Glenn Close

Born: March 19th 1947
Where: Greenwich, Connecticut

The five-times Oscar nominated star has shown a diversity of styles from the "bunny boiler" of Fatal Attraction to the villainess Cruella De Vill in 101 Dalmations.

In a career spanning almost 30 years, she has has shown herself to be equally at home with action (Air Force One) and left-field art house (Safety of Objects).

The teenage folk singer joined the Phoenix Theatre Company in New York and made her Broadway debut in their production of Love for Love.

Her movie debut came in 1979 in the TV film Too Far To Go and the following year she earned Tony Award nomination for the stage musical Barnum.

In 1982, her big screen debut in The World According to Garp earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress - the first of three consecutive Academy Award nods.

In 1983, Close garnered her second Academy Award nomination for The Big Chill and the third Oscar nomination came a year later for her role as Robert Redford's girlfriend in The Natural.

At this time, she was hired to dub Andie MacDowell's dialogue in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan because the former model had such a heavy southern accent.

Subsequent film roles included the thriller Jagged Edge and the comedy Maxie.

One of the most defining roles of Close's career came in 1987 when she played the psychotic Alex in Fatal Attraction - a performance that earned her here first best actress Oscar nomination.

Ironically, she was the fourth choice to play the role after Debra Winger, Barbara Hershey and Miranda Richardson.

In 1988, she received her fifth Oscar nomination and second as Best Actress for her role as the manipulative Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons opposite John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer.

She also played Sunny von Bulow opposite Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune and Gutless in Steven Spielberg's live action adaptation of Hook!.

During this time she also acted on Broadway and even earned an Emmy nomination for her role as a female colonel who disclosed her lesbianism in TV's Serving In Silence.

In 1996, she landed the role of the vicious Cruella De Vill in 101 Dalmations (a role whe was to reprise in 2000's 102 Dalmatians).

This was followed by Tim Burton's underrated sci-fi spoof Mars Attacks! and the Japanese PoW drama Paradise Road.

Close played the First Lady opposite Harrison Ford in Air Force One and switched styles for the arthouse movie The Safety of Objects, where she spend a large part of the film holding onto a car.

In 2003 she played a Paris-based American writer in the tepid Merchant-Ivory romantic comedy Le Divorce.

Recent work includes the remake of The Stepford Wives with Nicole Kidman.