Glenn Close facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Glenn Close
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Close in 2014
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Glenda Veronica Close
March 19, 1947 Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.
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| Education | College of William & Mary (BFA) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1974–present |
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Works
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Full list |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Partner(s) | Len Cariou (1979–1983) |
| Children | Annie Starke |
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| Awards | Full list |
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Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947) is a famous American actress. She has worked in movies, TV shows, and plays for over 50 years. Glenn Close has won many awards, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. She has also been nominated for eight Academy Awards. In 2019, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Glenn Close has been nominated for Academy Awards for her roles in films like The World According to Garp (1982), The Big Chill (1983), and The Natural (1984). She also played a memorable character in Fatal Attraction (1987) and a clever noblewoman in Dangerous Liaisons (1988). Later, she starred as a butler in Albert Nobbs (2011), a wife in The Wife (2017), and a grandmother in Hillbilly Elegy (2020). Other well-known films include Mars Attacks! (1996), Air Force One (1997), and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). She famously played Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996) and its sequel, and voiced Kala in Tarzan (1999).
On television, Glenn Close won Emmy Awards for her roles in Serving in Silence (1995) and for playing Patty Hewes in the series Damages (2007–2012). On stage, she made her Broadway debut in 1974. She has won three Tony Awards for her work in plays like The Real Thing (1983) and Death and the Maiden (1992), and the musical Sunset Boulevard (1995).
Close is also involved in various causes. She supports Democratic politicians and speaks out on topics like women's rights and mental health. She has one daughter, Annie Starke, who is also an actress.
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Early Life and Education
Glenn Close was born on March 19, 1947, in Greenwich, Connecticut. Her father, William Taliaferro Close, was a doctor who worked in the Belgian Congo. She has two sisters and two brothers, including an adopted brother from Congo.
As a child, Glenn Close lived in a stone cottage on her grandfather's estate. She loved to play make-believe, which helped her acting skills. She didn't like to mention her wealthy hometown, Greenwich, because she wanted people to know she worked hard.
When Close was seven, her parents joined a group called the Moral Re-Armament (MRA). Her family was part of this group for 15 years, living in shared centers. Close described MRA as a "cult" that controlled many parts of her life. She also studied in Switzerland and attended Rosemary Hall, graduating in 1965. In the 1960s, she traveled with a singing group called Up With People.
At age 22, Close left the MRA. She said her dream of becoming an actress helped her leave. She attended The College of William & Mary, studying theater and anthropology. There, she trained as an actor and starred in a summer play called The Common Glory. She also joined the honor society Phi Beta Kappa. Close has returned to William & Mary many times to share her experiences.
Through a TV show called Finding Your Roots, she learned she is distantly related to Princess Diana and actor Clint Eastwood.
Acting Career Highlights
Starting Out in the 1970s
Glenn Close began her acting career on stage in 1974 at age 27. She performed in plays at the Helen Hayes Theatre, including Love for Love. In 1975, she made her TV debut in Great Performances. She also appeared in the Broadway musical Rex in 1976.
From 1978 to 1979, Close was on Broadway in The Crucifer of Blood. She also filmed TV movies like Orphan Train and Too Far to Go in 1979. Her last big stage role before movies was in the musical Barnum from 1980 to 1981.
Becoming a Star in the 1980s
The 1980s were a big decade for Glenn Close in Hollywood. In 1980, director George Roy Hill saw her on Broadway and asked her to audition for The World According to Garp. This was her first movie role and earned her an Academy Award nomination. She played Robin Williams's mother, even though she was only four years older than him.
The next year, she played Sarah Cooper in The Big Chill, a role written just for her. The movie was very popular. Close became one of the few actors to be nominated for a Tony, Emmy, and Oscar in the same year. She also received her first Tony Award nomination for Barnum.
In 1984, Close had a small but important role in Robert Redford's baseball movie The Natural, earning her a third Oscar nomination. She also starred in the TV drama Something About Amelia (1984), which was highly praised. In 1984, she won her first Tony Award for the play The Real Thing.
Close wanted to play different kinds of characters. In 1985, she starred in the romantic comedy Maxie and the legal thriller Jagged Edge. For Jagged Edge, the producer initially thought she wasn't right for the part, but the director supported her. The movie was a success.
In 1987, Close played Alex Forrest in the thriller Fatal Attraction. This movie was a huge hit and made her an international star. Her character, Alex Forrest, is one of her most famous roles. Close received her fourth Oscar nomination for this part. She also won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actress.
She played a clever noblewoman, the Marquise de Merteuil, in the 1988 drama Dangerous Liaisons. Close received excellent reviews and another Oscar nomination for this role. She also appeared in the TV film Stones for Ibarra (1988) and the drama Immediate Family (1989).
