Glenn Close Age, Height, Partner, Net Worth & Biography

Glenn Close is an American actress best known as Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction, as the Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons and as Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians. Born on March 19, 1947, in Greenwich, Connecticut, Close, 79, is one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation, with eight Academy Award nominations, more than any other actress who has never won, and with a career in film, television and theatre that has lasted for more than fifty years.

Quick Facts

Who Is Glenn Close?

Glenn Close is an actress whose performances have earned her a place among the greatest actresses of her generation. As Alex Forrest, a woman who becomes obsessed with a married man, in Fatal Attraction (1987), opposite Michael Douglas, Close played a character who is both terrifying and sympathetic, and the film became one of the most successful thrillers of the 1980s, with the line “I’m not going to be ignored, Dan” becoming a part of popular culture. She is also known as the Marquise de Merteuil, a scheming aristocrat, in Dangerous Liaisons (1988), a performance that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, and as Cruella de Vil, the villain who wants to make a coat out of Dalmatian puppies, in 101 Dalmatians (1996).

Beyond those roles, Close has shown a wide range. She played Jenny Fields, a feminist nurse, in The World According to Garp (1982), her film debut, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and she played Sarah Cooper, a woman who is trying to hold her family together, in The Big Chill (1983). She starred in The Wife (2017), in which she played Joan Castleman, a woman who has ghostwritten her husband’s novels, a performance that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. She played Mamaw, a grandmother, in Hillbilly Elegy (2020), and she played Patty Hewes, a ruthless lawyer, in Damages (2007-2012), a role that won her two Primetime Emmy Awards.

Early Life & Background

Glenn Close was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the daughter of Bettine, a socialite, and William Close, a doctor. She grew up in Greenwich and in Africa, where her family lived for a time, and she attended Rosemary Hall, a girls’ school in Connecticut, and the College of William & Mary in Virginia, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama and anthropology in 1974. She began acting in theatre, appearing in the Broadway production of Love for Love (1974), and she won three Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play, for The Real Thing (1983), Death and the Maiden (1992) and Sunset Boulevard (1994).

She made her film debut in The World According to Garp, in which she played Jenny Fields, and she went on to work in The Big Chill, in The Natural (1984), in which she played Iris Gaines, a former girlfriend of the baseball player Roy Hobbs, and in Fatal Attraction, which brought her to wide attention as a film actress. She has been nominated for the Academy Award eight times, for The World According to Garp, The Big Chill, The Natural, Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, Albert Nobbs (2011), The Wife and Hillbilly Elegy, more nominations than any other actress who has never won the award.

Career

Close’s career in film includes The World According to Garp, The Big Chill, The Natural, Maxie (1985), Jagged Edge (1985), Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, Immediate Family (1989), Reversal of Fortune (1990), Hamlet (1990), Meeting Venus (1991), 101 Dalmatians, Air Force One (1997), Albert Nobbs, The Wife, Hillbilly Elegy, Four Good Days (2020), and The Deliverance (2024). She has won three Tony Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and she has been nominated for the Academy Award eight times.

On television, Close has played in Damages, in which she played Patty Hewes from 2007 to 2012, in The Shield (2005), and in Tehran (2023-). She was married to Cabot Wade from 1969 to 1971, to James Marlas from 1984 to 1987, and to David Shaw, a biotech entrepreneur, from 2006 to 2015. She has a daughter, Annie Starke, born in 1988, with her former partner, John Starke. She is a co-founder of Bring Change to Mind, a non-profit organization that works to end the stigma of mental illness, and she is known for her work as an actress, as an activist, and for a career that has lasted for more than fifty years.

Facts About Glenn Close

• She has been nominated for the Academy Award eight times, more than any other actress who has never won.
• She played Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction (1987) and the Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons (1988).
• She played Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996) and Patty Hewes in Damages (2007-2012).
• She has won three Tony Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.
• She is a co-founder of Bring Change to Mind, a non-profit that works to end mental illness stigma.

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