"Acting, to me, is about the incredible adventure of examining the landscape of human heart and soul. That's basically what we do."
Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947), better known as Glenn Close, is an American film, television and stage actor.
Throughout her long and varied career, she has been consistently acclaimed for her versatility and is considered by many to be one of the greatest actors of all-time.
She has won two Golden Globe Awards, three Emmy Awards, and three Tony Awards, and received eight Academy Award nominations, making her the most-nominated living actor who has never won an Oscar.
She appeared in:
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Film
- The World According to Garp
- The Big Chill
- The Natural
- Maxie
- Fatal Attraction
- Dangerous Liaisons
- Gandahar
- Hamlet
- Reversal of Fortune
- Hook
- Jagged Edge
- The Paper
- Anne Frank Remembered (documentary, narrator)
- Mars Attacks!
- 101 Dalmatians
- Air Force One
- Paradise Road
- Cookie's Fortune
- Tarzan
- Pinocchio (English dub)
- The Lion in Winter
- The Stepford Wives
- Hoodwinked!
- Albert Nobbs
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- WarCraft
- The Wife
- Crooked House
- Father Figures
- Four Good Days
- Hillbilly Elegy
- Heart of Stone
TV
- The Simpsons, as Homer's mother, Mona, who abandoned her husband and son after a chemical warfare protest gone wrong. In most episodes (including an early one where Grampa Simpson tells Homer about how he knocked up a carnival worker before he married Mona), Maggie Roswell voices Homer's mother, and in "D'Oh-in In the Wind," Tress MacNeille voiced her in the flashback of Mona taking Homer to Woodstock.
- Will & Grace
- The West Wing
- The Shield
- Damages
- 3Below
- Finding Your Roots
Theater
Tropes associated with her work include:
- And Starring: She's credited this way for Mary Reilly.
- Assumed Win: The 2019 Academy Awards was seen as Close's absolutely "for sure" Oscar coronation. Her turn in The Wife had won her a Golden Globe, Critic's Choice and Screen Actor's Guild award and over 90 percent of Oscar procrastinators picked her as the solid victor. Instead, in a stunning upset, Olivia Colman took the Oscar for The Favourite, who even apologized to Close during her speech. Even worse, Close was wearing a golden dress that night, which many believe was intentionally meant to make her look like an Oscar.
- Awesome, Dear Boy:
- She jumped at the chance to play a "Disney witch" when 101 Dalmatians (1996) came along.
- She signed on to do Mars Attacks! when she heard Jack Nicholson would be her husband, and she'd get killed by the falling Nancy Regan chandelier.
- Cast the Runner-Up: She really wanted to play Meg in The Big Chill, but was offered the role of Sarah instead.
- Cool Old Lady: In many of her later roles, she plays steely, tough but witty and charming older women. She's also very much this in real life as well.
- Creator Backlash:
- Reporters at media junkets are told not to ask her about her time with the travelling singing group Up With People.
- She's also not particularly happy about stigmatising mental illness with her role in Fatal Attraction, and later helped set up a mental health charity. In fact, she's spoken about how she'd like to see a remake from Alex's perspective, and feels that she would not be seen as a villain.
- Fake Brit: As both Cruella de Ville in 101 Dalmatians (1996) (where she patterned her voice off Joanna Lumley in Absolutely Fabulous) and Mary Reilly.
- Lantern Jaw of Justice: One of the few women in the entirety of the acting industry who has one...and pulls it off astoundingly well.
- Large Ham: She can really overact if she needs to and will gleefully leave teeth marks in the scenery when the opportunity presents itself, most notable in her role as Cruella De Vil.
- Money, Dear Boy: Her on-the-record reason for playing Nova Prime in Guardians of the Galaxy, although she also said that she had fun with the role as well.
- Playing Against Type: Fatal Attraction marked a departure for her, as most of her characters beforehand had been warm, motherly figures. Afterwards, she was often typecast as villains.
- Uncredited Role: Had a brief, uncredited cameo in Hook.
- Wag the Director: A scene in Air Force One had Kathryn breaking down crying at one point. Glenn however felt that "my vice president" wouldn't, and would instead play the Iron Lady, so it was changed.
