
Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. In a career spanning over five decades on screen and stage, she has received numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for eight Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Grammy Awards. She was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019.
Close received eight Academy Award nominations for playing a feminist mother in The World According to Garp (1982), a baby boomer in The Big Chill (1983), a love interest in The Natural (1984), a psychotic ex-lover in Fatal Attraction (1987), a cunning aristocrat in Dangerous Liaisons (1988), an English butler in Albert Nobbs (2011), a troubled wife in The Wife (2017), and an eccentric grandmother in Hillbilly Elegy (2020). Her other films include Reversal of Fortune (1990), The Paper (1994), and Mars Attacks! (1996), Air Force One (1997), and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Close also portrayed Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996) and its 2000 sequel and voiced Kala in Tarzan (1999).
In television, Close received her first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her role in the film Something About Amelia (1984) and later won three—Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for portraying Margarethe Cammermeyer in the NBC film Serving in Silence (1995) and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series twice consecutively for playing Patty Hewes in Damages (2007–2012).
On stage, Close made her Broadway debut in the play Love for Love (1974). She later won three Tony Awards, two for Best Actress in a Play for her roles in the plays The Real Thing (1983) and Death and the Maiden (1992), and one for Best Actress in a Musical for the musical Sunset Boulevard (1995). She was Tony-nominated for Barnum (1980). She returned to the Broadway stage in a 2014 revival of A Delicate Balance. In 2016, she returned to Sunset Boulevard on the West End stage, earning a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical nomination.
Close is the president of Trillium Productions and co-founder of the website FetchDog. She has made political donations in support of Democratic politicians. She is vocal on issues such as women's rights, same-sex marriage, and mental health. Married three times, she has one daughter, Annie Starke, from her relationship with producer John Starke.
Frequent co-stars
18
Titles
56

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Martha Delacroix • 2025
Movie
★7/10

Back in Action
Ginny • 2025
Movie
★6/10

All's Fair
Dina Standish • 2025
Series
★5/10

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Self • 2024
Movie
★8/10

The Deliverance
Alberta Jackson • 2024
Movie
★6/10

Brothers
Cath Munger • 2024
Movie
★6/10

Heart of Stone
King of Diamonds • 2023
Movie
★7/10

Swan Song
Dr. Eve Scott • 2021
Movie
★7/10

Four Good Days
Deb • 2021
Movie
★7/10

Hillbilly Elegy
Bonnie "Mamaw" Vance • 2020
Movie
★7/10

3Below: Tales of Arcadia
Mother (voice) • 2018
Series
★7/10

The Wife
Joan Castleman • 2018
Movie
★7/10

What Happened to Monday
Nicolette Cayman • 2017
Movie
★7/10

Crooked House
Lady Edith de Haviland • 2017
Movie
★6/10

Father Figures
Helen Baxter • 2017
Movie
★6/10

The Wilde Wedding
Eve Wilde • 2017
Movie
★5/10

The Girl with All the Gifts
Dr. Caroline Caldwell • 2016
Movie
★7/10

Anesthesia
Marcia Zarrow • 2016
Movie
★6/10

The Great Gilly Hopkins
Nonnie Hopkins • 2015
Movie
★7/10

Guardians of the Galaxy
Nova Prime • 2014
Movie
★8/10

5 to 7
Arlene Bloom • 2014
Movie
★7/10

Low Down
Gram • 2014
Movie
★6/10

Albert Nobbs
Albert Nobbs • 2011
Movie
★6/10

Hoodwinked Too! Hood VS. Evil
Granny (voice) • 2011
Movie
★5/10

Damages
Patty Hewes • 2007
Series
★7/10

Evening
Mrs. Wittenborn • 2007
Movie
★6/10

The Chumscrubber
Carrie Johnson • 2005
Movie
★6/10

Heights
Diana • 2005
Movie
★6/10

Hoodwinked!
Granny (voice) • 2005
Movie
★6/10

Tarzan II
Kala (voice) • 2005
Movie
★6/10

Nine Lives
Maggie • 2005
Movie
★6/10

Strip Search
Karen Moore • 2004
Movie
★6/10

The Stepford Wives
Claire Wellington • 2004
Movie
★6/10

The Lion in Winter
Eleanor of Aquitaine • 2003
Movie
★6/10

Le Divorce
Olivia Pace • 2003
Movie
★5/10

Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her
Dr. Elaine Keener (segments "This is Dr. Keener" and "Fantasies about Rebecca") • 2000
Movie
★6/10

102 Dalmatians
Cruella de Vil • 2000
Movie
★6/10

Tarzan
Kala (voice) • 1999
Movie
★7/10

Cookie's Fortune
Camille Dixon • 1999
Movie
★6/10

Air Force One
Kathryn Bennett • 1997
Movie
★7/10

Paradise Road
Adrienne Pargiter • 1997
Movie
★6/10

In the Gloaming
Janet • 1997
Movie
★6/10

Mars Attacks!
Marsha Dale • 1996
Movie
★6/10

101 Dalmatians
Cruella de Vil • 1996
Movie
★6/10

Mary Reilly
Mrs. Farraday • 1996
Movie
★6/10

The Paper
Alicia Clark • 1994
Movie
★7/10

The House of the Spirits
Ferula Trueba • 1993
Movie
★7/10

Meeting Venus
Karin Anderson • 1991
Movie
★6/10
