It’s been 22 years since these long-tenured women have competed against each other for best actress at the Oscars. Will one of them take home the award this year, or will both leave empty handed?
Meryl Streep and Glenn Close are two of Hollywood’s most beloved actresses. Both are close in age and never fail to brillantly perform in their award-winning movies. This year’s Oscars is the first time since 1989 the two women have competed against each other for best actress. 22 years ago, Streep was nominated for A Cry in the Dark and Close for Dangerous Liasons (although in the end, Jodie Foster took the Oscar home for her performance in The Accused). This year, Streep is up for The Iron Lady and Close for Albert Knobbs.
The two seasoned actresses are compared in The Envelope:
Baby boomer sisters
Streep: Original Jersey girl Streep was born in 1949 in the Garden State town of Summit.
Close: Beat her rival to the punch, arriving two years earlier, in 1947, in nearby Greenwich, Conn.
Upper-crust students
Streep: Matriculated at Vassar and Yale.
Close: Walked the hallowed halls at the College of William and Mary. (In nice symmetry, both actresses have received Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year crown — Streep in 1980, Close in 1990.)
Oscar’s first kiss
Streep: In only her second film, 1978’s “The Deer Hunter,” she nabbed a supporting actress nomination.
Close: Not to be outdone, Close grabbed a supporting nod for her first film, 1982’s “The World According to Garp” (playing Robin Williams’ mother, no less).
They act with their hair
Streep: Almost as famous for her hairstyles as for her accents, Streep has zigzagged from the Pre-Raphaelite red curls of “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” to the brown shag of “Silkwood” to “A Cry in the Dark’s” black-bob-of-a-creature. (It’s a wonder the dingo didn’t eat it.)
Close: Her wild mop of 1980s curls in “Fatal Attraction” was as crazy as her character and deserved a nomination of its own.
Costars (kind of)
Streep: The two actresses played sisters-in-law in 1993’s “The House of the Spirits,” a starry but sodden affair that lifted no one’s spirits. (Hey, how ’bout a remake of “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane”?)
Close: They also shared billing in 2007’s “Evening” but, alas, no screen time.
Marital bliss (or not)
Streep: After a lengthy relationship with the late, great actor John Cazale (her costar in “The Deer Hunter”), Streep wed sculptor Don Gummer in 1978 and collaborated on four children. A happy ending is predicted.
Close: Thrice-married, she has one daughter — and a love of dogs so strong she’s written a “Lively Licks” blog for Fetchdog.com.
You do the math
Streep: The Oscar darling has the most acting nominations (17) in academy history and two wins (for 1979’s “Kramer vs. Kramer” and 1982’s “Sophie’s Choice”).
Close: Her glory days were in the ’80s with all five of her previous noms in that decade but no wins. She’s scored better on Broadway (three Tonys) and TV (Emmys and Globes, mostly for her work on “Damages”).
2012 chances
Streep: Never count out “The Iron Lady” of awards … or underestimate the power of “The Help” — or Viola Davis.
Close: Perhaps “Albert Nobbs” might fare better in the actor category.
Will Streep or Close go home with an Oscar? Or will both be snubbed and leave empty-handed?