Glenn Close

Glenn Close

Close at the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere in July 2014
Born March 19, 1947[1]
Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma mater College of William & Mary
Occupation Actress, producer
Years active 1974–present
Spouse(s) Jack Roose (1965–1968)
Cabot Wade (1969–1971)
James Marlas (1984–1987)
David Shaw (2006–present)
Partner(s) John Starke (1987–1991)
Children 1 (with Starke)
Parent(s) William Close
Bettine Moore Close

Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947)[1] is an American film, television and stage actress. Throughout her long and varied career, she has been consistently acclaimed for her versatility and is widely regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation.[2] She has won three Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards and received six Academy Award nominations.

Close began her professional stage career in 1974 in Love for Love, and was mostly a New York stage actress through the rest of the 1970s and early 1980s, appearing in both plays and musicals, including the Broadway productions of Barnum in 1980 and The Real Thing in 1983, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Her first film role was in The World According to Garp (1982), which she followed up with supporting roles in The Big Chill (1983), and The Natural (1984); all three earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She would later receive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in Fatal Attraction (1987), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), and Albert Nobbs (2011). In the 1990s, she won two more Tony Awards, for Death and the Maiden in 1992 and Sunset Boulevard in 1995, while she won her first Emmy Award for the 1995 TV film Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story.

Close starred as Eleanor of Aquitaine in the 2003 TV film The Lion in Winter, winning a Golden Globe Award. In 2005, she starred in the drama series The Shield. Then from 2007 to 2012, she starred as Patty Hewes in the FX drama series Damages, a role that won her a Golden Globe and two Emmys. She returned to Broadway in November 2014, in a revival of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance.[3] Her other films include Jagged Edge (1985), Hamlet (1990), Reversal of Fortune (1990), 101 Dalmatians (1996), Paradise Road (1997), Air Force One (1997), Cookie's Fortune (1999), Nine Lives (2005) and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).

Close is a six-time Academy Award nominee, tying the record for being the actress with the most nominations never to have won (along with Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter). In addition, she has been nominated for four Tonys (three wins), fourteen Emmys (three wins), fourteen Golden Globes (two wins), a Drama Desk Award (which she won) and eight Screen Actors Guild Awards (one win). She has also won an Obie award and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards and a BAFTA.

Early life and family

Close was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the daughter of socialite Bettine Moore Close 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.[4] 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,[5] was first married to Post Cereals' 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.).[6]

During her childhood, Close lived with her parents in a stone cottage on her maternal grandfather's estate, in Greenwich.[7] Close has credited her acting abilities to her early years: "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."[8] When she was seven years old, her parents joined a "cult group," the Moral Re-Armament (MRA), 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." She spent time in Switzerland when studying at St. George's School in Switzerland (www.stgeorges.ch). 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.[7][9]

When she was 22, Close broke away from MRA,[10] attending the College of William & Mary, and double majoring in theatre and anthropology. It was in the College's theatre department that she began to train as a serious actor, under Howard Scammon, W&M's long-time professor of theatre. During her years at school in Williamsburg she also starred in the summer-time outdoor drama, "The Common Glory," written by Pulitzer Prize author Paul Green.[11] She was elected to membership in the honor society of Phi Beta Kappa.[7] Through the years she has returned to W&M to lecture and visit the theatre department. In 1989 she was the commencement speaker at W&M and received an honorary doctor of arts degree.

Career

Film and television

Close started her professional stage career in 1974, and her film work in 1982.[7] 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).[7] Her six nominations have her tied with Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter as the most nominated actress not to win an Oscar.

After her sixth Oscar nomination, Close was asked about the fact of not having an Oscar, for which she answered: "And I remember being astounded that I met some people who were really kind of almost hyper-ventilating as to whether they were going to win or not [the Oscar], and I have never understood that. Because if you just do the simple math, the amount of people who are in our two unions, the amount of people who in our profession are out of work at any given time, the amount of movies that are made every year, and then you're one of five. How could you possibly think of yourself as a loser?"

Close in Paris at the Albert Nobbs French premiere in February 2012.

