Legendary 'Fatal Attraction' Star, 79, Finally Wins First-Ever Oscar After 8 Nominations, 50-Year Career
The actress behind some of cinema's most unforgettable characters is finally getting her Oscar.
Glenn Close, one of the most nominated performers never to win, will receive an honorary Academy Award at the 2026 Governors Awards. The honor closes one of Hollywood's longest-running near misses. Close has been nominated eight times and walked away empty-handed every time, a record she shares with the late Peter O'Toole.
Her nominated roles read like a tour of modern film: the boiling-over obsession of Fatal Attraction, the scheming marquise of Dangerous Liaisons, the quietly furious spouse of The Wife and the fierce grandmother of Hillbilly Elegy. Close has won nearly every other major prize along the way, including three Emmys, three Tonys and three Golden Globes. The Oscar was the missing piece.
"Throughout her extraordinary body of work, Glenn Close's unparalleled emotional range has brought to life some of the most complex characters in cinema," the Academy said.
She is not the only overdue name on the list. Director Ridley Scott, the filmmaker behind Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator, will also receive an honorary Oscar after four nominations and no wins. Disney's first Black animator, Floyd Norman, who worked on everything from Sleeping Beauty to Toy Story 2 across a 65-year career, rounds out the honorary trio. Killer Films founders Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler will receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor called the five honorees "remarkable individuals whose groundbreaking work has forever shaped the art of filmmaking."
The 17th Governors Awards will be handed out Nov. 15 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood, where the statue that eluded Close for more than 40 years will finally be hers.
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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 5:35 PM.