Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Tony Awards. Additionally, she has been nominated eight times for an Academy Award, holding the record for the most nominations in an acting category without a win (tied with Peter O'Toole). In 2016, she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame, and in 2019, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Born in Greenwich, Connecticut, Close majored in theater and anthropology at the College of William & Mary. She began her professional career on the stage in 1974 with Love for Love. While in Broadway, she appeared in productions of Barnum in 1980 and The Real Thing in 1983, winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the latter. Her film debut came in the comedy drama The World According to Garp (1982), which was followed by supporting roles in the films The Big Chill (1983) and The Natural (1984); all three films earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She subsequently went on to establish herself as a leading lady with roles in Fatal Attraction (1987) and Dangerous Liaisons (1988), both of which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Close received two additional Tony Awards for her stage performances in the productions Death and the Maiden in 1992 and Sunset Boulevard in 1995. She won her first Primetime Emmy Award for her performance in the 1995 television drama film Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, and she continued a successful film career with starring roles in Reversal of Fortune (1990) and Air Force One (1997), among others, while achieving greater recognition for her performance as the infamous villain Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996) and its sequel 102 Dalmatians (2000). Further television work came for Close in the 2000s, with her portrayal of Eleanor of Aquitaine in the 2003 television film The Lion in Winter earning her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film.
From 2007 to 2012, Close starred as Patty Hewes in the drama series Damages, for which she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She returned to the Broadway stage in a 2014 revival of A Delicate Balance. She received two additional Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her performances in the films Albert Nobbs (2011) and The Wife (2017), winning her third Golden Globe Award for the latter. In 2020, she starred in the drama Hillbilly Elegy, for which she received an additional Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, her eighth nomination overall.
Close has been married three times, and has a daughter from her relationship with producer John Starke. She is the president of Trillium Productions and has co-founded the website FetchDog. She has made political donations in support of Democratic politicians and is vocal on issues such as women's rights, same-sex marriage, and mental health.