In total she has been nominated fourteen times for an Emmy (winning three)[12] and thirteen times at the Golden Globes (winning two).

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.[7] She played the role of Sunny von Bülow in the 1990 film Reversal of Fortune to critical acclaim.

Close has hosted Saturday Night Live twice, once in 1989 and once in 1992.[13][14]

In the 1990s, she starred in the highly rated Hallmark Hall of Fame television drama Sarah, Plain and Tall (1991), as well as its two sequels. She also played the title role in the made-for-TV movie Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story in 1995, for which she won her first Emmy. She also appeared in the newsroom comedy-drama The Paper (1994), Steven Spielberg's Hook, 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.[15] In an interview after her win, Close stated that her role of Patty Hewes in the series was the role of her life. Also in 2009, she narrated the environmental film Home.

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, in which she appeared alongside 101 Dalmatians co-star Mark Williams, for 10 years, and aside from starring in it, she co-wrote the screenplay and produced the film.[16][17]

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 Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and multiple critics nominations for her performance in Albert Nobbs.

Recently Close along with Viola Davis and Uma Thurman was featured in the Documentary Love, Marilyn reading excerpts from Marilyn Monroe's diaries. Critic Stephen Farber has described the film as "One of the most skillful and entertaining summaries of Marilyn's endlessly fascinating rise and fall."[18] Close played Nova Prime Rael in the science fiction film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).[19][20] In 2014, Glenn Close received good reviews for her role in the independent drama Low Down. Her next projects are the films Always on My Mind, with Nick Nolte and Laura Dern, and The Wife, directed by Swedish director Bjorn Rounge.

Stage

Glenn Close at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

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.[7] 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. Close has also won Tony Awards in 1984 for The Real Thing, and in 1992 for Death and the Maiden.[7] 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.

Close provided the voice of the "Giant" in the Summer 2012 production of the musical Into the Woods at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The production also featured Amy Adams as The Baker's Wife and Donna Murphy as The Witch.[21]

In October 2014, Close returns to Broadway in the starring role of Agnes in Pam MacKinnon's revival of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance. She stars opposite John Lithgow as Tobias, Martha Plimpton as Julia and Lindsay Duncan as Claire. The production will play the Golden Theatre.[3]

Personal life and causes

From 1969 to 1971, Close was married to Cabot Wade, a guitarist and songwriter, with whom she had performed during her time at Up with People.[22] From 1979 to 1983 she dated Broadway actor Len Cariou.[22] She was married to businessman James Marlas from 1984 to 1987.[22] Soon afterward, she began a relationship with producer John Starke, whom she had previously met on the set of The World According to Garp.[22] In 1988 the two had a daughter together, Annie Starke, who is currently an aspiring actress.[23] They separated in 1991.[22]

In 1995 Close was engaged to carpenter Steve Beers, who had worked on Sunset Boulevard, but the two never married, and they separated in 1999.[22]

In February 2006, Close married executive and venture capitalist David Evans Shaw in Maine.[22][24]

Close is a second cousin once removed to actress Brooke Shields.

Through her fourth generation great-grandfather Samuel Addams, Close is a third cousin twice removed of cartoonist Charles Addams (1912-1988).[25]

Close is a dog lover and writes a blog for Fetchdog.com, where she interviews other famous people about their relationships with their dogs.[26] Close announced to the public that she has had her DNA sequenced.[27]

Close has donated money to the election campaigns of many Democratic politicians, including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Howard Dean, John Edwards and Barack Obama.[28]

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 disorder.[10][29] During the month of July 2013, Close put up over 380 designer items up for auction on eBay from the wardrobe her character Patty Hewes wore on Damages. All proceeds were raised to go to her charity BringChange2Mind.[30]

