Glenn Close might portray a perpetually-in-the-shadows spouse in “The Wife,” but she’s anything but in real life. A press release has announced the six-time Oscar nominee will be presented with the Maltin Modern Master Award at the 34th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF). Close will receive the prize February 2 in honor of her “longstanding contributions to the film industry.”
Close’s career spans over four decades and includes films such as “The World According to Garp,” “The Big Chill,” and “Fatal Attraction.” “The Girl With All The Gifts” and “What Happened to Monday ” are among her more recent features. Her stage credits include “Sunset Boulevard” and “The Real Thing.”
“Glenn Close is one of the great actresses of our time,” said film critic, SBIFF moderator, and award namesake Leonard Maltin. “Versatility is her hallmark, and there is clearly nothing she can’t do. She became a star with her first feature film, ‘The World According to Garp,’ and has gone on to play everyone from Cruella de Vil to aging silent-film star Norma Desmond in the stage musical of ‘Sunset Boulevard.'”
Close received Academy Award nominations for “Albert Nobbs,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Fatal Attraction,” “The Natural,” “The Big Chill,” and “Garp.” She received two Emmys for playing Machiavellian lawyer Patty Hewes in FX’s “Damages,” and another for TV movie “Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story,” and netted numerous other nominations. Last year Close won the Golden Icon Award at the Zurich Film Festival.
The actress’ latest project is “The Wife.” An adaptation of Meg Wolitzer’s 2003 novel of the same name, the film sees Close playing Joan Castleman, a woman best known as the wife of an incredibly successful writer. Joan has dedicated years of her life to nurturing her husband’s (Jonathan Pryce, “Game of Thrones”) career, but a moment of revelation causes Joan to reconsider their relationship and her future. “The Wife” opened this summer and is still in theaters. Jane Anderson (“Olive Kitteridge”) penned the screenplay and Björn Runge (“Daybreak”) directed.
SBIFF 2019 will run January 30-February 9. Cate Blanchett is among the previous Maltin Modern Master Award recipients.
