DEATH : Actor Gordon Jackson Dies : ‘Upstairs’ Butler Jackson Dies

LONDON — Veteran actor Gordon Jackson, who was renowned for his portrayal of the butler Hudson in the long-running television series “Upstairs, Downstairs,” died Sunday after a brief illness, the British Broadcasting Corp. said today. He was 66.

Jackson’s wife, Rona, was with him when he died at Cromwell Hospital in London, BBC radio said.

During his lengthy acting career, Jackson appeared in such films as “Tight Little Island,” “Mutiny on the Bounty,” “Tunes of Glory,” “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines” and “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.” He also acted with Britain’s prestige stage companies, including the Young Vic and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Jackson never considered himself a star. “I’m just a well-known face,” he said. But his name on a marquee certainly helped fill theaters, especially after “Upstairs, Downstairs” in which he played the stern butler Hudson, the characterization that won him the Royal Television Society Award.