Portrait of Glenn Close

Glenn Close

Acting

Biography

Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. In a career spanning over five decades on screen and stage, she has received numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for eight Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Grammy Awards. She was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019. Close received eight Academy Award nominations for playing a feminist mother in The World According to Garp (1982), a baby boomer in The Big Chill (1983), a love interest in The Natural (1984), a psychotic ex-lover in Fatal Attraction (1987), a cunning aristocrat in Dangerous Liaisons (1988), an English butler in Albert Nobbs (2011), a troubled wife in The Wife (2017), and an eccentric grandmother in Hillbilly Elegy (2020). Her other films include Reversal of Fortune (1990), The Paper (1994), and Mars Attacks! (1996), Air Force One (1997), and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Close also portrayed Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996) and its 2000 sequel and voiced Kala in Tarzan (1999). In television, Close received her first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her role in the film Something About Amelia (1984) and later won three—Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for portraying Margarethe Cammermeyer in the NBC film Serving in Silence (1995) and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series twice consecutively for playing Patty Hewes in Damages (2007–2012). On stage, Close made her Broadway debut in the play Love for Love (1974). She later won three Tony Awards, two for Best Actress in a Play for her roles in the plays The Real Thing (1983) and Death and the Maiden (1992), and one for Best Actress in a Musical for the musical Sunset Boulevard (1995). She was Tony-nominated for Barnum (1980). She returned to the Broadway stage in a 2014 revival of A Delicate Balance. In 2016, she returned to Sunset Boulevard on the West End stage, earning a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical nomination. Close is the president of Trillium Productions and co-founder of the website FetchDog. She has made political donations in support of Democratic politicians. She is vocal on issues such as women's rights, same-sex marriage, and mental health. Married three times, she has one daughter, Annie Starke, from her relationship with producer John Starke.

Born: March 19, 1947

Place of Birth: Greenwich, Connecticut, USA

Filmography

2025
All's Fair

as Dina Standish

2025
Animal Farm

as Frieda Pilkington (voice)

2025
Glenn Close: A Feminist Force

as Self - (archive footage)

2025
The Summer Book

as Grandmother

2025
2024
Brothers

as Cath Munger

2024
The Deliverance

as Alberta Jackson

2023
Heart of Stone

as King of Diamonds

2023
Tom Hanks: The Nomad

as Self (archive footage)

2021
Swan Song

as Dr. Eve Scott

2021
Boulevard! A Hollywood Story

as Self (archive footage)

2021
Show of Titles

as "Dance a Little Closer" Performer

2021
2021
Baba Yaga

as Chief (voice)

2020
Hillbilly Elegy

as Bonnie "Mamaw" Vance

2020
537 Votes

as Self (archive footage)

2020
Tehran

as Marjan Montazeri

2020
2019
The Lavender Scare

as Narrator (voice)

2019
2018
3Below: Tales of Arcadia

as Mother (voice)

2018
Let's Dance

as Segment: "Night Shift"

2018
The Wife

as Joan Castleman

2017
Father Figures

as Helen Baxter

2017
Marcians

as Self - Interviewee

2017
Sea Oak

as Aunt Bernie

2017
The Wilde Wedding

as Eve Wilde

2017
Crooked House

as Lady Edith de Haviland

2017
What Happened to Monday

as Nicolette Cayman

2016
The Girl with All the Gifts

as Dr. Caroline Caldwell

2016
Warcraft

as Alodi (uncredited)

2016
Anesthesia

as Marcia Zarrow

2015
The Great Gilly Hopkins

as Nonnie Hopkins

2014
2014
5 to 7

as Arlene Bloom

2014
Low Down

as Gram

2013
Six by Sondheim

as Self (archive footage)

2013
2012
Casting By

as Self

2012
2011
Albert Nobbs

as Albert Nobbs

2011
Discovering Hamlet

as Gertrude (archive footage)

2011
Not My Life

as Narrator (voice)

2011
2009
C à vous

as Self

2009
2008
Gates of the Arctic

as Narrator (voice)

