Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American film and stage actress and singer, best recalled for her role as a deranged stalker in Fatal Attraction (1987). Close has won an Emmy Award, three Tony Awards, and two Golden Globes; she has further been nominated for five Academy Awards, eight Emmys, and nine Golden Globes.

Close was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, to Bettine (née Moore) and William Taliaferro Close,[1] a doctor who operated a clinic in the Belgian Congo and served as a personal physician to President Mobutu Sese Seko.[2] Her parents came from prominent families; her paternal grandfather, Edward Bennett Close, a stockbroker and director of the American Hospital Association,[3] was first married to Post Cereals' heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, making Glenn Close a relative of screenwriter/director Preston Sturges and actress Dina Merrill. Close is also a second cousin once removed of Brooke Shields. Shields's great-grandmother Mary Elsie Moore (wife of Don Marino Torlonia, 4th Prince di Civitella-Cesi) was Close's great-aunt, a sister of Close's maternal grandfather, Charles Arthur Moore.

Close attended Choate Rosemary Hall, a private boarding school in Connecticut, and later the College of William and Mary; there she was elected to membership in the honor society of Phi Beta Kappa.

Close has had a lengthy career as a versatile actress and performer. Close is remembered for her chilling roles as the scheming aristocrat Madame de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons and as the psychotic book editor Alex in Fatal Attraction. She has been nominated for five Academy Awards, for Best Actress in Dangerous Liaisons and Fatal Attraction, and for Best Supporting Actress in The Natural, The Big Chill, and The World According to Garp. She played the role of Sunny von Bülow in the 1990 film Reversal of Fortune to critical acclaim.

Close has had an extensive career performing in many Broadway musicals. One of her most notable roles on stage was Norma Desmond in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of Sunset Boulevard, for which Close won a Tony award playing the role on Broadway in 1994. Close was also a guest star, at the Andrew Lloyd Webber fiftieth birthday party celebration, in the Royal Albert Hall in 1998. She appeared as Norma Desmond and performed songs from Sunset Boulevard. Close is being considered to reprise the role of Norma Desmond in the 2008 film Sunset Boulevard, based on the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. The film has not started production.[4] In addition to Sunset Boulevard, Close also won Tony Awards in 1984 for The Real Thing and in 1992 for Death and the Maiden.