00:02An actor and director who happens to be the daughter of that brilliant actor who
00:07played Garp, Robin Williams. Please help me in welcoming to the stage, Selda Williams.
00:23I am both elated and terrified to be here today to honor the incomparable Glenn Close
00:29and her incredible career. I believe my first response to her asking me to speak today was
00:35oh my god why out loud before texting her back that I would happily do so. And I promise
00:42it's probably just as confusing for me to be up here as it is for any of you watching,
00:45but I cannot stress enough how much it's nearly impossible to say no if Glenn asks you to do
00:50something. And no, it's not out of fear of her taking your puppies. It's from the knowledge
00:59that you're about to embark on the sort of singular adventure only a mostly benevolent
01:04trickster god can bestow. You've all seen it in her eyes every time you've been lucky enough
01:09to catch her on screen or stage. That glint of mischief shining out from a seemingly endless
01:14well of feeling and knowing that's practically celestial. Perhaps that's why in her theatrical
01:21debut in the world according to Garp, she wound up playing my dad's mother, despite only being
01:27four years older than him. Mind you, it wasn't hard to come off as more mature than my father.
01:35But it was nearly impossible to match his impishness and intensity. Nearly impossible for mere mortals,
01:41that is. Glenn blew right past it in her first movie Out of the Gate and got nominated for
01:46an Academy Award for doing so, and many since. And speaking of mothers, did you know she did
01:52Dangerous Liaisons six weeks after giving birth to the force of nature that is Annie sitting right over
01:57there? Because up until I nervously did more research to write this speech, I sure as hell didn't.
02:10My god, Glenn, I suppose that helps explain the heaving 18th century bosoms. But I cannot imagine
02:20even thinking about a corset, let alone delivering that Herculean performance while wearing one as
02:24a new mom. Now that is a stunt Tom Cruise simply cannot do. But in any case, a lot of
02:31people think
02:32Garp is the only time Glenn and Dad shared the screen together, but a lot of people would be very
02:36wrong.
02:36Because Glenn, as she and Zeus are both wont to do, decided another transformation was in order.
02:42So she donned a big old beard and a hell of a tan, rendered herself nearly unrecognizable,
02:48and very much stole her scene as Gutless the Pirate in Hook, screaming all the way to the boo box.
02:57But that's just who she is. If there's an unpredictable trick to be played, a wig to be worn,
03:02a delicious cackle, or scream to be scrumped, Glenn will bring a character to life in a way that is
03:07anything but gutless, heartless, or spineless. So while I would never go so far as to call you my
03:13cinema grandmother, Glenn, I count myself lucky to consider you a dear friend, and I am truly honored
03:18to be one of the many here today excited to celebrate you as an icon.
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