2007
Damages

as Patty Hewes

2007
Evening

as Mrs. Wittenborn

2007
2005
Hoodwinked!

as Granny (voice)

2005
Nine Lives

as Maggie

2005
Heights

as Diana

2005
Tarzan II

as Kala (voice)

2005
The Chumscrubber

as Carrie Johnson

2005
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood

as Self (archive footage)

2004
The Stepford Wives

as Claire Wellington

2004
Strip Search

as Karen Moore

2003
The Lion in Winter

as Eleanor of Aquitaine

2003
Le Divorce

as Olivia Pace

2003
Brush with Fate

as Cornelia Engelbrecht

2002
The Safety of Objects

as Esther Gold

2002
The Shield

as Captain Monica Rawling

2001
South Pacific

as Nellie Forbush

2001
The Ballad of Lucy Whipple

as Arvella Whipple

2000
Welcome to Hollywood

as Glenn Close

2000
Baby

as Adult Sophie (voice)

2000
102 Dalmatians

as Cruella de Vil

2000
Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her

as Dr. Elaine Keener (segments "This is Dr. Keener" and "Fantasies about Rebecca")

1999
SNL: The Best of Adam Sandler

as Gina (archive footage) (uncredited)

1999
The West Wing

as Evelyn Baker Lang

1999
Tarzan

as Kala (voice)

1999
Cookie's Fortune

as Camille Dixon

1999
Family Guy

as Glenn Close (voice)

1999
1998
Will & Grace

as Fannie Lieber

1997
In & Out

as Glenn Close

1997
The View

as Self

1997
Air Force One

as Kathryn Bennett

1997
1997
Paradise Road

as Adrienne Pargiter

1996
Mars Attacks!

as Marsha Dale

1996
101 Dalmatians

as Cruella de Vil

1996
1996
Mary Reilly

as Mrs. Farraday

1995
MADtv

as Self

1995
Anne Frank Remembered

as Diary Readings (voice)

1994
Ellen

as Glenn Close

1994
The Paper

as Alicia Clark

1993
The House of the Spirits

as Ferula Trueba

1993
Skylark

as Sarah Witting

1991
Meeting Venus

as Karin Anderson

1991
Hook

as Gutless

1991
Sarah, Plain and Tall

as Sarah Wheaton

1990
Hamlet

as Gertrude

1990
The Divine Garbo

as Self - Host / Narrator

1990
Reversal of Fortune

as Sunny von Bülow / Narrator

1989
The Simpsons

as Mona Simpson (voice)

1989
Immediate Family

as Linda Spector

1988
Dangerous Liaisons

as Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil

1988
American Experience

as Self - Narrator (voice)

1988
This Morning

as Self - Guest

1988
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

as Narrator (voice)

1988
Stones for Ibarra

as Sara Everton

1988
Electric Blue 29

as (archive footage)

1987
Fatal Attraction

as Alexandra "Alex" Forrest

1986
1985
Jagged Edge

as Teddy Barnes

1985
Maxie

as Jan / Maxie

1984
The Natural

as Iris Gaines

1984
The Stone Boy

as Ruth Hillerman

1984
Something About Amelia

as Gail Bennett

1983
The Big Chill

as Sarah Cooper

1982
1982
The Elephant Man

as Princess Alexandra

1981
1979
Orphan Train

as Jessica

1979
Too Far to Go

as Rebecca Kuehn

1975
Saturday Night Live

as Self - Host

1975
1971
1971
Great Performances

as Self - Host

1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Presenter

1956
Tony Awards

as Self (archive footage)

1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Host/Performer/Winner

1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Audience Member

1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Host

1956
Tony Awards

as Hillary Clinton

1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Nominee

1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Winner

1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Host/Winner

1953
The Oscars

as Self

1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Sara Everton

1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Sarah Wheaton

1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Cornelia Englebrecht

1944
Golden Globe Awards

as Self - Nominee

1944
Golden Globe Awards

as Self - Presenter/Nominee

1944
Golden Globe Awards

as Self - Presenter

----
Sunset Boulevard

as Norma Desmond