Glenn Close
Close in Paris at the Albert Nobbs French premiere in February 2012.
Born	(1947-03-19) March 19, 1947 (age 65)[1] Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma mater	College of William and Mary
Occupation	Actress, producer
Years active	1975–present
Spouse	Cabot Wade (1969–1971) James Marlas (1984–1987) David Shaw (2006–present)
Partner	Len Cariou (1979–1983) John Starke (1987–1991; 1 child) Steve Beers (1995)

Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947)^[1] is an American film, television and stage actress. She is best known for her roles as a femme fatale—the scheming Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and deranged stalker Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction (1987)—as well as Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996), and its sequel 102 Dalmatians (2000). She has been more recently known for her Emmy and Golden Globe winning role as Patty Hewes in the FX TV series Damages.

Consistently acclaimed for her versatility, she has been nominated six times for an Oscar (five times throughout the 1980's), three times for a Grammy Award and once for a BAFTA Film Award, and has won three Tonys, an Obie, three Emmys, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Early life and family[link]

Close was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the daughter of Bettine (née Moore) and William Taliaferro Close,^[1] a doctor who operated a clinic in the Belgian Congo and served as a personal physician to Congo/Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko.^[2] Her parents came from prominent families. Her father was a descendant of the Taliaferros of Virginia; her paternal grandfather, Edward Bennett Close, a stockbroker and director of the American Hospital Association,^[3] was first married to Post Cereals' heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. Close is also a second cousin once-removed of actress Brooke Shields (Shields's great-grandmother Mary Elsie Moore was a sister of Close's maternal grandfather, Charles Arthur Moore, Jr.).^[4]

During her childhood, Close lived with her parents in a stone cottage on her maternal grandfather's estate, in Greenwich.^[5] Close has credited her early years for her acting abilities: "I have no doubt that the days I spent running free in the evocative Connecticut countryside with an unfettered imagination, playing whatever character our games demanded, is one of the reasons that acting has always seemed so natural to me."^[6] When she was seven years old, her parents joined a "cult group", the Moral Re-Armament, in which her family remained involved for fifteen years, living in communal centers. Close has stated that the family "struggled to survive the pressures of a culture that dictated everything about how we lived our lives." Close traveled for several years in the mid-to-late 1960s with an MRA singing group called "Up With People", and attended Rosemary Hall (now Choate Rosemary Hall), graduating in 1965.^[5][7] When she was 22, Close broke away from MRA, attending The College of William and Mary, and majoring in theatre. It was in the College's theatre department that she began to train as a serious actor, under Howard Scammon.^[8] She was elected to membership in the honor society of Phi Beta Kappa.^[5]

Career[link]

Film and television[link]

Glenn Close in 2009.

Close started her professional stage career in 1974, and her film work in 1982.^[5] She has been nominated for six Academy Awards, for Best Actress in Dangerous Liaisons, Fatal Attraction, and Albert Nobbs and for Best Supporting Actress in The Natural, The Big Chill and The World According to Garp (her first film).^[5] In 1984, Close starred in the critically acclaimed drama Something about Amelia, a Golden Globe-winning television movie about a family destroyed by sexual abuse. In 1987 she played the disturbed book editor Alex in Fatal Attraction, and in 1988 she played the scheming aristocrat The Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons.^[5] She played the role of Sunny von Bülow in the 1990 film Reversal of Fortune to critical acclaim.