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1982 The World According to Garp Jenny Fields
1983 The Big Chill Sarah Cooper
1984 The Natural Iris Gaines
1984 The Stone Boy Ruth Hillerman
1984 Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes Jane Porter Voice, uncredited
1985 Jagged Edge Teddy Barnes
1985 Maxie Jan / Maxie
1987 Fatal Attraction Alexandra "Alex" Forrest
1988 Dangerous Liaisons Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil
1988 Light Years Queen Ambisextra Voice
1989 Immediate Family Linda Spector
1990 Reversal of Fortune Sunny von Bulow
1990 Hamlet Queen Gertrude
1991 Hook Gutless Cameo
1991 Meeting Venus Karin Anderson
1993 The House of the Spirits Ferula Trueba
1994 The Paper Alicia Clark
1996 Mars Attacks! First Lady Marsha Dale
1996 101 Dalmatians Cruella de Vil
1997 Paradise Road Adrienne Pargiter
1997 Air Force One Vice President Kathryn Bennett
1999 Cookie's Fortune Camille Dixon
1999 Tarzan Kala Voice
2000 102 Dalmatians Cruella de Vil
2000 Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her Dr. Elaine Keener
2001 The Safety of Objects Esther Gold
2003 Le Divorce Olivia Pace
2003 Pinocchio The Blue Fairy Voice; English dub
2004 Heights Diana
2004 The Stepford Wives Claire Wellington
2005 Tarzan II Kala Voice, direct-to-DVD
2005 The Chumscrubber Carrie Johnson
2005 Nine Lives Maggie
2006 Hoodwinked! Granny Voice
2007 Evening Mrs. Wittenborn
2011 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil Granny Voice
2011 Albert Nobbs Albert Nobbs Also producer, co-writer and author of the lyrics of the song "Lay Your Head Down"
2014 Low Down Gram
2014 Guardians of the Galaxy Nova Prime Irani Rael
2015 Anesthesia Marcia Zarrow Completed
TBA 5 to 7 Arlene Completed
TBA on My Mind, AlwaysAlways on My Mind Completed
TBA The Great Gilly Hopkins Completed
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1975 The Rules of the Game Neighbour TV film
1979 Too Far To Go Rebecca Kuehn TV film
1979 Orphan Train Jessica TV film
1982 The Elephant Man Princess Alexandra TV film
1984 Something About Amelia Gail Bennett TV film
1988 Stones for Ibarra Sara Everton TV film
1991 Sarah, Plain and Tall Sarah Wheaton TV film, also executive producer
1993 Skylark Sarah Witting TV film, also executive producer
1995 Serving in Silence Margarethe Cammermeyer TV film, also executive producer
1995–2014 The Simpsons Mona Simpson 5 episodes
1997 In the Gloaming Janet TV film
1999 Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End Sarah Witting TV film, also executive producer
2000 Baby Adult Sophie TV film, narrator
2001 The Ballad of Lucy Whipple Arvella Whipple TV film, also executive producer
2001 South Pacific Nellie Forbush TV film, also executive producer
2002 Will & Grace Fanny Lieber Episode: "Hocus Pocus"
2003 Brush with Fate Cornelia Engelbrecht TV film
2003 The Lion in Winter Eleanor of Aquitaine TV film
2004 The West Wing Evelyn Baker Lang Episode: "The Supremes"
2004 Strip Search Karen Moore TV film
2005 The Shield Captain Monica Rawling Season 4 (13 episodes)
2007–2012 Damages Patty Hewes Seasons 1-5 (59 episodes)
Theatre
Year title Role Notes
1974 Love for Love Angelica Broadway play (New Phoenix Rep at Helen Hayes Theatre)
1974 The Rules of the Game Neighbour
1974 The Member of the Wedding Janice
1976 Rex Princess Mary Broadway musical
1977 The Crazy Locomotive Off-Broadway (Chelsea Theater Center)
1977 Uncommon Women and Others Off-Broadway
1978 The Crucifer of Blood Irene St. Claire Broadway play
1979 Wine Untouched Off-Broadway
1979 The Winter Dancers Off-Broadway
1980 Barnum Chairy Barnum Broadway musical
1982 The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs Albert Nobbs Off-Broadway
1983 The Real Thing Annie Broadway play (Plymouth Theatre)
1985 For No Good Reason/Childhood Off-Broadway
1985 Benefactors Jane Broadway play (Brooks Atkinson Theatre)
1992 Death and the Maiden Paulina Salas Broadway play (Brooks Atkinson Theatre)
1993 Sunset Boulevard Norma Desmond Shubert Theatre, Los Angeles (musical)
1994 Sunset Boulevard Norma Desmond Broadway musical
2002 A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche Dubois London (National Theatre)
2003 The Play What I Wrote Broadway musical
2006 Busker Alley Off-Broadway musical (one-performance benefit concert)
2014 A Delicate Balance Agnes Broadway play
Documentaries
Year Title Notes
1990 Divine Garbo
1999 The Lady with the Torch Host
2001 Welcome to Hollywood
2003 What I Want My Words to Do to You
2003 A Closer Walk Narrator
2007 Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age
2009 Home Narrator
2011 Not My Life Narrator
2012 Love, Marilyn Narrator
2012 Casting By