Becoming an Established Actress in the 1990s
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In 1990, Close played Sunny von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune, earning critical praise. That same year, she played Gertrude in Franco Zeffirelli's film of Hamlet. She also had a small role in Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991). From 1991, she starred in the popular TV movie Sarah, Plain and Tall and its two sequels.
In 1992, Close starred in Meeting Venus, winning Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. She also became a trustee for The Sundance Institute. In 1995, she played Margarethe Cammermeyer in the TV movie Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, winning her first Primetime Emmy Award. Since 1995, she has voiced Mona Simpson on The Simpsons. Close also hosted Saturday Night Live twice. In 1992, she won her second Tony Award for Death and the Maiden.
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One of her most famous stage roles was Norma Desmond in the musical Sunset Boulevard. Close won her third Tony Award for this role in 1995. Critics praised her performance, with one calling it "one of those legendary performances people will be talking about years from now."
Close appeared in the comedy-drama The Paper (1994) and Tim Burton's alien movie Mars Attacks! (1996). In 1996, she played the evil Cruella de Vil in Disney's live-action 101 Dalmatians. Her portrayal of Cruella was widely praised, and the movie was a big success. Close kept all her costumes from her films, including the expensive ones from 101 Dalmatians.
The next year, Close was in another hit movie, Air Force One (1997), playing the trustworthy vice president to Harrison Ford's president. Ford personally chose her for the role. Close also starred in the war film Paradise Road (1997). In 1999, she voiced Kala in Disney's animated film Tarzan and received good reviews for her role in Cookie's Fortune (1999).
Focus on Television in the 2000s
In the early 2000s, Close appeared more in TV movies. She returned as Cruella de Vil in 102 Dalmatians (2000). She also filmed The Safety of Objects (2001) and Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2001). In 2004, she played Claire Wellington in the comedy The Stepford Wives. She voiced the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio (2002) and Granny in Hoodwinked (2005). Close continued to do smaller films like Le Divorce (2003) and The Chumscrubber (2005).
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In 2001, she starred in a TV production of the musical South Pacific. She guest-starred on Will and Grace in 2002, earning an Emmy nomination. In 2003, Close played Eleanor of Aquitaine in the film The Lion in Winter, winning a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
In 2005, Close joined the FX crime series The Shield, playing Monica Rawling. She felt that TV was in a "golden era" and that the quality of shows was as good as movies. She was one of the first major film stars to take a regular TV series role, which helped open doors for other film actors.
In 2007, she appeared with Meryl Streep in the drama Evening. This was her last movie role for a while as she began her own TV series, Damages (2007). Close played the tough lawyer Patty Hewes for five seasons. Her performance was highly praised, and she won two consecutive Emmy Awards. She became one of the highest-paid actresses on cable TV. Close said Patty Hewes was the role of her life. After Damages ended, she said she wouldn't do another regular TV role but was open to miniseries or guest spots. In 2008, Close performed at Carnegie Hall, narrating a violin concert.
Return to Film and Stage in the 2010s
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In 2010, Close began filming Albert Nobbs in Dublin. She had worked on this project for nearly 20 years, starring in it, co-writing the script, and producing it. Close felt it was important to make the film to discuss issues of identity. In the movie, she played Albert Nobbs, a woman living as a man in 19th-century Ireland.
Her performance in Albert Nobbs received great praise for being subtle and different from her usual roles. When asked about not winning an Oscar, Close said she never understood why actors would be so worried about winning, given how many people are in the profession.
In 2012, she voiced the "Giant" in the musical Into the Woods in Central Park. In 2014, she starred in Pirates of Penzance in New York. In October 2014, Close returned to Broadway in the play A Delicate Balance. The show broke box office records for its theater.
After Damages ended, Close returned to film in 2014, playing Nova Prime Rael in the Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy. She also appeared in independent films like 5 to 7 (2014) and Low Down (2014). In 2015, Close had a small role on the TV show Louie.
In 2016, she was in The Great Gilly Hopkins and the horror drama The Girl with All the Gifts. In April 2016, she returned to her role as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard in London. Critics loved her performance, and she won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical Performance. That same year, she was added to the American Theater Hall of Fame.
The London production of Sunset Boulevard moved to Broadway in 2017, with Close again playing Norma Desmond. Critics praised her new performance. The New York Times called it "one of the great stage performances of this century." Also in 2017, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Theatre World Awards. Close appeared in the science fiction thriller What Happened to Monday (2017) and the romantic comedy The Wilde Wedding (2017). She also starred in Crooked House (2017), based on an Agatha Christie novel.
Close received widespread praise for her role in the 2018 drama The Wife. She played Joan Castleman, a woman who rethinks her life choices as her husband receives a Nobel Prize. Her daughter, Annie Starke, played a younger version of her character. Close won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. She received her seventh Academy Award nomination for this role. In 2018, Close also returned to the stage in the play Mother of the Maid.