In the 1990s, she starred in the highly rated presentation of the 1991 Hallmark Hall of Fame drama Sarah, Plain and Tall (and its two sequels) and also in the made-for-TV movie Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (1995); from these roles, she was nominated for 8 Emmys^[9] (winning one) and 9 Golden Globes (winning one in 2005 and 2007). She also appeared in the newsroom comedy-drama The Paper (1994), and in (Steven Speilberg's) Hook she made a cameo as Gutless one the Pirates of Captain Hook's Crew who is punhished by being thrown into the Boo Box a chest filled with Scorpions for betting that Hook would not be able to bring Peter Pan back to Neverland, the alien invasion satire Mars Attacks! (1996, as The First Lady), the Disney hit 101 Dalmatians (1996, as the sinister Cruella de Vil) and its sequel 102 Dalmatians (2000), and the blockbuster Air Force One (1997), as the trustworthy vice-president to Harrison Ford's president. In 2001, she starred in a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic musical South Pacific. In 2005, Close joined the FX crime series The Shield, in which she played a no-nonsense precinct captain. She starred in a series of her own for 2007, Damages (also on FX) instead of continuing her character on The Shield. Close won the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama series for her role in Damages.^[10] In an interview after her win, Close admitted her role of Patty Hewes in the series was the role of her life. Also in 2009, she narrated the environmental film Home. Glenn Close has hosted Saturday Night Live twice-once in 1989 and in 1992.^[11][12]

In December 2010, Close began filming Albert Nobbs in Dublin. She had previously won an Obie in 1982 for her role in the play on stage. She had been working on the film for 10 years,a film which she appeared with along side 101 Dalmatians Co Star Mark Williams and aside from starring in it, co-wrote the screenplay and produced the film.^[13][14] She stated at a press conference held on December 9, 2010 in Dublin, a couple of days before shooting began, "I believe in this story and its potential to take everyone on a sensuous, funny, heart-breaking, wildly unexpected ride".

In the film, Close played the title role of Albert Nobbs, a woman living her life as a man in 1800s Ireland after being sexually assaulted as a young girl. For the film, Close sat through hours of makeup to transform herself into a man. While the film itself received mixed reviews, Close and Janet McTeer received rave reviews for their performances. Close's performance was noted for being her most subtle and introverted performance yet and a departure from her other roles. Close received Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and multiple critics nominations for her performance in Albert Nobbs. On January 24, 2012, Close received her sixth Academy Award nomination, for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, for her performance. The film also received nominations for Best Supporting Actress for McTeer and Best Makeup.

Some of 2011's stand-out film actors appeared in "a video gallery of cinematic villainy" for New York Times Magazine. Close played Theda Bara, a silent film diva mostly known as the first movie "vamp".^[15]

Stage[link]

Close has had an extensive career performing in Broadway musicals. One of her most notable roles on stage was Norma Desmond in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of Sunset Boulevard, for which Close won a Tony award, playing the role on Broadway in 1994.^[5] Close was also a guest star at the Andrew Lloyd Webber fiftieth birthday party celebration in the Royal Albert Hall in 1998. She appeared as Norma Desmond and performed songs from Sunset Boulevard. In addition to Sunset Boulevard, Close also won Tony Awards in 1984 for The Real Thing, and in 1992 for Death and the Maiden.^[5]

Close performed at Carnegie Hall, narrating the violin concerto The Runaway Bunny, a concerto for reader, violin and orchestra, composed and conducted by Glen Roven.

Personal life and causes[link]

Glenn Close at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

In February 2006, Close married her longtime boyfriend David E. (Evans) Shaw in Maine.^[16][17] Close was previously married to Cabot Wade (1969–1973) and James Marlas (1984–1987). She has a daughter, Annie Starke, from her previous relationship with John Starke that ended in 1991. Close is a dog lover and writes a blog for Fetchdog.com, where she interviews other famous people about their relationships with their dogs.^[18] Close announced to the public that she has had her DNA sequenced.^[19]

Close has donated money to the election campaigns of many Democratic politicians, including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Howard Dean, John Edwards and Barack Obama.^[20]

Close was a founder and is chairperson of BringChange2Mind, a US campaign to eradicate the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness, supporting her sister Jessie who has bipolar illness.^[21]

Stage productions[link]

Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals[link]

Jim Dale and Glenn Close performing Busker Alley in 2006.

