Editing Glenn Close (section)

==Early life and background==
Glenn Close was born on March 19, 1947, in [[Greenwich, Connecticut]], to [[socialite]] Elizabeth Mary Hester "Bettine" (née Moore) and [[William Close|William Taliaferro Close]],<ref name=5dylcdw>{{cite web|last=Roberts|first=Gary Boyd|title=Notable Kin - Additional Noted American Cousin: A Five-Year Update, Numbers 326-350|publisher=New England Historic Genealogical Society - Founded 1845|year=2010|url=http://www.americanancestors.org/notable-kin-additional-cousins-of-the-princess-of-wales/|access-date=December 7, 2010|archive-date=October 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016123619/http://www.americanancestors.org/notable-kin-additional-cousins-of-the-princess-of-wales/|url-status=dead}}</ref> a doctor who operated a clinic in the [[Belgian Congo]] and served as a personal physician to [[Republic of Zaire|Congolese]] dictator [[Mobutu Sese Seko]].<ref name="Conscience and the Congo">{{cite news | url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06333/741921-374.stm | work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | title=Conscience and the Congo | date=November 29, 2006 | first=Dan | last=Simpson | access-date=July 15, 2007 | archive-date=August 23, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823173815/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06333/741921-374.stm | url-status=dead }}</ref> She has two sisters, Tina and Jessie, and two brothers, Alexander (nicknamed Sandy) and Tambu Misoki, whom Close's parents adopted while living in Congo.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-feb-15-me-william-close15-story.html|title=Dr. William Close dies at 84; physician played a key role in stopping the Ebola virus|last=II|first=Thomas H. Maugh|date=February 15, 2009|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035|access-date=September 21, 2016|archive-date=September 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923023813/http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/15/local/me-william-close15|url-status=live}}</ref>

During her childhood, Close lived with her parents in a stone cottage on her maternal grandfather's estate in Greenwich. She began honing her acting abilities in her early years, "I have no doubt that the days I spent running free in the evocative Connecticut countryside with an unfettered imagination, playing whatever character our games demanded, is one of the reasons that acting has always seemed so natural to me."<ref>In a speech at [[Princeton University]] on February 19, 2009</ref> Although Close has an affluent background, she has stated that her family chose not to participate in [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestant|WASP]] society. She would also avoid mentioning her birthplace, the wealthy town Greenwich, whenever asked because she did not want people to think she was a "''dilettante'' who didn't have to work."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maryellenmark.com/text/magazines/premiere/919V-000-008.html|title=Premiere - Glenn Close - Premiere Special: Women in Hollywood|publisher=Mary Ellen Mark|first=Mark|last=Salisbury|access-date=November 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110094842/http://www.maryellenmark.com/text/magazines/premiere/919V-000-008.html|archive-date=November 10, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

