Glenn Close

Glenn Close is an American actress born on March 19, 1947. Spanning five decades across screen and stage, her career has earned her an Academy Honorary Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. She has also received nominations for eight Academy Awards, three Grammy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. In 2019, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Close was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, to Elizabeth Mary Hester "Bettine" and William Taliaferro Close, a doctor who operated a clinic in the Belgian Congo and served as personal physician to Mobutu Sese Seko. She grew up with four siblings, including a brother adopted from Congo. During her childhood, her family spent 15 years involved with the Moral Re-Armament movement. She attended St. George's School in Switzerland, graduated from Rosemary Hall in 1965, and toured with Up With People, forming the Green Glenn Singers.

After leaving Moral Re-Armament at age 22, Close attended The College of William & Mary, double majoring in theater and anthropology. Inspired by Katharine Hepburn, she trained under Howard Scammon and joined Phi Beta Kappa. She made her professional stage debut in 1974 in Love for Love and appeared in theatrical productions such as King Lear, Rex, The Crucifer of Blood, and Barnum, which earned her a Tony nomination. She made her television debut in 1975 in Great Performances and later starred in television films like Orphan Train.

Close made her feature film debut in The World According to Garp (1982), earning her first Academy Award nomination. She earned further Oscar nominations for her supporting roles in The Big Chill (1983) and The Natural (1984). In 1984, she won a Tony Award for The Real Thing and received an Emmy nomination for Something About Amelia. She achieved international stardom portraying Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction (1987), which earned her a fourth Oscar nomination. She followed this with an Oscar-nominated performance in Dangerous Liaisons (1988), alongside roles in Maxie, Jagged Edge, and Immediate Family.

In the 1990s, Close starred in films including Reversal of Fortune (1990), Hamlet (1990), Meeting Venus (1992), The Paper (1994), Mars Attacks! (1996), and Air Force One (1997). She played Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996) and voiced Kala in Tarzan (1999). On stage, she won Tony Awards for Death and the Maiden (1992) and Sunset Boulevard (1995). On television, she won a Primetime Emmy for Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (1995) and began voicing Mona Simpson on The Simpsons.

Close earned two consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards playing Patty Hewes in the series Damages (2007–2012). Her 21st-century film credits include 102 Dalmatians (2000), Albert Nobbs (2011), The Wife (2017), Hillbilly Elegy (2020), and Wake Up Dead Man (2025). Off screen, Close is president of Trillium Productions and co-founded FetchDog. She advocates for mental health, women's rights, and same-sex marriage, and supports Democratic politicians. Married three times, she has a daughter, Annie Starke, with producer John Starke.