Glenn Close, Mental Health Advocate

As a child, Close was raised to view challenge as a way of life. In 1960 her father, William, who flew planes during World War II and afterward became a surgeon, moved to what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo with Glenn’s mother, Bettine, and offered his services at the main hospital, eventually becoming the personal physician to dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. He also helped coordinate the country’s response to the first Ebola outbreak before returning to the United States in 1976 to run a medical clinic for low-income residents in rural Wyoming. “I was brought up in a family where doing for others was the natural thing to do,” says Close.

Over the years she has lent her name to several philanthropic causes while winning tributes for her stage and film work. She married twice, had a daughter—Annie, now a junior at Hamilton College—and found love again, last year marrying David Shaw, a biotechnology entrepreneur. The couple recently launched FetchDog, an online retailer of dog supplies, which donates a percentage of each sale to charity. Close brings her own two rescued pups, Jacob Charles (Jake) and William Hamilton (Bill), and an occasional foster dog, almost everywhere she goes, including to the set of the critically acclaimed Damages, where, she says, she is delighting in “proving that a mature woman can be sexy and complex and carry a show.”

“What’s so great about Glenn in this role,” says Michael Nouri, who plays her husband on Damages, “is that she is willing to show the shadow side of human nature, and it’s not a comfortable place to be. She’s got guts.”

“I’m interested in playing characters who might be perceived as monsters,” Close says. “I’m interested in where our common humanity is, what makes that person vulnerable.”

Her sensitivity to human frailty has been heightened from watching her mentally ill relatives struggle with addiction, cope with treatment costs (“One of my family members once had to choose between buying a new coat for her child or visiting her therapist”), and deal with the side effects of their medications. What has troubled Close the most, though, and inspired her decision to get more involved with Fountain House, was witnessing the excruciating isolation they experienced. “There was a big part of me that wanted to get into the trenches,” she says.

Close acknowledges that continued research into better treatments for mental illnesses is important. But erasing the stigma, she says, is the first step. That will lead to better funding and better care. Most important, it will help ease the loneliness her family members and others feel. For that, she says, speaking out on behalf of those who cannot always speak up for themselves is worth any risk.