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Roberts, Gary Boyd (2010). "Notable Kin - Additional Noted American Cousin: A Five-Year Update, Numbers 326-350". New England Historic Genealogical Society - Founded 1845. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  2. ↑ "Glenn Close: My close-up on a man's world". Daily Mail. 15 April 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.broadwaybox.com/daily-scoop/what-play-can-come-along-that-will-be-more-star-studded-than-this/
  4. ↑ Simpson, Dan (2006-11-29). "Conscience and the Congo". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  5. ↑ "Glenn Close Biography – Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
  6. ↑ "Thomas Holcombe of Connecticut - Person Page 1141". Holcombegenealogy.com. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 1995
  8. ↑ In a speech at Princeton University on February 19, 2009
  9. ↑ Rosemary Hall Alumnae Award from the Choate Rosemary Hall website
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Galloway, Stephen (October 15, 2014). "Glenn Close Returns to Stage, Reveals Remarkable Childhood in Cult". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Glenn Close: "Are You Who We Think You Are?"". Princeton.edu. 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
  12. ↑ Glenn Close Emmy Award Winner
  13. ↑ "SNL Transcripts: Glenn Close: 02/25/89". Snltranscripts.jt.org. 1989-02-25. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
  14. ↑ "SNL Transcripts: Glenn Close: 12/12/92". Snltranscripts.jt.org. 1992-12-12. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
  15. ↑ Joyce Eng (20 September 2009). "Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Cryer Win First Emmys". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
  16. ↑ Glenn Close's Albert Nobbs Costume Revealed" comingsoon.net (Source:Daily Mail), December 5, 2010
  17. ↑ BWW Staff. "Glenn Close Reprises 'Albert Nobbs' in New Film" broadwayworld.com, December 15, 2010
  18. ↑ Farber, Stephen (September 4, 2012). "Love, Marilyn: Telluride Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  19. ↑ Fleming, Jr., Mike (May 29, 2013). "Glenn Close Is Head Cop In Marvel's 'Guardians Of The Galaxy'". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Read the Official Synopsis For Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy". Marvel. January 3, 2014. Archived from the original on February 17, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Glenn Close to Voice The Giant in Public Theaters 'Into the Woods'" broadwayworld.com, July 16, 2012
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 Stritof, Sheri and Bob. "Glenn Close and David Shaw", Marriage.about.com, accessed December 31, 2011
  23. ↑ Annie Starke on Following Mom (Glenn Close) On Stage and Her Fashionable Debut in Love, Loss and What I Wore, Broadway.com, March 31, 2011
  24. ↑ "Glenn Close Marries on Maine Retreat", People Magazine, February 6, 2006.
  25. ↑ Reitwiesner, William Addams (12 Nov 2010). "The Ancestors and Relatives of William Addams Reitwiesner". William Addams Reitweisner Genealogical Services. Retrieved 11 Sep 2014.
  26. ↑ fetchdog.com
  27. ↑ "BioTechniques – First named female genome sequenced".
  28. ↑ "Opensecrets.org". Opensecrets.org. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
  29. ↑ "Bring Change 2 Mind". Bring Change 2 Mind. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
  30. ↑ Peppers, Margot (July 12, 2013). "Want to dress like a high-powered lawyer without the hefty price tag? Glenn Close auctions off Armani and Prada power suits from her Damages wardrobe on eBay". Daily Mail (London).

External links

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