Gordon Jackson gave butlers, officers and commanders an authority that could hold an ensemble together. We value him most in Upstairs, Downstairs, where his work helps make the servants' troubles matter as much as their employers'.
Fi1m perspective
In Upstairs, Downstairs (1971), Gordon Jackson's Angus Hudson gives the household's servants someone whose authority we take seriously. He plays the butler, but the job title is not what makes him worth watching. Alongside Angela Baddeley's Mrs Bridges, he makes the people below stairs a strong reason to return to the programme. We grew fond of Hudson because Jackson made his concerns worth following, without asking us to admire the household hierarchy.
His route to that part ran through supporting work in British and international films in the 1950s and 1960s. Tunes of Glory (1960) cast him as Captain Jimmy Cairns; in The Great Escape (1963), he is MacDonald, ‘Intelligence’. John Sturges makes the practical business of escape absorbing, and Jackson belongs to an ensemble whose appeal is not confined to Steve McQueen. We warmly recommend the film, though it softens the hardships of captivity. It is also a useful place to see Jackson before television gave him the sustained attention that suited him so well.
His Scottish accent sometimes narrowed the parts offered, and repeated casting as officers and commanders had its limits. A stern official needs something to do beyond issuing instructions. Hudson benefits from a series willing to let its characters develop, with Jean Marsh's Rose Buck central to the same patient attention. Jackson's authority has a purpose here: it helps prevent the servants from being treated as incidental to their employers' lives. The staging can be stiff, but the class tensions keep the household from becoming too comfortable.
The move to The Professionals (1977) put him in charge again, as George Cowley, head of CI5. After Hudson, here was another television role with enough space to make his presence familiar: he appeared in all 57 episodes. That is a substantial stretch in which to play the man in charge, and a reminder of how closely television associated him with authority. For the clearest reason to spend time with Jackson, start with Upstairs, Downstairs and give the downstairs company time.
Biography
Gordon Jackson (19 December 1923 – 15 January 1990) was a Scottish actor. Born in Glasgow, he began his career with BBC radio work as a teenager before making his film debut in 1942. He trained initially as an engineering draughtsman at Rolls-Royce and appeared in numerous British films from the 1940s onwards, including Whisky Galore! (1949).
Jackson gained international recognition for supporting roles in films such as Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), The Great Escape (1963) as MacDonald 'Intelligence', The Ipcress File (1965) and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965). On television he played Angus Hudson in Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1975) and George Cowley in The Professionals (1977–1983). He received an Emmy Award for his performance in Upstairs, Downstairs and was appointed OBE in 1979.