• Rex (Broadway, 1976), Richard Rodgers-Sheldon Harnick musical about Henry VIII
• Barnum (Charity Barnum, Broadway, 1980), Cy Coleman musical about Phineas T. Barnum
• Sunset Boulevard (Norma Desmond, Broadway, November 1994), Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on the classic 1950 motion picture Sunset Boulevard
• The Play What I Wrote by Hamish McColl, Sean Foley and Eddie Braben (Lyceum Theatre, 2003)
• Busker Alley (Off-Broadway, 2006, one-performance benefit concert), Sherman Brothers musical based on the 1938 movie St. Martin's Lane, directed by Tony Walton

Broadway plays[link]

• Love for Love by William Congreve (New Phoenix Repertory Co. at the Helen Hayes Theatre, November 1974)
• The Rules of the Game by Luigi Pirandello (New Phoenix Repertory Co. at the Helen Hayes Theatre, December 1974)
• The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers (New Phoenix Repertory Co. at the Helen Hayes Theatre, December 1974)
• The Crucifer of Blood by Paul Giovanni (Helen Hayes Theatre, September 1978)
• The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard (Plymouth Theatre, December 1983)
• Benefactors by Michael Frayn (Brooks Atkinson Theatre, December 1985)
• Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman (Brooks Atkinson Theatre, February 1992)

Off-Broadway[link]

• The Crazy Locomotive by Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (Chelsea Theater Center (February 1977)
• Uncommon Women and Others (November 1977)
• Wine Untouched (June 1979)
• The Winter Dancers (October 1979)
• The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs, an adaptation of George Moore's short story directed by French director Simone Benmussa, 1982.
• For No Good Reason / Childhood (October 1985)

Los Angeles[link]

• Sunset Boulevard (musical, December 1993)

London[link]

• A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (National Theatre Lyttleton, October 2002)

Tony Awards[link]

Close at the 84th Academy Awards Red Carpet 2012.

• 1980: Best Featured Actress in a Musical – Barnum (Nomination)
• 1984: Best Actress in a Play – The Real Thing (Won)
• 1992: Best Actress in a Play – Death and the Maiden (Won)
• 1995: Best Actress in a Musical – Sunset Boulevard (Won)

Drama Desk Awards[link]

• 1992: Outstanding Actress in a Play – Death and the Maiden (Nomination)
• 1995: Outstanding Actress in a Musical – Sunset Boulevard (Won)

Obie Awards[link]

• 1982: Best Actress in a Play – The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs (Won)

Discography[link]

Close received her first Grammy nomination (shared with Jeremy Irons) in 1985 for Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for The Real Thing.^[22]

In 1988 PBS and Rabbit Ears Productions produced a multi-award-winning animated adaptation and a subsequent book depicting the Irving story The Emperor and the Nightingale. Illustrations, directing, and adaptation were done by Robert Van Nutt; music by Tim Story; and the narration by Glenn Close. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Album for Children, making it Close's second nomination.^[23]

In 1989 Close narrated The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Album for Children, for which Tim Story composed the music, and gave Close her third nomination.^[24]

In 1995, Glenn Close and Placido Domingo recorded a Christmas album together titled Repeat the Sounding Joy featuring The London Symphony Orchestra. The album was produced by the Hallmark company.^[25]

Filmography and awards[link]

Other awards[link]

• 1982: Rosemary Hall Alumnae Award ^[7]
• 1988: People's Choice Award: Favorite Motion Picture Actress.
• 1989: ShoWest Convention, USA: Female Star of the Year.
• 1990: Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year.
• 1992: Golden Camera/ Germany: Best International Actress.
• 2001: Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards: Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.^[26]
• 2002: GLAAD Media Awards: For Excellence in Media.
• 2008: Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service: For outstanding achievements in the dramatic arts.
• 2009: Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion pictures.
• 2011: The Donostia Award for San Sebastián International Film Festival.
• 2011: Hollywood Career Achievement Award 2011 from the Hollywood Film Awards 2011.
• 2012: Palm Springs International Film Festival: Career Achievement Award.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Napoleon, Davi. Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater Includes discussion of Des McAnuff's production of The Crazy Locomotive at the Chelsea Theater. Iowa State University Press.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Glenn Close

• Glenn Close at the Internet Broadway Database
• Glenn Close at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Glenn Close at the Internet Movie Database
• Glenn Close at Emmys.com