Glenn Close Writes About Mental Illness in Sunset Boulevard; Streetcar and Other Projects

Glenn Close, who won the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series has penned a piece for the Huffington Post, entitled "Mental Illness: The Stigma of Silence" in which the actress writes about her many characters who have "deep psychological wounds" ranging from Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard to Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction and Blanche Dubious in A Streetcar Named Desire. 

Click here to read the full piece and her take on these legendary characters that she has portrayed. 

Close wrote the piece in support of 'BringeChange2Mind.org',a not-for-profit organization created by Glenn Close, the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation (CABF), Fountain House, and Garen and Shari Staglin of IMHRO (International Mental Health Research Organization).

The idea of a national anti-stigma campaign was born of a partnership between Glenn Close and Fountain House, where Glenn volunteered in order to learn about mental illness, which both her sister and nephew suffer from.

Glenn Close returned for a second season of Damages on FX. The Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony Award-winning actress headlined her first television series as high-stakes litigator Patty Hewes in the original legal thriller "Damages" for FX, which premiered in July 2007. For her role, Ms. Close was honored with the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. 

Her return to FX followed her rave reviews and Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Captain Monica Rawling in a season-long story arc on the network's Emmy-winning series "The Shield." Glenn Close made her feature film debut in The World According to Garp, earning awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review as well as an Academy Award nomination. She was subsequently Oscar-nominated for her performances in The Big Chill, The Natural, the smash hit Fatal Attraction, and Dangerous Liaisons. Close's other films include Jagged Edge, Reversal of Fortune, Hamlet, Meeting Venus, The Paper, 101 Dalmatians, 102 Dalmatians, Air Force One, Cookie's Fortune, The Safety of Objects, Le Divorce, Heights, Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, Nine Lives, and Evening. She has been nominated nine times for the Golden Globe Award, winning for her performance in the television adaptation of "The Lion in Winter" (which also earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award) as well as for "Damages."

Glenn Close made her professional theater and Broadway debut in Love for Love. Other early stage credits include The Crucifer of Blood and The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs, for which she won an Obie Award. Close's first Tony Award nomination came for her role in the musical Barnum, and she subsequently won Tony Awards for her performances in The Real Thing and Death and the Maiden. For her portrayal of Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Sunset Boulevard, Close won a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and a Dramalogue Award. She would later reteam with the show's director, Trevor Nunn, in London for his Royal National Theatre revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. She has been honored with a Crystal Award from Women in Film; a GLAAD Media Award; a People's Choice Award; the National Association of Theatre Owners' Female Star of the Year award at ShoWest and a Gotham Award for her contributions to the New York independent filmmaking community.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.