It's not even a close call. Glenn Close, the 58-year-old blonde actress with the patrician profile is the first choice of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Paramount Pictures for the soon-to-be filmed remake of the 1950 Billy Wilder classic, Sunset Boulevard, to be in theatres by Christmas of 2006. Although not eager to step into the elegant shoes of Gloria Swanson, Close has already played the role of the fading, tragic diva on Broadway, earning a third Tony Award in 1995 (after The Real Thing, 1984, and Death and the Maiden, 1992).
Surely she must have high hopes that this silver-screen role, her 34th, will finally hand her the Academy Award that has so far eluded her grasp. She has been nominated five times, beginning in 1982 for her film debut as Robin Williams' feminist mother (she was just five years older) in The World According to Garp; in 1983, as one of the yuppies regrouping for a college friend's funeral in The Big Chill; in 1984, as the saintly single mother who attracts Robert Redford in the other-worldly baseball paean The Natural; and in 1987, as psychotic mistress Alex Forrest who "will not be ignored" in Fatal Attraction. This last villainous role, in which she boils the family bunny, has ranked Close #7 on the American Film Institute's list of "Top Movie Villains, right up there with The Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West and the evil Queen in Snow White. "I think it's safe to say unless I get another exceptional character in my career, people are going to remember me for Fatal Attraction and as Cruella," said Close.
In 1996 and 2000, the actress starred in Disney's 101 Dalmations and 102 Dalmations as Cruella DeVil, the over-the-top fashion empress trying to skin a pack of irrepressible puppies for a spotted coat. Her character, decked out in flamboyant designer duds and wild black-and-white wigs, so alarmed the puppies that the director purposely kept her away from the canines when out of costume, to keep them from knowing the real Glenn.
"Thank heavens I don't have to sit in a room with Cruella," she said. "I would be so intimidated. I loved playing [her] because you rarely get the chance to play a character this big in movies unless you're doing Shakespeare. You encounter characters like Cruella all the time in live theatre."
"I think it’s safe to say unless I get another exceptional character in my career, people are going to remember me for Fatal Attraction and as Cruella."
Close was born in Greenwich, Conn., a town her ancestors helped found. She is a distant relation of Princess Diana, the second cousin of Brooke Shields, and her grandfather was once married to Marjorie Merriweather Post (making her the "step-niece" of Dina Merrill!). As a child, she and her three siblings left their 250-acre family farm to move with their parents to The Belgian Congo (now Zaire), where their surgeon father started a clinic, which he ran for 16 years. Close lived in Africa and attended Swiss boarding schools, finally returning to Greenwich to attend and graduate from Rosemary Hall. She then went on to earn a degree in drama and anthropology from the College of William and Mary. While in college, she founded a theatrical troupe, then toured the country with the Green Glen Singers in "Up with People." She had a two-year marriage (which ended in 1971) to rock guitarist Cabot Wade, lived with Broadway actor/singer Len Cariou for three years (ending in 1983), was married to venture capitalist James Marlas (from 1984-1987), and had a long-term relationship with producer John Starke, the father of her 17-year-old daughter, Annie Maude Starke. Over the years, Close has also been linked to Boston Bruin Cam Neely, and actor Woody Harrelson, and in 1995 was engaged, but never wed, to Sunset Boulevard set carpenter Steve Beers.
Close made her professional debut in Love for Love, with the New Phoenix Repertory Company, and was appearing as a Tony-nominated lead in Barnum, on Broadway, when spotted by director Roy Hill and cast in The World According to Garp.
Perhaps it was Close's globe-trotting childhood, exposing her to both privilege and poverty, which fostered her seriousness of purpose and inherent reluctance to live the celebrity life. What drew her to acting was the possibility of "pretending to be different people," she said, "not the trappings of celebrity."