When Close was seven years old, her parents joined the [[Moral Re-Armament]] (MRA), a movement in which her family remained involved for 15 years. During this period, Close's family lived in communal centers. She has described MRA as a "cult" that dictated every aspect of her life, from the clothes that had to be worn to what she was allowed to say. Close also spent time in [[Switzerland]] when studying at [[St George's School in Switzerland|St. George's School]], and attended [[Rosemary Hall (Greenwich, Connecticut)|Rosemary Hall]] (now Choate Rosemary Hall), graduating in 1965.<ref name="CHOATE">[http://www.choate.edu/alumni/prizewinners.asp Rosemary Hall Alumnae Award] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521142422/http://www.choate.edu/alumni/prizewinners.asp |date=May 21, 2008 }} from the [[Choate Rosemary Hall]] website</ref> She traveled for several years in the mid-to-late 1960s with the nonprofit encouragement singing group [[Up With People]]. During her time in Up With People, Close organized a small singing group called the Green Glenn Singers, consisting of herself, [[Kathe Green]], Jennie Dorn, and Vee Entwistle. The group's stated mission was "to write and sing songs which would give people a purpose and inspire them to live the way they were meant to live".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Seymour|first1=Steve|title=Glenn Close Recorded in U.P.|url=http://rocknrollgraffiti.blogspot.com/2007/01/glenn-close-recorded-in-u-p.html|website=Rock n Roll Graffiti|date=January 25, 2007|access-date=June 3, 2017|archive-date=October 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016070610/http://rocknrollgraffiti.blogspot.com/2007/01/glenn-close-recorded-in-u-p.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Glenn Close at William & Mary.jpg|thumb|Close (seated with her dog) leading the [[College of William & Mary]]'s 2023 homecoming parade]]
When she was 22, Close broke away from MRA.<ref name="thr2014">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/glenn-close-returns-stage-reveals-740633 |title=Glenn Close Returns to Stage, Reveals Remarkable Childhood in Cult |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |date=October 15, 2014 |first=Stephen |last=Galloway |access-date=October 16, 2014 }}</ref> She once stated that her desire to become an actress allowed her to leave the group, adding, "I have long [ago] forgiven my parents for any of this. They had their reasons for doing what they did, and I understand them. It had terrible effects on their kids, but that's the way it is. We all try to survive, right? And I think what actually saved me more than anything was my desire to be an actress."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/11/fashion/glenn-close-sunset-boulevard-patrick-kennedy-addiction.html|title=Glenn Close and Patrick Kennedy on the Weight of Mental Illness|last=Galanes|first=Philip|date=March 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 14, 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313203740/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/11/fashion/glenn-close-sunset-boulevard-patrick-kennedy-addiction.html|url-status=live}}</ref> She attended [[The College of William & Mary]], double majoring in [[theater]] and [[anthropology]].<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.wm.edu/about/wmdifference/incrediblealumni/ |title= Incredible alumni |author= <!--Not stated--> |website= William & Mary |access-date= February 23, 2019 |archive-date= May 4, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190504030039/https://www.wm.edu/about/wmdifference/incrediblealumni/ |url-status= dead }}</ref> 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]]''.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/03/glenn-close-keeps-letter-from-katharine-hepburn| title= Read Katharine Hepburn's Influential Letter to Glenn Close| last= Weaver| first= Hilary| work= Vanities| access-date= March 31, 2017| language= en| archive-date= March 26, 2017| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170326003224/http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/03/glenn-close-keeps-letter-from-katharine-hepburn| url-status= live}}</ref> It was in the college's theater department that Close began to train as a serious actor under Howard Scammon, [[College of William and Mary|William and Mary]]'s long-time professor of theater. During her years at school in [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]], she also starred in the summer-time outdoor drama, ''[[The Common Glory]]'', written by Pulitzer Prize author [[Paul Green (playwright)|Paul Green]].<ref name="princeton.edu">{{cite web |url=http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/flash/lectures/20090219_publect_close.shtml |title=Glenn Close: "Are You Who We Think You Are?" |publisher=Princeton.edu |date=February 19, 2009 |access-date=August 22, 2010 |archive-date=November 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105175836/http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/flash/lectures/20090219_publect_close.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> She was elected to membership in the honor society of [[Phi Beta Kappa]].<ref name=tca/> Through the years, Close has returned to William & Mary to lecture and to visit the theater department.<ref>{{Cite web |last=De Lisle |first=Claire |date=2023-09-21 |title=Glenn Close '74, D.A. '89, H.F. '19 to be honored at Homecoming & Reunion Weekend 2023 |url=https://news.wm.edu/2023/09/21/glenn-close-74-d-a-89-h-f-19-to-be-honored-at-homecoming-reunion-weekend-2023/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709035007/https://news.wm.edu/2023/09/21/glenn-close-74-d-a-89-h-f-19-to-be-honored-at-homecoming-reunion-weekend-2023/ |archive-date=2024-07-09 |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=W&M News |language=en-US}}</ref>

Through her appearance on the first episode of the seventh season of ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'', she came to find out that she is related to [[Princess Diana]] through her 7 times great-grandparents, is also distantly related to fellow actor [[Clint Eastwood]], and that some of her ancestors were [[slaveholders]].<ref>{{cite web|title=''Finding Your Roots - To the Manor Born''|url=https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/watch/episodes/to-the-manor-born|website=[[PBS]]|access-date=January 26, 2021|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204011511/https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/watch/episodes/to-the-manor-born|url-status=live}}</ref> She also has a tangential connection to [[Marjorie Post]] who was once married to her grandfather, Edward Bennett Close.