Portrait of Glenn Close

Birthday profile

Glenn Close

Glenn Close, American actress, singer, and producer

Born
March 19, 1947
Age in 2026
79
Zodiac sign
Pisces
Birth year
1947

About Glenn Close

Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. In a career spanning five decades on screen and stage, she has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Honorary Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for eight Academy Awards, three Grammy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. She was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019. Close gained early recognition for her work on the stage, with her Broadway debut in the play Love for Love (1974), before going on to win 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, the musical Sunset Boulevard (1995). She received her first Academy Award nomination for her film debut in The World According to Garp (1982), and her first Emmy nomination in 1984 for the television film Something About Amelia. Close's career further progressed throughout the 1980s and 1990s with a number of acclaimed film performances, including The Big Chill (1983), The Natural (1984), Fatal Attraction (1987), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Reversal of Fortune (1990), The Paper (1994), Mars Attacks! (1996), and Air Force One (1997). During this period, she also portrayed Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996) and its 2000 sequel 102 Dalmatians, and voiced Kala in Tarzan (1999). Close won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her portrayal of Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer in Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (1995), followed by two consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for playing Patty Hewes in Damages (2007–2012). In film, Close gained continued recognition in the 21st century for her roles in Albert Nobbs (2011), The Wife (2017), Hillbilly Elegy (2020), and Wake Up Dead Man (2025). Close is the president of Trillium Productions and co-founder of 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. Married three times, she has one daughter, Annie Starke, from her relationship with producer John Starke. She won her first Tony Award in 1984 for her performance as Annie in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, directed by Mike Nichols. During her senior year of college, Close became inspired to pursue a career in acting after watching an interview of Katharine Hepburn on The Dick Cavett Show. In 1980, director George Roy Hill discovered Close on Broadway and asked her to audition with Robin Williams for a role in The World According to Garp, which would become her first film role, as well as her first Academy Award nominated performance.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Glenn Close timeline

  1. In 1980, director George Roy Hill discovered Close on Broadway and asked her to audition with Robin Williams for a role in The World According to Garp, which would become her first film role, as well as her first Academy Award nominated performance.
  2. She received her first Academy Award nomination for her film debut in The World According to Garp (1982), and her first Emmy nomination in 1984 for the television film Something About Amelia.
  3. She won her first Tony Award in 1984 for her performance as Annie in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, directed by Mike Nichols.

The world when Glenn Close was born

Glenn Close was born in 1947. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1947

  • #1 song"Near You" – Francis Craig
  • Top movieMiracle on 34th Street
  • Top TV showHowdy Doody
  • Best-selling bookThe Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJackie Robinson breaks baseball's color barrier
  • Top headlineJackie Robinson breaks Major League Baseball's color barrier
  • Technology milestoneTransistor invented at Bell Labs
  • Defining fadFlying saucer mania
  • Notable inventionPolaroid instant camera
  • World population2.47 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonPhiladelphia Warriors (BAA)
  • U.S. population144.1M

1947 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Glenn Close's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19472026
Gas$0.23$3.45/gal
Average home$7,800$435,000
Average income$4,700$67,500
Minimum wage$0.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.40$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population144.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, MusicBrainz. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.