Glenn Close

Born in 1947, Glenn Close was raised on a 500-acre family estate in Connecticut, the second of four children to a surgeon father and a 12th-generation New Englander mother. Despite her ancestors' role in founding the town, her family avoided the local social scene, raising their children without nannies. From an early age, Close developed a strong interest in acting, deciding by age seven to pursue the profession. In 1960, her father established a clinic in the Congo, where he worked for 16 years, leading to Close's childhood alternating between Africa and boarding schools in Switzerland. She later attended an exclusive girls' boarding school, participating in plays and folk-singing groups. After high school, she spent five years traveling through Europe and the U.S. with a performing troupe, a period she later described as "the blank period," which included a two-year marriage to rock guitarist Cabot Wade. Disillusioned with life on the road, she enrolled at William & Mary College in Virginia in 1970, majoring in drama and minoring in anthropology, graduating Phi Beta Kappa four years later. Close began her professional acting career in little theater and Off-Broadway productions before making her New York stage debut. Her film debut came in 1982 with *The World According to Garp*. She quickly gained recognition for her versatility, earning Academy Award nominations for her roles in *Fatal Attraction* (1987) and *Dangerous Liaisons* (1988), and also starring in films like *The Big Chill* and *The Natural*. On Broadway, she achieved critical acclaim and a Tony Award for *The Real Thing*, and later for her performance in *Sunset Boulevard*. She holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations without a win, with seven nominations. In 2016, she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame, and in 2019, *Time* magazine recognized her as one of the 100 most influential people globally. Regarding her personal life, Close married James Marlas, a New York venture capitalist, in 1984, a marriage that ended three years later. She subsequently had a daughter, Annie Maud, born in 1988, with producer John Starke. She later became engaged to stage carpenter Steve Beers in March 1995. Close maintains a private life, residing in an elegantly restored farmhouse in New York, where she enjoys tennis and is an accomplished equestrienne.