Glenn Close will finally get her hands on an Oscar. Long considered among the best actors to never win one, the eight-time nominee will get an honorary Academy Award along with director Ridley Scott and animator Floyd Norman at the annual Governors Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday.
- “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 in a statement. “Floyd Norman is the legendary animator who has broken barriers and inspired generations of artists over his remarkable career. Sir Ridley Scott is a true visionary whose decades-long legacy has left an immeasurable impact on global cinema and culture.”
Nominations for the 79-year-old Close date back to 1983, when she got her first nod for The World According to Garp, the AP reports. She was also nominated for her blockbuster turn as a rabbit-slaying stalker in 1987’s Fatal Attraction and was most recently up for a statuette for 2020’s Hillbilly Elegy. Her eight nominations tie her with Peter O’Toole for the most for an actor without a win. She has won virtually every other major award within reach, including three Emmys, three Tonys, three Grammys, and three Golden Globes.
- The Governors Awards often go to artists with extraordinary careers, but no competitive Oscar. Tom Cruise, a recipient last year, is a case in point. Previous recipients of lifetime achievement awards include Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Cary Grant, Sidney Poitier, Steve Martin, and Gena Rowlands, per the Hollywood Reporter.
- Scott, the 88-year-old director of Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator, whose epic decades of work have blended popular success and prestige like few others, has also never won despite four nominations, including best director nods for Thelma & Louise and Black Hawk Down.
- Norman’s 65-year career began in 1956 when he became the first Black animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios, contributing to Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, and Robin Hood. Decades later, he would work on Mulan, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc.
- The winners will be honored at a ceremony on Nov. 15 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood, the same complex that hosts the main Oscars ceremony. Along with luminaries who worked with the honorees, the event has been increasingly packed with young stars as it has become the unofficial kickoff to Hollywood’s award season campaigning.