Continued Film Work in the 2020s
In 2020, Close starred in Netflix's film Hillbilly Elegy, working again with director Ron Howard. She played the character Mamaw. While the film received mixed reviews, Close's performance was highly praised. She received nominations for an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Also in 2020, Close co-starred with Mila Kunis in the drama Four Good Days. In 2021, Close was an executive producer for Cruella, a live-action movie about Cruella de Vil's younger years. She also appeared with Mahershala Ali in the Apple TV+ film Swan Song. In 2022, she starred in season two of the Apple TV+ series Tehran, for which she learned Persian. She also played Carmel Snow in the Apple TV+ series The New Look.
In 2022, it was announced that Close would star in the drama The Deliverance for Netflix, which was released in August 2024. She also stars with Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage in the film Brothers, released in theaters on October 10, 2024. Close was cast in the action-comedy Back in Action for Netflix, which was released globally on January 17, 2025.
Upcoming Projects
In March 2023, it was announced that Close would star in the film The Summer Book, based on the novel by Tove Jansson. In May 2024, Close joined the cast of Wake Up Dead Man, the sequel to Knives Out. Filming for this movie was delayed for Close because she became ill with COVID-19 and RSV.
Close is also set to play her stage role of Norma Desmond in a film version of the musical Sunset Boulevard. In May 2024, it was announced that Close was working again with her Reversal of Fortune co-star Jeremy Irons in the comedy Encores. In June 2025, it was announced that Close would play Drusilla Sickle in the upcoming film The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
Personal Life
Family and Relationships
Glenn Close has been married three times, and each marriage ended in divorce. Her first marriage was from 1969 to 1971 to Cabot Wade. From 1979 to 1983, she lived with actor Len Cariou. She was married to James Marlas from 1984 to 1987.
Later, Close had a relationship with producer John Starke, whom she met while making The World According to Garp. Their daughter, Annie Starke, was born in 1988 and is an actress. Close and Starke separated in 1991. In 2006, Close married David Evans Shaw, but they divorced in 2015. Her first grandchild was born in February 2025.
Interests and Views
Close comes from a Democratic family. She has given money to support Democratic politicians like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. She also spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. In interviews, she has shared her concerns about political figures she disagrees with.
Glenn Close keeps all her costumes from her films and sometimes lends them out for exhibits. She lent a dress from Dangerous Liaisons to Madonna for a performance in 1990. In 2017, she gave her entire costume collection to Indiana University Bloomington.
Close is a fan of the New York Mets baseball team and has sung the national anthem at their games many times. She describes herself as a spiritual person, but not religious.
Activism and Causes
Helping Others
Close has supported several important causes, including women's rights and mental health. In 1998, she performed in a show that raised money to help stop violence against women. In 2002, she received an award for promoting equal rights for all people. She also volunteered for "Puppies Behind Bars," an organization that trains service dogs for veterans.
Close is a trustee of The Wildlife Conservation Society and volunteers at Fountain House, a place that helps people with mental illness. She is also a founding member of the Panthera Conservation Advisory Committee, which works to protect wild cats around the world. Close has also supported the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.
Mental Health Advocacy
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Glenn Close is a founder and chairperson of Bring Change to Mind, a US campaign that aims to end the negative ideas and unfair treatment around mental illness. She supports her sister, Jessie, who has bipolar disorder. Close wrote chapters in her sister's 2015 book about mental illness, Resilience: Two Sisters and a Story of Mental Illness. In 2010, Close shared that she had her DNA sequenced to help raise awareness about mental illness in her family.
In July 2013, Close auctioned over 380 designer items from her Damages character's wardrobe on eBay. All the money raised went to her charity, Bring Change to Mind. Her friend, director Ron Howard, directed the foundation's first public service announcement.
In 2013, Close spoke at the White House, asking for the Excellence in Mental-Health Act to be passed. This law would help expand treatment and access to mental health services. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law in April 2014, providing over $1 billion in funding. Close received the WebMD Health Hero award in 2015 for her work in mental health. In 2016, she donated $75,000 to help victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting. She often promotes her charity work on her Instagram account.
Acting Credits and Awards
Glenn Close is one of the few performers to be nominated for the Triple Crown of Acting (Tony, Emmy, Oscar) and the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). She has won three Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Tony Awards. She has also been nominated for eight Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, three Grammy Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has recognized her for these performances:
- 55th Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The World According to Garp (1982)
- 56th Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Big Chill (1983)
- 57th Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Natural (1984)
- 60th Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Fatal Attraction (1987)
- 61st Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
- 84th Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Albert Nobbs (2011)
- 91st Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Wife (2018)
- 93rd Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Hillbilly Elegy (2020)
See also
In Spanish: Glenn Close para niños