"I am extremely shy," Close said. "I am not happy in crowds of people. I hate public venues [and] never know what to wear." The actress confesses that she is probably one of the most fashion-clueless stars on the red carpet. "I don't really like all the diamonds and glitter of show business," she added. "I don't think Hollywood knows what to do with me."
Close, who has confessed to being a soccer mom who loves sweatpants and jeans, has admitted that Armani loans her outfits for public appearances and interviews. She also has one of the greatest perks in Hollywood written into every contract: She can keep her costumes. If you watch Close's public appearances, you may recognize a few-she wore a white jacket from The Jagged Edge in a women's rights march in Washington, D.C.
Reluctant to use her celebrity to promote any one cause, Close often feels that her presence at a gathering is enough. "I'm an actor. That's my contribution," she said. Since becoming a parent, Close acknowledged that she has been "politicized," advocating against banned books and for a new school building in her Westchester County, NY, hometown. She has also sponsored exhibits of her 300+ costumes to benefit schools in New York. "It always makes me very happy," she said, "because if I hadn't kept [the costumes], they'd be all decimated-rented out, changed, and torn apart."
"I am extremely shy. I am not happy in crowds of people. I hate public venues [and] never know what to wear."
In the past few years, the reluctant star has chosen to retreat even more from the spotlight, spending more time with family and friends. "My priorities have changed since 9/11," she explained. "I prefer smaller films now and I want to spend time with people I love. Time is the most precious thing we have."
Frequently, Close has lent her support and presence to independent films, such as the 1999 Cookie's Fortune and this year's Heights. Other recent films have included Le Divorce, The Stepford Wives, Nine Lives, and The Chumscrubber. Now in post-production are Paint, a thriller examining the treacherous NYC art world; and Therese Raquin, a steamy thriller reminiscent of The Postman Always Rings Twice.
This three-time Emmy winner has also executive produced eight TV projects, including the acclaimed Sarah, Plain and Tall trilogy, The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (in which she played a lesbian colonel in the Washington State National Guard), and Rogers & Hammerstein's South Pacific (in which she portrayed Nellie Forbush).
Close has also lent her voice to Robert Bilheimer's documentary, A Closer Walk, which put a human face on the global scope and impact of AIDS. And she is the voice in two animated Tarzan films from Disney, and early on, was hired to completely re-dub all of the dialogue spoken by the too-Southern Andie MacDowell in the 1984 Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes.
Close has a chameleon-like ability to take on varied roles. She has played a U.S. President (in the 1996 Mars Attacks!), a U.S. Vice President (in the 1997 Air Force One), a judicial candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court (in 2004, on NBC's The West Wing), a female pirate in the 1991 Hook, and a mother coming to terms with a son dying of AIDS in the 1997 TV film In the Gloaming (the directorial debut of her good friend, the late Christopher Reeve). "It is difficult for women over 40 to have good roles-[with] any substance," she said, "other than someone's wife, or mother, or the bitch. The businesswoman bitch, the politician bitch-they're all in suits. I've worn quite a number of suits in my career."
"My priorities have changed since 9/11. I prefer smaller films now and I want to spend time with people I love. Time is the most precious thing we have."
This past year, Close joined the TV cast of the LAPD detective show The Shield, creating the character of Capt. Monica Rawlings. Despite soaring ratings, she decided to turn in her badge and not return to the show. Perhaps it was the desire to spend more time on the East coast with her daughter, who will be a high school senior. When accepting her Golden Globe this year for her role as Elanor of Aquitane in the TV production of The Lion in Winter, Close spoke from the podium, directly to her daughter, and said, "You are my heart and my light, my inspiration. And it's my life, not yours, but we're both in this together!"
She might have also decided to leave her successful TV series to focus on her upcoming Sunset Boulevard close-up-an end-zone run for an Oscar. Drolly, Close has said, "I've often been mistaken for Meryl Streep, although never on Oscar night."
Whatever the outcome, Glenn Close will remain one of the most respected and talented actresses of her time.
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