How Glenn Close became Hollywood’s biggest kleptomaniac: “It started with the love of the characters”
Glenn Close has never been one to shy away from outlandish and challenging performances, perhaps best known for her role as the villainous and volatile Alex Forrest in the 1987 film Fatal Attraction, which propelled her to international stardom.
The actor, now 78, has collectively spent over 50 of those years in front of the camera, morphing from roles as the menacing and glamorous fashion designer and heiress Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians and a pre-French Revolution Parisian marquess in Dangerous Liaisons to a strong-willed feminist nurse in The World According to Garp.
As many parts as she has donned, it makes sense that her diverse filmography has also earned Close one of the most enviable costume wardrobes, having been lucky enough to apprehend many of her famous pieces after filming on the projects commenced. The actor even lent one of the dresses she wore in Dangerous Liaisons to Madonna for her iconic 1990 VMA performance of ‘Vogue’.
Speaking to The Talks, the seemingly light-fingered Close revealed that she’s garnered over 800 pieces across her half-century-spanning career, resulting in a wardrobe many aspiring actors could only dream of. Enviably, her closet features works from award-winning costume designers such as Ann Roth, James Acheson and Anthony Powell.
Discussing where it all began, she reflected, “I think it started with the love of the characters that those costumes represent and the time spent in the fitting room, putting those characters together”. Close attributed her impressive collection to the costume designers she had been able to work with, noting, “Because for me, the costume designer is as important as the director. You spend time literally figuring that out. It is absolutely right at the heart of the process of creating a character. So I have most of the costumes from Fatal Attraction, from 101 Dalmatians, from Sunset Boulevard. I even have costumes from my very first movie as Jenny Garp!”
A selection from her collection was put on display at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2013. It was a personally significant moment as Close had graduated from the college in 1974 with a double major in theatre and anthropology, before being nominated for her first Tony Award six years later in 1980 for her portrayal of Charity in the musical Barnum.
Close later went on to win three Tony Awards for ‘Best Actress’ for 1984’s The Real Thing, 1992’s Death and the Maiden, and 1995’s Sunset Boulevard, commencing her career as one of the most highly accoladed actors in Hollywood. Alongside this winning streak, she went on to receive six Academy Award nominations for supporting and lead actor roles in various projects, and later winning two Golden Globes and three Emmy Awards.
In what was no doubt a difficult decision, in 2018, Glenn Close donated her entire costume collection to Indiana University’s Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design for their The Art of the Character exhibit, which captures the actor’s extensive career and the worlds inhabited by her through her legion of costumes and celebrates the great actor’s decorated professional legacy.
