theatre in Glasgow, Worthing and Perth.
In 1949, he starred in the film Floodtide, along with actress Rona Anderson. He and Anderson married two years later on 2 June 1951. They had two sons, Graham and Roddy.[1] The same year, he made his London stage debut, appearing in Seagulls Over Sorrento.
In the 1950s and 1960s he appeared on television in programmes such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, ABC of Britain, Gideon's Way and The Avengers. In 1955 he had a small part in The Quatermass Xperiment, the film version of the BBC TV serial. He later had supporting roles in the films The Great Escape, The Bridal Path and The Ipcress File. In 1969, he and his wife had important roles in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.[1] That year, he played Horatio in Tony Richardson's production of Hamlet and he won a Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actor,[2] having also taken part in the film version.
Gordon Jackson became a household name playing the stern Scottish butler Hudson in sixty episodes of the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs from 1971 to 1975.[1] In 1976, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor for the episode "The Beastly Hun". In 1974, he was named British Actor of the Year and in 1979 he was made an OBE. Jackson was cast opposite Bette Davis for the American television film Madame Sin (1972), which was released in overseas markets as a feature film.
His next big television role was in The Professionals from 1977.[1] He played George Cowley in all 57 episodes until the programme's end in 1983, although filming had finished in 1981. He played Noel Strachan in the Australian World War II drama A Town Like Alice (1981), winning a Logie Award for his performance.
After A Town Like Alice and The Professionals, Gordon Jackson continued his television work with appearances in Hart to Hart, Campion and Shaka Zulu, and the films The Shooting Party and The Whistle Blower. He also appeared in the theatre, appearing in Cards on the Table, adapted from the novel by Agatha Christie at the Vaudeville Theatre in 1981, and in Mass Appeal by Bill C. Davis at the Lyric Hammersmith in 1982. From 1985 to 1986, Jackson narrated two afternoon cookery shows in New Zealand for TVNZ called Fresh and Fancy Fare and its successor Country Fare.[2] His last role before his death was in Effie's Burning, and this was broadcast posthumously.
Death
In December 1989, he was diagnosed with bone cancer, the diagnosis was too late and nothing could be done, and he died on Sunday the 15th of January 1990 aged 66, in London. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium.[5] [6]
Partial filmography
- One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942) (uncredited)
- The Foreman Went to France (1942) as Alastair 'Jock' MacFarlan, 19th Fusillers
- Women Aren't Angels (1943) as Man in small orchestra
- Nine Men (1943) as The Young 'un
- Millions Like Us (1943) as Fred
- San Demetrio London (1943) as Messboy John Jamieson
- Pink String and Sealing Wax (1945) as David
- The Captive Heart (1946) as Lieut. Lennox
- Against the Wind (1948) as Duncan
- Eureka Stockade (1949) as Tom Kennedy
- Floodtide (1949) as David Shields
- Stop Press Girl (1949) as Jock Melville
- Whisky Galore! (1949) as George Campbell
- Bitter Springs (1950) as Mac
- Happy Go Lovely (1951) as Paul Tracy
- The Lady with the Lamp (1951)
- Castle in the Air (1951) as Hiker
- Death Goes to School (1953) as Detective Inspector Campbell
- Malta Story (1953) as British Soldier (uncredited)
- Meet Mr. Lucifer (1953) as Hector
- The Love Lottery (1954) as Ralph
- Delavine Affair (1955) as Florian
- Passage Home (1955) as Ted Burns
- The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) as BBC TV producer
- Windfall (1955) as Leonard
- Moby Dick—Rehearsed (1955, TV) as A Young Actor / Ishmael
- Women Without Men (1956) as Percy
- Pacific Destiny (1956) as District Officer
- The Baby and the Battleship (1956) as Harry
- Sailor Beware! (1956) as Carnoustie Bligh
- Let's Be Happy (1957) as Dougal MacLean
- Seven Waves Away (1957) as John Merritt
- Hell Drivers (1957) as Scottie
- Man in the Shadow (1957) as Jimmy Norris
- Blind Spot (1958) as 'Chalky' White
- Rockets Galore! (1958) as George Campbell
- The Navy Lark (1959) as Leading Seaman Johnson
- Three Crooked Men (1959) as Don Wescott
- Yesterday's Enemy (1959) as Sgt. McKenzie
- The Bridal Path (1959) as PC Alec
- Blind Date (1959) as Sergeant
- The Price of Silence (1959) as Roger Fenton
- Cone of Silence (1960) as Capt. Jock Bateson
- Tunes of Glory (1960) as Capt. Jimmy Cairns, M.C.
- Snowball (1960) as Bill Donovan
- Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog (1961) as Farmer
- Two Wives at One Wedding (1961) as Tom
- Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) as Seaman Edward Birkett
- The Great Escape (1963) as Flt. Lt. Andrew MacDonald, "The Intelligence"
- The Long Ships (1964) as Vahlin
- Operation Crossbow (1965) as R.A.F. Pilot (scenes deleted)
- The Ipcress File (1965) as Jock Carswell
- Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) as MacDougal
- Cast a Giant Shadow (1966) as James MacAfee
- The Fighting Prince of Donegal (1966) as Captain Leeds
- Triple Cross (1966) as British Sergeant Questioning Chapman (uncredited)
- The Night of the Generals (1967) as Captain Engel
- Danger Route (1967) as Brian Stern
- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) as Gordon Lowther
- Run Wild, Run Free (1969) as Mr. Ransome
- Hamlet (1969) as Horatio
- Scrooge (1970) as Tom - Friend of Harry's
- Kidnapped (1971) as Charles Stewart
- Madame Sin (1972) as Commander Cavendish
- Russian Roulette (1975) as Hardison
- Spectre (1977, TV movie) as Inspector Cabell
- Golden Rendezvous (1977) as Dr. Marston
- The Medusa Touch (1978) as Dr. Johnson
- A Town Like Alice (1981, TV) as Noel Strachan
- The Masks of Death (1984, TV movie) as Alec MacDonald
- The Shooting Party (1985) as Tom Harker
- Shaka Zulu (1986-1989 TV) as Prof. Bramston
- My Brother Tom (1986, TV) as Lockie McGibbon
- The Whistle Blower (1986) as Bruce
- Campion (1989, TV) as Professor Gardner Cairey
- Noble House (1989, TV) as Supt. Armstrong
- The Lady and the Highwayman (1989, TV movie) as Harry
References
- ^ a b c d e Stevens, Christopher (2010). Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams. John Murray. p. 367. ISBN 1-84854-195-3.
- ^ a b c "The Authorised Guide to The Professionals". 26 April 2006.
- ^ a b "Gordon Jackson Biography". BritMovie.co.uk.
- ^ "The Best of Upstairs, Downstairs". TV Times. 1976.
- ^ "Gordon Jackson". Find A Grave. 31 March 2002. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ_JVpeohwo
External links
- 1923 births
- 1990 deaths
- Deaths from cancer in England
- Clarence Derwent Award winners
- Deaths from bone cancer
- Emmy Award winners
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Male actors from Glasgow
- Scottish male film actors
- Scottish male radio actors
- Scottish male stage actors
- Scottish male television actors
- People educated at Hillhead High School
- 20th-century Scottish male actors