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The "Fatal Attraction" star spoke with People magazine this week about her life and acting career, and she said it was Katherine Hepburn who inspired her to become an actress.
Fairfield County native Close, age 77, who was born in Greenwich, said she was watching "The Dick Cavett Show" in 1973 when she happened upon an interview with Hepburn, who was also born in Connecticut — in Hartford. Close was a student at William & Mary College in Virginia at the time.
“She was so phenomenal, so herself,” she told the magazine. “So the next day I went to the head of the [theater] department, and I said, ‘Please nominate me for a series of auditions.’ And from that, I got my first job that fall.”
Close's next job was a years-long run on Broadway followed by a television and film acting career that rivals the Hollywood legend that inspired her.
Close finally met Hepburn 17 years later at the Kennedy Center Honors, and she was as glamorous as ever. But as always, Hepburn stood out on her own terms.
“She was wearing a black raincoat, a white shirt, black pants, and highly polished black Reeboks,” Close recalled to the magazine. “And everyone else was in gowns and jewels. And she looked fabulous.”
She even received a letter from "The Philadelphia Story" actress.
“Aren't we lucky to be in this terrible profession, this terrifying profession, and, let's face it, this delicious way to spend your life?" she recalled the letter from Hepburn saying.
The 87-year-old Cavett is also tied to Connecticut and Fairfield County, where he resides in Ridgefield.
Click here to read the full story on People.
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